Mad Mariner is proud to announce that we have acquired DIY Boat Owner magazine.

DIY Boat Owner, which was owned by BoatUS, is a quarterly print magazine for do-it-yourself boaters, offering expert advice on maintenance, repairs, upgrades and projects. Published since 1995, the magazine has an archive of more than 1,500 articles and tips.

We feel it is the perfect addition to Mad Mariner. DIY’s focus on learning and self reliance will significantly strengthen our ability to serve readers. 

Fans of The Docking Game have been waiting a long time for a sequel—and it is finally here.

Mad Mariner launched The Cruising Game today, our second free, web-based video game in the last two years. If boaters greet it as they did the first game—The Docking Game was played more than 300,000 times — it should provide a lot of fun.

Mad Mariner is now publishing in Spanish.

Marinero Loco, which also has a Twitter page, is the first Spanish-language consumer boating magazine to be published daily worldwide. The site features the same high-quality journalism, world-class photography and independent spirit that readers have come to appreciate on Mad Mariner.

Mad Mariner is proud to announce that Kadey-Krogen Yachts, whose reputation in the trawler market is unsurpassed, has joined us as an advertiser.

Kadey-Krogen has the distinction of being the first boatbuilder to advertise on Mad Mariner, and they have a great deal to show our readers. The new Krogen 55 Expedition has received a great deal of attention, and the new Krogen 64 Expedition is on its way. As the company puts it, "Kadey-Krogen designs prove themselves — one handcrafted yacht at a time." 

Moreover, the company — one of a small few whose vessels have attained cult status — has recently created a newsletter to keep owners and fans updated on the latest news. Sign up and you could win a trip to Trawler Fest, the popular boat show and conference for mariners who are serious about their boats — and where those boats might take them.

The results of Mad Mariner's Second Annual Reader Survey are in — and they could not be more helpful.

More than 300 people took the Web-based survey in the last two weeks, providing comments and feedback that will be used to redesign the Mad Mariner Web site this summer.

In most cases, the news was good. Fully 97.5 percent said they were satisfied with Mad Mariner, and 85 percent said the same about our weekly newsletter. When we asked for volunteers to help us with the redesign, more than 80 people signed up.

But we are not getting lazy. More interesting than any vote of confidence were your preferences for editorial content and ideas for new features – and we plan to act on them.

After almost two years of daily publication — delivering nearly 2,000 stories — Mad Mariner is launching an effort to redesign our website, beginning this week with a survey to find out what  exactly readers would like to see.

Mad Mariner has been successful since its launch, drawing more than a million readers to the site. But creating a compelling magazine is a constant effort — and getting input from our readers is a vital component.

Mad Mariner's Second Annual Reader Survey was launched today to find out more about our readers and what kinds of features they might find useful, from home page and editorial changes to the way we opearate the weekly newsletter.

The MadCast is upon us.

Mad Mariner’s podcast launched Wednesday, featuring a new 30-minute interview each week with people from all corners of the boating universe.

The goal is simple: to give Mad Mariner readers direct access to people they might not ordinarily meet, including CEOs, designers, authors, testers, cruisers, rescuers – and some ordinary boaters doing extraordinary things.

Credit card giant Visa used several Mad Mariner photos in its latest advertising campaign.

Visa Visa's worldwide "go" campaign — as in "more people go with Visa" — had a variety of components, including television, print, online and outdoor advertising.

One interesting feature was a partnership with Flickr, the online photo sharing site, that allowed people to submit photos to the Visa campaign. The photos were then used on a Visa site created for the campaign.

The site has an interesting application, which uses thumbnails of the photos to spell the word "go" (see photo at right). You can then click in and see the individual pictures, with your cursor "tilting" the screen. It's pretty cool. Hundreds of people submitted thousands of pictures.

Maretron, the maker of innovative marine electronics, has joined Mad Mariner and Panbo as an advertiser.

Maretron is an expert in NMEA 2000 — an industry standard that uses a single "trunk line" to simplify wiring, allow electronics units to share data and make installation of new units dramatically easier — and the company was a pioneer in offering products that take advantage of the standard.

Mad Mariner is proud to announce the launch of MarineAdvertisingOnline.com, a website for marine professionals who want to know more about the online world in general and Internet advertising in particular.