The editors at Mad Mariner are proud to announce that Diane Byrne, the former executive editor of Power & Motoryacht magazine and author of the popular blog Megayacht News, has joined our staff.

Mad Mariner is proud to announce the arrival of its latest blogger Matt Smith, whose Woody Boater blog provides a wonderful window on the world of antique and classic boats. Best of all, like Mad Mariner, he writes every day.

For you early adaptor techies out there who are testing Google's new Chrome web browser, our preliminary look shows that the Mad Mariner website works pretty well when viewed in this new tool.

Mad Mariner is proud to announce that two of its authors have released a book that began as a series right here on the website.

As some of you may recall, Mad Mariner ran an in-depth series of articles earlier this year on computer-based navigation an electronic charting. The Hard Facts on Software series ran for more than 20 weeks and captured a lot of attention.

Now, authors Mark and Diana Doyle have released the book Get Onboard With E-Charting, which draws on their work on the series and then takes the whole project a step further. They are now taking orders for the book – you can get $5 off the cover price – which will ship in September.

One of the great truths about boating is that it is meant to be shared. The water invites both men and women, and boating is one of the few sports that allows couples and families to participate equally.

But once all are onboard and the duties are carved up, the concept of equallity too often seems to get tossed out the porthole – or at least that is the common wisdom. But is it true? Mad Mariner launched this week's Women in Boating series to explore some of these stereotypes and learn more about the complex dynamic that occurs between men and women when they step aboard their boat.

Many things have happened on August 6 over the years, from the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 to the launching of the first atomic bomb in 1945. So we feel a little silly bringing it up.

But at midnight tonight, Mad Mariner will celebrate its one-year birthday as a daily publication. It was on Aug 6 of 2007 that we announced our intention to publish a new story every single day. We had 34 readers that day.

It's the political season, and that means it is time for polls – but at Mad Mariner, we care about boaters, not voters.

The first-ever Mad Mariner Poll debuts today, a unique effort to cut through the dockside chatter and industry marketing and ask boaters directly about the issues that matter to them. The result is a trove of new information on how we use our boats.

Mad Mariner welcomes Luhrs Group, makers of Luhrs, Mainship, Silverton and Hunter sailboats, as our latest advertiser. And their promotion just may cause a stir.

Mad Mariner’s Nautical News feed can now be read on your mobile phone, part of an ongoing effort to make all of Mad Mariner’s content available to readers via mobile devices.

To read it, simply point your phone’s browser to the following address:

http://mobile.madmariner.com

Mad Mariner launched a weekly series today that is designed to teach readers how to make the most of mobile phone technology aboard your boat.

The Going Mobile Series will address how to buy a phone, choose a mobile plan, install amplification and choose applications to help navigate, obtain information on weather, tides and currents and do many other things once relegated to a full-size computer.

The series will be enhanced by Mad Mariner's Mobile Technology Forum, which allows you to contact the authors directly to ask questions about your boat and your mobile phone, obtaining information that can solve problems quickly.