Rok Babarovic is part of a team that is redfining a genre of yacht. As Business Development Manager, Rok has helped launch the Overblue series of yachts – part power cat, part houseboat.

Sensing that people today are seeking comfort, safety, innovation, efficiency as well as adventure all combined in one product, Overblue designed a yacht that offers all the comfort of modern home, is able to cruise in all conditions, is full of innovative solutions, is easy to maintain, is ecological and competitively priced.

Prior to joining Overblue in 2015, Rok worked for Seaway Yachts with a focus on sales and marketing and as a Senior Project Manager on carbon high performance blue water sailing yachts.

Rok grew up boating around the islands of Croatia and has had many amazing experiences boating around the world in places like Norway, Greece, Hong Kong, and the Caribbean.

We discussed what it was like growing up in one of the most beautiful boating destinations in the world, how he transitioned from Computer Science to the boat industry, the origins of the Overblue design and how it came to market, and much, much more. Enjoy!

On growing up in the boating lifestyle.....I've been involved in boating since I was little. My parents live on an island in Croatia and this is where I started with small fishing boats with my father. Everyone has a boat there so in the summer we used to mess around with different boats and take the tourists around and play. This is how my hobby boating started until I joined it professionally around twenty years old. It's not a very big island but in Croatia it's the second biggest island. My father was born in a village with five hundred people. Once a week a ship came from Split and brought everything the small village needed. When I started spending my summers on the island it was all about fun, spending time on the boats and fooling around.

On Croatia as a boating destination.....There are over one thousand islands. I've been sailing there for most of my life and it's really something unique. It's still very preserved so you get to experience nature and sail around island hopping. Islands are not far from each other so you're safe from the sea, from the bigger waves, which is very comfortable for newcomers.

On sailing versus power.....I always take a sailboat. It brings me closer to nature and allows me to switch off. Lifting those sails up, listening to the wind, just switching off is one of the nicest things you can experience on a boat.

On boating around the world.....One of the very unique places which I was astonished by is Norway. It is something extremely unique and a one of a kind experience with very steep mountains and fjords and beautiful nature and sea. Down south you have Greece which is totally something different. Not a lot of marinas or ports like we're used to in Croatia or other parts of the Mediterranean. Then you have the Caribbean, another experience totally different and unique. Hong Kong is also a beautiful place and then going further down south in Australia and New Zealand – I remember going out on a powerboat in Auckland going fishing for snappers. Sometimes when I go fishing with friends in Croatia we go for two or three days and we're happy if we catch a bucket. But when I went for an afternoon in Auckland by the time we finished putting the baits in half were already full with fish. In two hours we had a full cockpit of snappers. That was just amazing.

On the Overblue reception in the US.....I love the US market and the way people are open minded. This year we had three boats at the show and it turned heads around. We had a lot of visits and half of the people were dealers and brokers from the industry. We appreciate this market so much because people are so open minded and when they see Overblue and come into the cockpit area with a nice big flat platform, no steps around, they come into the salon with the nice big sofa, they just get it. They understand immediately why this boat is designed the way it looks.

On the origins of Overblue.....Our founder has owned a lot of boats and was always a little bit restrained to enjoy space and comfort. They went to one of the lakes in the United States and rented a big house boat and really loved the space. He was really blown away by the comfort but at the same time, the same way he was fascinated by the volume and space, he was not very impressed by how the boat was built and the design and implementation of all the furniture inside. Also, he was not impressed with the fact that these houseboats are not really made to move around a lot. So he asked himself why nobody has built or designed a boat which has all this space and volume focused around the person, but can also go out in the sea. It needs to offer simple solutions in terms of usage, maintenance, handling etc. Eventually we said we have to build one now. The whole idea of the range was 44 and 54 which soon became a range of six models today because of the demand in the market.

On getting CE Class B Certification.....At the end of the day, it's registered, designed, certified and engineered as a power cat. The fact that we're using the full beam allows us to use the terms home environment, home dimensions, head room, and things like that, but it's a boat, it's a catamaran.

On changes in the boat industry.....I think the boat industry has changed more in the last five to seven years than in the last thirty years. Traveling around a lot, talking to a lot of different people, cultures, mentalities, I see that owners are using boats in a different way. You will experience soon that the younger generation has a tendency to not like to own things. This is one of the facts we will have to accept because we are selling something that people don't really need. We're selling something that people actually want so the approach to the market is completely different. All the boat builders will have to understand that because they will need to adapt. Organizations such as timeshares and boat clubs are unique approaches to the market that are needed today and are actually successful. This is where Overblue offers different ways of owning and using this product, applying it to the industry in terms of different businesses. We're at the moment building a boutique hotel on the Overblue 58. They're going to sell cabins with a captain. The product offers it and this is what's very nice for whoever wants to own it and enjoy it.

On advice for aspiring boaters.....When you decide to boat, two questions are the most important. The first one is 'what can you afford?' and the other one is 'how much time do you have?' This will define how you can actually boat, whether it's spending more time on a bigger boat or weekends on a smaller boat, whether that's sharing a boat with a friend or chartering a boat because you are too busy. Those two questions will direct you. Advice that I was given when I was doing a lot of sailing was 'respect the sea'. If you follow that advice you will always enjoy, you will never be surprised, and even if you do get surprised you will be prepared. After all, it's nature and it's extremely strong and we should really know what we're doing. Respect the sea was one of the strongest pieces of advice I've gotten in my career which affects the way I boat.

I had a blast talking to Rok and hope to get to visit them overseas and see some of the boat building in action!

Paul Fenn's career in the boating industry led him to Jeanneau where he eventually took the helm as President of Jeanneau America. Paul 'passed the baton' in 2014 but is still on board in a consulting and marketing role with a major focus on brand and lifestyle videos. Paul's video production extends to his Take a Shot Media company as well as his personal boating life which you can see on his great blog at www.pfenn.com.

Paul grew up boating in Connecticut and although it was a major part of his life and a passion of his through school, he graduated without a clear plan for turning his passion into a living. From working charter boats and helping with a transit from New England to the Caribbean, to moving to Annapolis to sell boats, Paul got a taste of how fun working in the business could be and he ultimately ended up at Jeanneau, and hasn't left!

Paul and his wife have raised three kids in the boating lifestyle and have gotten to experience family fun on the water in places like Thailand, the Seychelles, and many more amazing destinations.

We discussed his childhood boating, his time at Jeanneau, family trips, and the importance of video in marketing the boating lifestyle. Enjoy!

On growing up a boater.....I grew up on the water. I live steps from it just off the Chesapeake Bay. I grew up in New England in a small town called Noank, just at the mouth of Mystic River on Fishers Island Sound. By the time I was 15, I had access to a thirteen and a half foot whaler and I was the king of the sea in that boat.

On his earliest boating memories.....We had a little boat called the Skimmer. It was a little wooden boat about 8 feet long, had a wide transom, narrow bow. I remember my dad taking me out and teaching me how to row. Back then we rowed with open oar locks. You really had to get your stroke correct. We had a little 3.5 horsepower engine. I ran around in that at a young age, even by myself at age 9 or 10. My dad loved the water. He loved to sail. When we moved to Connecticut he got into racing small sailboats. He had a boat called the Jolly Boat that he raced with my sister. He loved to be on the water and make the boat go quick.

On racing sailboats.....I enjoyed racing but on the Long Island Sound there would be times that you'd go out and there wasn't a breath of air, so I never became a proficient racer although I still race today when I'm invited to be a guest. I did a race last year with a dealer of ours who owns a Sunfast 3600. We raced it from Miami to Havana, Cuba. We were out for about 24 hours. You don't realize how close Cuba is to Miami. But it was a lumpy ride. I just ran into the same folks this last week and we were reminiscing about what an awesome time we had. That's the way these things go. When you're out there, you're getting beat up and ask yourself what you're doing, and by the time you get to the bar in Cuba you say what an awesome trip, we gotta do that again.

On the family trip around the world.....It was my wife's idea. She wanted to take a world adventure before the kids got too old and didn't want to go with us anymore. We were on the road for three months but probably could have been on the road for a year. It's not always easy traveling with a family of five. We sailed in the Seychelle Islands. Thailand was really exceptional. We sailed in Phuket. It was just amazing to sail around these beautiful islands. They're very mysterious. They have a lot of limestone in the geology which finds its way into the water. The water itself is sort of a milky emerald green, it's super warm and you get these amazing structures that have been worn down like the inside of a cave.

On chartering boats as a travel option.....We had this idea but didn't follow through on the whole concept. We thought it would be a neat thing to buy like a season pass from a charter company like Moorings or Sunsail or DreamYacht, we sailed with DreamYacht. You pay X amount and you get on and off the boats wherever they have a base around the world. We chartered with DreamYacht a few different times so they knew who I was, helped me get the boats ahead of time, knew what my itinerary was so when we came in they were ready for us. It wasn't hard and getting around the world on charter boats is a great way to do it. You can fly in and all you have to do is provision and away you go.

On his path into the marine industry.....I went to college in New Hampshire and then I came home after graduating with no real plan. I wound up working on a local charter boat and at the end of the summer, someone invited me to do a transit from New England to the Caribbean. Then I got a job at a small charter company up North. One thing led to another and I wound up in Annapolis selling boats on the retail side. An opening became available in Jeanneau and I took that job with the idea that I'd stay for five years or something and it turned out being a twenty year career. In 2014, I passed the baton to a friend who was interested in moving up in the company. I'm still there as a consultant and doing marketing and brand videos. I'm not running the company any more but I'm very involved with Jeanneau and other members of the Beneteau group.

On Jeanneau's current line.....We build something like four or five different ranges of powerboats with three or four models in each range. We build sailboats from 30' up to 64' and then we have our whole Prestige Yacht range building boats from 46' up to 75'. It's a company that has a great deal of expertise and a huge range of talents.

On using video as a marketing tool.....We started using video at least eight years ago. We started videoing some of our boats and then we started using video in more of our marketing campaigns. Youtube has become such an amazing vehicle to get the word out. What enables someone like me to be successful at it is that consumers like videos and ones that are authentic and not overproduced. Videos that give good information but are enjoyable to watch and not a corporate video that's like a brochure in motion. I'm fond of saying that for social media to be successful, your media has to be social and you have to be social with your media. They're all a story, some of them are funny and some are a little more serious but it's all storytelling.

On the Jeanneau BVI rendezvous.....We started offering a rendezvous for our owners in the BVI in 2012. We have owners all over North America coming from Canada and California and Texas and they all come down and charter a boat and we spend a week together sailing around the BVI. We get something like 20 boats to join us. We're going to go back down for 2018. It would have been very easy for us to say this is probably not the best year to go but we just felt that we had a lot of customers down there and if we came we would help the Caribbean recover quicker. During the Annapolis Sailboat show we ended up raising several thousand dollars for Hurricane relief efforts and we are going to direct that money through the Richard Branson Foundation. We're going to meet with a representative from the Foundation when we're down there and hand over this check and get a tour of the islands and see what the hurricanes did. We're trying to be part of the solution because we want to see people get back down there as soon as possible.

On why he likes boating.....I like boating for the simple reason that it gets me away from all the electronics and all the noise of real life. If I can go cruising and wake up in the morning and have my first cup of coffee in the cockpit and just look around, I'm a better person. At sea, offshore, you realize that despite all the advances in technology, when you're off shore and you're on the water its exactly the same as it was a thousand years ago. For anyone, being out on the water is a lot of fun. It's a great social activity available to the entire family.

Last year, Warner University announced a partnership with the Institute of Marine Technology to start the Marine Technology program on campus in Lake Wales, Florida. The intent of IMT's Marine Technology program is to prepare individuals for entry-level technician opportunities in the watercraft industry.

Attendees not only learn how to work on watercraft and gather hands-on experience, they work in a real-life marina environment and understand the inner workings of marinas and boat dealerships around the world. Industry experts have already made guest appearances and been signed to the program's advisory council.

The U.S. Department of Labor reports there will be more than 1.2 million jobs in the diesel, automotive, motorcycle and marine industries in the United States by the year 2024. To reach that total, the transportation industry will have to fill more than 37,000 technician job openings on average every year.

Justin Maley, the Director of Industry Relations for the IMT Program at Warner, has dedicated his professional career to the marine and powersports marketplace. He brings real world industry experience, valuable professional connections and proven education strategies to IMT. Justin is a well known and highly respected leader and educator within this specialized niche.

Justin established a name for himself during a very successful motocross racing career. He is credited with designing the Bermuda Motorsports Park, serving as the national service manager for numerous OEMs, working as a technical advisor on multiple Powersports 20 Groups, and acting as a service department consultant to countless dealerships where he taught them how to improve their performance to boost the bottom line.

Justin has made several stops within the motorsports industry in roles including dealer trainer, service manager, writing dealer training modules, Sr. Technical Publications specialist, and many more. Justin has also had some very interesting experiences along his path including teaching courses in the European off-Road power curriculum, and for sever years training members of the U.S. Elite Military Forces to rise and maintain a fleet of motorcycles in the deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq.

He is extremely enthusiastic about the new opportunities at IMT and is especially pleased to share his world-class experiences, unique perspective and customized educational curriculum with students.

Justin and I spoke about the new IMT program, the need for more students to get into the field, how much fun working in the marine industry is, and some basic tips to keep things running smoothly so you recreational boaters spend less time and money getting things fixed that could be prevented. Enjoy!

On his involvement with the new marine program.....I came on to help write new curriculum. The point of this program is not to rehash what's already out there, it's to write brand new curriculum that's up to date that would help the industry move forward. My role expanded from there to helping out with marketing and helping run the program.

On changing the perception of marine careers.....We have a stigma that is - anyone who says they're a technician is the guy in the greasy overalls on the corner lot and that's not what a technician is these days. I worked at a large school that did the headcount thing. I viewed myself as part of the problem rather than part of the solution. I stepped away from education and went to work for some OEMs. My passion is education and helping the next technicians come along so we would go to these vocational facilities and do some classes. I saw their curriculum that was written in 1998 and they're still teaching the same things. When this opportunity came about, it's not that we wanted to change the industry or the way education is done, we just want to keep it real life to the dealers and the OEMs. We want to supply them with a technician that can help them make money and help them survive.

On how the curriculum is structured.....We've gone out to dealers and OEMs to talk to the people that are out there doing it to find out what they want. We are 70% theory, 30% hands on. The experience will come down the line but the knowing how something works, we need to get that into their head as quickly as possible.

On the reception within the marine industry.....The interaction with the marine industry has been beyond what we thought. We actually had to step up and have a conference in June where we're inviting everyone to come to the campus to discuss how we can change our training to fulfill their needs. All the schools are invited as well. If they want to hear the problems that are in the industry from the people that are working on a day to day basis, they can adjust their curriculum accordingly. We're not only looking out for ourselves, we really want to help the industry and the only way to do that is get everyone together and decide on a path that's going to help the industry.

On messaging to recruit students.....We're saying if you really love the water, there's a way you can make money in the marine industry. There has to be people who know how to pull things apart and put them back together. There's real jobs out there in the real world. One of the things I tell the students is that every job that's out there in real life is available in the marine industry and probably a little more fun. The marine industry is screaming out for every level, every position.

On personal boating experience.....I live on a lake. And the good thing about our program is we have our own boat ramp and dock and a bunch of boats over there. If I get a little antsy I'll tell the secretary I've got a meeting and I'll drop a boat in the water. All of our students have that ability once they fix something to go out on the lake. I've been out on the water in Italy and Germany. In Germany I lived close to a Lake called the Bodensee and went out on that quite a bit as a passenger in the boat. I'm getting more into operating the boats myself now.

On what boaters can do to keep things running smoothly.....It always comes back to the basics. One of the big things that people do is they never keep tabs on their maintenance. They lose track of when they changed the oil last and how many hours were on the boat. Or they put it off. When you decide that you have a maintenance plan, you need to stick to it. Keep tabs on your hour meter and make sure it actually works. Get yourself a service manual and do what the service manual says. The people who build the boats spend a lot of time writing the service manual. I see every day people doing jobs without the service manual out and it costs them a lot of time and a lot of money.

On training special forces.....It was a good part of my life. We were teaching special forces operatives to ride motorcycles in the desert and complete missions safely on motorcycles and ATVs and UTVs. It was very fun and a good thing to be a part of. Working with those guys and seeing what they had to go through to be a part of these teams was amazing. We would take a guy who had never ridden a motorcycle in his life and in five days be able to complete missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was good to know you are helping them be safe while they are over there protecting us and looking after our way of life. It's very eye opening to see these guys come in and know that they are going to put themselves in harm's way for what we consider a normal life.

I really enjoyed recording this episode, as the guest is a friend who I have been fortunate to have a lot of fun on the water with.

Chris Hefferen currently helps manage Subsea Fleet Support for Noble, a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. The company owns and operates one of the most modern, versatile and technically advanced fleets in the offshore drilling industry. Noble performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 28 offshore drilling units, consisting of 14 drillships and semisubmersibles and 14 jackups, focused largely on ultra-deepwater and high-specification jackup drilling opportunities in both established and emerging regions worldwide. Chris has been with Noble since 2011 and has traveled the world maintaining their fleet, doing rotations of up to 90 days living aboard the ships.

Chris grew up sailing with his father off the coast of Massachusetts and attended the Massachusetts Maritime Academy where he concentrated in Marine Engineering and was a member of the varsity sailing team.

When he's not at sea for work, he is at sea for fun aboard his C&C 41 Leverage, which he purchased at the age of 25 to fully dedicate himself to the boating lifestyle. Chris has extensive regatta and offshore long-distance sailing experience – for instance he has completed 7 round trip sails from New England to the Caribbean, including multiple trips with just himself and one crew, and just as many Figawi races from Cape Cod to Nantucket.

I have had the pleasure of being a guest on Chris's boat many times including a week in the BVI, many of the previously mentioned Figawi races, sails in Newport, RI and Boston, MA, and more. Chris is a first rate captain and I am truly indebted to him for helping create some of my all time favorite memories on the water.

This is a really fun interview with some great stories from sea including an incredibly harrowing tale of foul weather way off shore around the 16-minute mark, working on 90 day rotations off shore, and his ambitious sailing goals he'd like to accomplish before the age of 40. This is jam packed with too many stories to write so give a listen, and if you're in the market for a sailboat, check out his listing. Enjoy!

On his sailing start.....I started out sailing when I was young. My dad had smaller sailboats off the coast of MA. As I progressed I went to Mass Maritime Academy and joined their sailing team. From there I ended up doing some off shore racing and sailing and the play part came when I purchased my own boat at 25 years old. I bought that before I ever bought a house. I learned strictly through my dad, I never had any opportunity to go to a sailing school or anything. We usually sailed just off the coast of Newburyport, MA and Portsmouth, NH. Usually day sailing and a couple of overnight trips.

On getting into racing.....Racing didn't come until I went to college. I actually got cut my freshman year first semester. I had sailed and had plenty of experience but I didn't have the gear or terminology down. I tried out the next semester and did make the team. The dynamics of sailing are the same, I always tried to make the boat go as fast as possible so that part was easy. It was more the tactics against other boats and trying to position yourself ahead of them or in the right spot to make sure you can stay ahead and beat them ultimately. We would go through drills, but it was more observing the better or more senior people and the coach would have some input as well.

On some of his favorite college races.....We raced from Maine to Annapolis. They had quite a program down at the Naval Academy. They had 44 foot sailboats all of the same kind. That was a lot of fun having a one-design sailboat so you didn't have to rely on any kind of rating system to keep the playing field level.

On deciding to attend Mass Maritime.....My dad knew that I liked to be outside and work with my hands, and being close to the water. I went my sophomore year and looked around, and all the beaches and water was intriguing to me. They had an engineering program and all the boats around. I applied early and got in early and never looked at another school. The backup plan was…there was no backup plan.

On the inspiration for buying his own boat.....When I went to Mass Maritime, I met quite a few people who didn't go to school there and one of them introduced me to the off shore sailing aspect. I did a few off shore deliveries with him on other people's boats, moving them from Massachusetts to the Caribbean. I did one delivery on a Swan 48.We sailed 9 days straight to the Caribbean and I remember approaching the islands and seeing the clear waters and blue colors and that's when I decided I needed my own boat that could go offshore, I could handle by myself, and something that I could live on so that I could reach those places on my own terms and own schedule.

On DIY work around the boat.....The reason I do the work myself is it saves me a lot of money. It's hard to find marine technicians. And I like to know all the ins and outs of my boats, especially doing trips off shore where I am completely reliant on the boat. If something fails I know where it is and how to fix it, I think that's the most important part of DIY work.

On his favorite places to sail.....In New England, my favorite place is Nantucket. Everyone is on vacation there. It is completely relaxing and fun and has beautiful beaches. Bermuda is a wonderful spot as well. Not only do they have incredible waters, flight-wise its only two hours from Boston. The people are friendly, it's a very protected island, and in the way of off shore sailing it was put in a perfect place to be a harbor of refuge between New England and the Caribbean. I started off sailing in the BVI when I took my boat down the first time and that is a beautiful area. I know they were recently hit by two devastating hurricanes and it's a different landscape from when I last saw but the beauty is still there and the people are friendly. The water is the same temperature as the air and the wind is always blowing perfectly.

On what he is looking for in his next boat.....I want the strength of the current boat that I have, I like the speed for its size. But I'd like more tankage, and a couple more cabins so that families and friends can join us wherever we sail off to next. Ultimately the goal is to cross the Atlantic from New England before I'm 40 and see some of the Mediterranean, then down to the Caribbean and come back up, the great Atlantic Loop (Ed note: I think Chris made this term up, but I like it and what a great goal!). I'm looking for a boat strong enough to do that, 50-60 feet. There's a wide range of boats out there. I've looked at modern boats, classic cruising boats. I'm excited for the next chapter.

On sail versus power.....I'm partners in an old 18 foot bass boat, a 1956 Palmer Scott built in New Bedford, MA. It currently needs a bit of work before we put it in next year. But when it comes to sailing the distance, I prefer to use the wind instead of fuel to get across oceans.

On life aboard the work boats.....I did about five years on oil tankers running between Alaska and if we got lucky down to Hawaii. I used to do 75-90 day rotations and that got a little old. I looked for something shorter and decided to move to drill ships and became an engineer on a drilling rig. It floats in about 10,000 feet of water using thrusters to keep itself on location and drilling into the earth as deep as 40,000 feet. Since then I've shifted into Subsea engineering. We maintain the blowup preventer and all the associated equipment.

On the best boating advice received.....The best advice is have your ducks in a row when it comes to safety. That was always drilled into my head and now that I skipper my own boat I would never want to hurt anybody on board and think about what I could have done differently. Other than that it's being comfortable on the water. To have a nice day on the water you have to be relaxed and comfortable with your boat and what you're doing and that goes out to everybody else's attitude and affects them to positively have a nice day.

On essential equipment.....Life jackets are a basic, simple thing to have on board but that's a great start right there. I have an EPIRB on board and that gives me a lot of comfort knowing wherever I am in the world I can activate that and help is on its way. I also carry a life raft when I go anywhere off shore, it would be foolish not to.

As I mentioned, there's a lot more packed into this half hour, so give a listen and let us know what your boating goals and dream destinations are!

Randall Lyons' career in the marine industry spans more than 20 years and he is currently the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association. Prior to his role with the Trades Association, Randall had extensive experience in the marina world managing the Newburyport Marina on the North shore of Massachusetts, and as Director of Communications for the Nantucket Boat Basin. Randall also got a taste of the dealership side of the business working for Russo Marine. Randall's success is exhibit A of how getting a foot in the door in the marina industry can lead to a long and fulfilling career – Randall's first boating job was cleaning toilets at the Boat Basin, where he would later rise to the Director level!

Randall didn't grow up boating but quickly found that it was a passion of his and he decided to turn it into a career. And now he has the opportunity to raise his two children in the boating lifestyle.

We discussed some of the great initiatives Randall's organization is working on to address industry challenges including getting more people into the work force and more kids on the water, and Randall had some great advice for people considering the boating lifestyle. Enjoy!

On the current work of the MMTA.....We have an Educational Trust that's focused on workforce development as a key initiative and then a newer initiative we've been focusing on on is our Kids in Boating. On the workforce development side we've determined that one of the main reasons that we feel the shortage is out there is because not a lot of people know about boating industry jobs and about the industry in general. We decided one of the ways we could help support that is to create an industry video to focus on what jobs are available and just a quick overview of the boating industry that will highlight it and get people to ask more questions. Once we decided to create that video we determined that we needed somewhere for people to follow up so we built www.massboatingcareers.com.

At the end of the day, it's educating people about the boating industry and making sure they're aware that we're predicting thousands of jobs in the future right here in Massachusetts let alone on a national level.

On the industry messaging needed.....I think that the boating industry is just a great place to work. That fact alone is what needs to be the driving force around the workforce development issue were having. We need to get that word out there starting at a young age. We're very fortunate to work with people that are doing a recreational activity that makes them happy. Those are our clients. You can have a great successful fulfilling life in the future and its an awesome place to work.

On his start in the boat industry.....I started in college and was given the opportunity to take a summer job on Nantucket Island at the Nantucket Boat Basin and I started out cleaning the 18 bathroom facilities at the Boat Basin. I did that for three summers and worked my way up to a year-round position and stayed there for seven years. That was my start and those are the stories you gotta hear more about – start out small and work your way up and make a career out of an industry that's a great place to work.

On our clients, boaters.....They are guests at the end of the day. They're not just your customers, they turn into your family and that certainly is your goal. You see boaters of every shape and size. The key word is the boating lifestyle. That's a key element of success stories for businesses that are doing well right now. They understand that it's not just an activity, it is a lifestyle. People are passionate about the work and the boaters are passionate about their time that they get to spend on the water. They want to maximize their time on the water and enjoy it as much as possible and that goes back to the workforce development issue. If you have a boater that is told the backup is 6-10 weeks, it may cause them to get out of boating or consider another activity.

On how marine businesses can improve the lifestyle experience.....I like to see marinas and dealers doing more for their guests, offering them more activities, seminars, and events and encourage them to stick around and make sure they are enjoying the lifestyle to the maximum.

On getting kids involved with boating.....The statistic that is thrown out there typically is that the boating industry is aging 6 months every year. So the more we can do today to get kids on the water, the better off our industry could be in the future. We created a KIDS in BOATING initiative. We offer grants out to non-profit boating groups in Massachusetts. We also created what is now called Mass Kids Boating Day to help support kids boating events that are taking place in Massachusetts. Ideally this concept will grow on a national level. In 2017 there were 4 events that we helped support and three of those were touch-a-boat events. Freedom Boat Club was a big participant in one of the events. The Freedom crew took kids out on the water and kids got to enjoy a boat ride. It gets them talking about boating, gets them involved in it. In 2018 we're going to focus it over two different weekends and try to partner with a couple of other groups on a national level.

On his personal boating.....I grew up on the South Shore so I was always working around the waterfront but didn't grow up boating. Now, with two kids, I can see that be the reverse for them and have my kids grow up to be boaters. On the statistical front, 70% of adult boaters started boating when they were younger so we do need to get them involved at a younger age. The goal, starting with a 12' boat, is to grow and continue boating in the future. I would say the center console would be the next step. Sea Ray, Robalo, Boston Whaler and I have to mention Grady White. It's stepping up in size and making sure it's a little bit safer.

On the state of the industry.....The vast majority of our members are doing well and were able to plan more for the future because businesses are doing well. Dealers are selling more boats. We have smarter consumers and that helps businesses step up their game. Marinas are filling more slips, service is up, people are using their boats more which helps fuel. Its been a strong run.

On what potential boaters should know.....There's a misconception that the boating industry is only for the wealthy. 72% of boaters have a household income under $100,000. 95% of boats are trailerable boats under 26'. The industry in general is doing a better job today making sure people are aware of the affordability of boating. Discover Boating does a fantastic job on that front. Make sure people know you can start off small and continue to grow if you want!

Randall's group is doing some great things, please do check them out whether you are in MA or anywhere else!

As climate change becomes a bigger issue for boaters every year (see boat damage from this year's storms as exhibit A), there are many companies looking for solutions that will help slow down this process while also enabling boaters to continue using the waterways in powered vessels. Electric mobility is one of the top solutions and I was fortunate to speak with Steve Trkla, President of Torqeedo Inc. Torqeedo is the market leader for electric mobility on the water. Founded in 2005 in Starnberg, the company develops and manufactures outboards and inboards, electric motors and hybrid drive systems ranging from 1 to 80 hp. There are also all sorts of functional and innovative accessories – from lithium batteries and solar charging equipment to smartphone apps.

Steve has been with Torqeedo for a decade and has been responsible for launching Torqeedo products in the North American market, from Travel to Deep Blue. His wide-ranging experience in sales and marketing in the high-tech sector and his excellent feel for trends in the nautical industry have reaped great success for Torqeedo in the USA and Canada. Besides leading the US team and acquiring new customers, Steve has ensured Torqeedo's constant presence in the media in North America and helped us achieve a strong market presence within a short period. Before joining Torqeedo, he worked as sales director for a number of Silicon Valley start-ups, helping them achieve sales and growth. His understanding of IT products led him to Red Oak Marketing, a provider of online marketing strategies in the marine industry. And from there it was just one small step to Torqeedo.

Steve and I spoke about when he joined the boating lifestyle, innovations in electric mobility, and some of the ways Torqeedo is leading the charge towards more environmentally friendly boating.

On his boating past.....I have not been a lifelong boater. When I went off to college I met a very good friend who was an avid fisherman and boater and I ended up really enjoying it. He had different boating options as our friendship grew but the first time it was a Lund-style fishing boat on Lake Jennie in Minnesota. Later he taught me how to water-ski and after that we did some fishing on Lake Michigan out of Manitowoc-Two Rivers Wisconsin.

On learning to handle a boat.....I was always a passenger and it really wasn't until my younger brother and I bought our first boat together that was the first time that I started driving a boat by myself. It was a Four Winns family style boat. We had that where I boat today which is the Chain O'Lakes about 45 minutes outside of Chicago. It's been since Torqeedo that I really had to learn how to operate a boat on my own. I didn't take courses. We had several demo boats that we show to customers so more and more I was taking advantage of using the boats. At first, driving and operating the boats was somewhat simple. Learning the etiquette on the water was somewhat simple. Where I found it to be the most nerve-wracking is when you bring it into a dock and need to tie it around other boats and people are watching. And so that took a little more building confidence but each time you get better and better and eventually you get to a point that it becomes second nature.

On learning boating etiquette.....The Chain O'Lakes is a great lake to learn etiquette because when you have a series of lakes that's just 45 minutes outside a city of six million you have one of the most active boating waterways that there is in the country. You learn it quickly - and that is knowing how to show intention when you're on the water and there are lots of different boats on the water, knowing how to keep distances from kayakers and fishermen, knowing what's right and wrong in no wake zones when you're going through the channels.

On the growth of the electric mobility market.....It has been an evolution. Back in 2007 when we had our one motor which was the Travel 801, it was a revolution at the time. It was all so new to the marine industry so what you found back then is most of the consumers would come up and go, 'is that electric'? And a year or two would go by and those same customers would go, 'that's the future'. And my favorite part this year was at the Annapolis Boat Show, the amount of customers that were coming to our booth that knew everything about Torqeedo, and how many customers had bought our systems and told us how much they love what we're doing. It really was a ten year progression of 'what is this' to 'that's the future' to 'its here'.

On common misconceptions about electric mobility.....There has always been this term 'Range Anxiety' – how long and how fast can you really go with an electric motor. Those were the early misconceptions. When people thought of electric motors they thought of the trolling motor market, they didn't think of it as something that was competing in the horsepower class against the gas motor market. That is changing as technology is continuing to change and electric is so much more mainstream. That is probably the biggest misconception, the speeds and range electric motors can give you.

On how marine mobility compares to other markets.....The greatest driver is the auto industry, the second is the e-bicycle market. If you look at marine, the industry and acceptance is matching that of where the auto industry was ten years ago and bicycle industry was five years ago.

On technology driving the business.....Over the last two years one of the great innovations and revolutions of the marine industry for electric mobility is the lithium battery technology. We invested in some of the best battery management system technology to ensure that we have the safest units on the market today. We do produce on the low-power range our own lithium batteries. The partnership with BMW has been a wonderful opportunity. We're able to take their automotive lithium battery technology in the high-power segment and marine grade the battery. You have the shock mitigation, the venting, the waterproofing and the cell management system.

On growth opportunities for electric mobility.....We started with the Travel series of motors as recreational solutions. Then we attacked the 'green lake' market with our line of cruise motors. And then we moved into the paddle sports industry with our Ultralight systems. All of that was a retail product. In 2012 we announced our first high power system, the Deep Blue. And we really ventured for the first time into the commercial segment of the market and that's when our growth took an even steeper increase. Going forward, the significant growth that is expected over the next five years is in the project sales and commercial side.

On prop technology as part of the solution.....What we learned from the beginning was that we had such great motor design and such high torque motors we needed to build our prop design to match the power of the motor. So each one of our systems has a unique prop that goes with that system so that we maximize the efficiency of the motor and in some cases we set world records for efficiency in water.

On boating advice received and given.....First and foremost, and I've been told this by several people, is to always wear a life jacket. No matter what I do wear my life jacket. The second thing is take care of what you purchase!

Editor's Note: I am so excited about the potential Torqeedo has to help make boating a more environmentally friendly activity that we have signed on to become Torqeedo dealers out of our marina. Check out www.torqeedo.com to see if there is an electric marine solution for you!

I caught up with Scott Croft, Vice President Public Affairs at BoatUS, after he spent some time on the road assisting with BoatUS teams in Hurricane damaged Florida. When he is not out in the field, Scott is Responsible for all external publicity and media relations for the half-million member boating services, advocacy and safety organization. Duties cover all BoatUS departments, including Government Affairs, Consumer Affairs, Towing Services, Insurance as well as the BoatUS Foundation for Safety and Clean water. Scott learned to boat and ski on the great lakes as a youth and later in life spent 10 years in the US Air Force, which is where his love of boating was resurrected on the coast of Japan. After that Scott worked with some exciting travel and tourism clients like New York City, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica before his passion for boating delivered him to his current role at BoatUS.

Scott and I discussed how he got into and re-entered the boating lifestyle, the variety of benefits BoatUS provides boaters, current issues that are important to boaters on capitol hill, the importance of boat insurance and more! Enjoy!

On getting started in boating…..My grandad had a ski boat on Lake Erie when I was in my single digits. He got me up skiing. Then I got out of it for a while when I wasn't near any water. I picked it up again when I went into the military. I was in the Air Force stationed in Japan and I had at my leisure a fleet of Yamaha 13 sailboats. It lit my passion again.

On sailing in Japan…..I was in Okinawa. It's ringed by coral so you had these reefs just a few hundred yards out or potentially several miles out and you'd sail from shore out to the reef and back. It was unbelievably clear, warm water, like something out of Jacques Cousteau.

On learning to ski…..I remember getting pulled up many times and swallowing many gallons of Lake Erie water. We started knee-boarding and that progressed to two skis and it took me a couple summers to drop a ski. I always felt I would lose sight of where we would drop the ski but we always found it.

On his current boating whereabouts…..I'm on the sail side now. I'm on the Hudson River. We have a wide expanse called the Tappan Zee and it's spectacular. There's 300, 400 foot cliffs on one side. If you've ever heard of the Hudson River School of painting, that still exists today. When I go out on the water I see these magnificent sunsets and majestic mountains, it just puts me in the right place.

On coming together after the hurricanes…..I gotta tell you something about the human spirit. We were down there salvaging vessels. Every day we got to go home to our air conditioned hotel, these folks didn't. But they'd come up to us with cold water and say 'do you want a cold water?' Neighbors were helping neighbors start to clean up. People were helping to push boats out of people's front yards and driveways, it was heartening to see.

On the importance of boat insurance…..I looked at this hurricane event as an educational moment for people to ask themselves what's in their policy. Boat insurance is unlike automobile or homeowners. It's a lot less regimented and what features that you have in your policy can vary significantly. People either insure their boat with a policy that covers everything, that includes liability coverage. The second way is a liability portion only. It doesn't pay for damage to fix your boat, only damage to others. The last way is they self-insure. They decide they don't wish to have a policy and if it's a total loss they can eat that loss. The only reason you have to have insurance is if your lender requires it or if you physically want that policy. I told people after Irma, even if you don't have full hull coverage its really smart to get a liability only policy because it's really affordable and it covers a lot.

On why he loves boating…..Boating is in my heart. I live and breathe boating, it's something I believe in - keeping the family together with all the things that compete for your time like technology and sports. Today boating still keeps the family together.

On his favorite boating destination…..It's going to sound crazy but Lake George has been at the top of my list pretty much my whole life. There used to be a bunch of boats at the south end of the lake and a marina there that rented boats. I talked my mom when I was 14 or 15 into signing on the dotted line and going out for an hour or two. Of all the places I've been in the world I still like the Adirondacks, I like Lake George, it's the closest to my heart.

On the benefits of BoatUS membership…..We are the nation's largest advocacy services and safety group. The first part of our triad is looking out for the recreational boater's interests. Whether that's an advocacy issue or something going on in a state or federal level. The services we offer, of course, are insurance and on the water towing. We're the largest on the water towing outift in the country with TowBoatUS. We have over 600 red tow boats at 300 locations so if you are going to break down on the water, and it's a question of when not if, we've got your back. The BoatUS membership offers a lot of discounts on things like marina slips and fuel discounts. We have over 1,000 partner businesses and 600-700 of them are marinas. We also can't forget BoatUS Magazine and to me that's one of the biggest benefits. It simply gives you the best information to make your boating better.

On what causes people to need their services…..The number one reason why 70,000 people called us last year for routine on the water help was engine trouble and part of that is unknown. Number two is battery issues. Its engine issues, electric issues, battery jumps and running out of gas in that order. It will happen and its really easy to get an on the water towing plan. Very much like a AAA for the water, we'll come get you 24 hours a day. What we do is make a bad day go a lot better.

On current advocacy efforts…..BoatUS is the only representative up on the hill representing recreational boaters. We try to make sure that when you go out on the water that day its as hassle free as possible. Ethanol is a big issue. There's a movement that requires an increasing amount of ethanol in relation o our fuel supply. We have big challenges with that. Ethanol is scouring tanks and causing fuel related issues and that is still the #1 national issue with us. We're not anti-farmer or anti-biofuels, we just want safe fuel for our boats. Coast Guard funding is a big thing right now on Capitol Hill. We have to ensure the things we need like the weather that NOAA provides or the rescue services are not cut. This is a game of numbers. Those with the most voices often get the attention they need. We want to create the largest advocacy group in the country. Join BoatUS and become part of that advocacy effort. Sign up for our email alerts that let you know about legislation going on in your state that will affect your boating.

There is so much more useful information in this interview so give a listen and let us know what you think!

I was able to catch up with Reagan Haynes, Senior reporter and social media manager for Soundings Trade Only, between her travel for stories. Reagan has been writing in-depth business analysis and news for the boating industry, specializing in banking and finance regarding the marine industry, as well as EPA and environmental standards in boating, for over 15 years. One of my favorite features each issue is Reagan's Q&A with industry leaders. Reagan's reporting has taken her across the country, and around the globe. Recent assignments include hurricane coverage in the Keys, political reporting in Alaska, boat shows in places like Newport, RI and more!

The boating industry continues to keep Reagan interested with a vast array of topics she has had the fortune of covering over the last decade-plus. In that time, she has come to not only feel personally attached to the experience of boating with her family, she has also become connected with boats themselves, people who love them, as well as those who make their living building them, selling them, and all things related to them.

Her stories have earned numerous awards over the years including the AP's Best Business story of 2003 (in the region and circulation) with the Frederick News-Post, numerous Apex business story awards as a freelancer at Trade Only, and four straight years of Boat Writers International Awards for stories including: 2014 for the January 2013 article, "Insurance Costs Likely to Spiral", 2015 (for 2014) was third for "Band of Sisters", 2016 (for 2015) was for "Bracing for Life Without Boomers", and 2017 (for 2016) was for "Cheer up: We Could Be Golf".

In addition, Reagan was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of Sail America. If it is happening in the boating industry, there's a good chance Reagan has written about it, interviewed someone who is in the middle of it, or has a plane ticket to go cover it. Enjoy!

On her latest travels…..Most recently I was in the Florida Keys. I was covering the damage from Hurricane Irma. I had never really seen anything like that before, pretty hard hit. I was there the day after they opened up. I didn't expect it to be so leveled. Before that I was in Alaska with Yamaha Marine at a fishing Senate Subcommittee session on the Magnuson-Stevens Act. I was in Newport, great show, great traffic, and probably my next show will be Miami. That's the best thing about my job, it's always different.

On covering the Hurricanes…... I was there the day after they opened up. I didn't expect it to be so leveled. I was pretty nervous to go down and ask people about their boats. I was worried that I was going to be talking about a thing when they were focused on basic needs being met. I was really surprised that after basic needs and helping each other out they were most concerned about their boats. The attachments that people have with their vessels, there was no other way for me to learn that in such a profound way than to talk to these people who had lost their boats.

On the importance of marine insurance companies…..Those guys with the insurance companies, they listen to these stories all day every day. The man I spoke to yesterday was 50 days in the field. I had never really considered insurance companies as first responders, but when things like this happen they really are.

On getting into and reconnecting with boating…..My second story for Soundings Trade Only was about the boating industry post 9/11. That struck me a lot because I had expected it to be a business story and what it turned out to be was about boating bringing people together. My dad had a little aluminum fishing boat when I was little and we always fished. I fished with my granddaddy who lived in Missouri. I was the sibling who liked to fish so we would go out on that. We still fish, but I drifted away from boats and boating. That story had an impact on me.

On why she loves the boating industry…..There are such great people and I get to be on boats all the time which is awesome. It's a career people choose because its their passion and that's the kind of people I like to surround myself with, people who do what they love.

On boating with the family…..We get out on boats any time we can. Most recently we went to New York City. Mercury Marine was holding a non-boating media event. I got our kids and husband on the water. My big kids got to try the joy stick control on a Scout. That was their favorite part of the whole trip. These are tourist destinations that draw people from all over the world and all three, hands down, their favorite part was the boat.

On most essential item to bring on the boat…..The dry bag. I've been burned too many times. I'm always writing on the boat and always have equipment on the boat. Gotta have one of those….

On her favorite boating destinations…..It's hard to top Alaska but it's probably tied with Cartagena, Columbia. In both places, the people are amazing, and it's breathtakingly gorgeous.

On recent debuts that have impressed…..That Hinckley was pretty astounding. The Dasher is what they are calling it with twin Torqeedos. I thought that was pretty unique. It is so amazingly quiet, it's just such a different experience to be under power and hearing nothing but the slap of the waves against the hull.

On some of her favorite interview subjects…..Shep McKenney, the way his mind works is pretty amazing. He developed the joystick on the Hinckley picnic boat. I just like that kind of mind. Instead of saying jet powered boats don't operate as smoothly in close quarters, he said we can design around this. And then most recently with the Seakeeper Gyro. Anybody who thinks that instead of you just accept it, they can think and design around it, is really cool. Another person I love to interview always is Jack Ellis at Info-Link. He's a big picture industry guy. He's a lifetime boater. He sails and is a power boater so he has all perspectives. And he just loves data. He has really good ideas and is realistic about the industry and where it is and where it's going and what might need to change in order for it to thrive.

On the attractiveness of joining the boating industry as a career…..One of the unique things about this industry that stands apart from other industries as I've seen them is there is a lot of room for upward mobility. You really can work your way up from any position to any position. You hear it all the time and I don't see it changing.

On the importance of reaching women boaters…..There needs to be more focus on women. The industry makes a mistake assuming a woman won't care about power or running boats. Women could drive a lot of growth if they were spoken to in a way that would assume that they do care about doing those things.

Reagan covered so much more in our conversation. Follow her @ReaganHaynes on Twitter to stay updated on all the great articles she is publishing.

Jim Palmer is a marketing and business building expert and in-demand coach. He is the founder of the Dream Business Academy and Dream Business Coaching and Mastermind Program.

He is the host of Dream Business Coach TV, the hit weekly Web TV show watched by thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners, and he is also the host of Dream Business Radio, a weekly podcast based on Jim's unique brand of Smart Marketing and Business Building Strategies. Jim is best known internationally as 'The Dream Business Coach' and creator of No Hassle Newsletters, the ultimate 'done-for-you' newsletter marketing program used by hundreds of clients in nine countries.

Jim has authored seven books and speaks and gives interviews on such topics as entrepreneurial success, newsletter marketing, client retention, how to build a profitable business and how to create your own Dream Business.

Jim is a cancer survivor, has been married for over thirty-five years, has four grown children and two great children. Recently, Jim and his wife Stephanie JUST SAID YES to their dream of living on a boat. Join their adventure, which is chronicled on Our Floating Home.

Jim and I spoke about growing up boating, how they decided to live aboard, finding the perfect boat, and a whole lot more. This one is definitely worth a listen all the way through as Jim packed a lot of inspiring advice into this half hour, much more than I could fit in the blog. Enjoy!

On early boating experiences.....I grew up boating. My grandparents had a cottage on a Lake in Western Massachusetts. My parents grew up in that cottage. I remember I learned how to water ski there on this little 14' boat with a 40 hp Evinrude engine. I just really love the water and boating. My parents had a boat. My older brother is big time into boating. My own boating career started four years ago. We bought a 30' Sea Ray that we kept at the top of Chesapeake Bay.

On deciding to live aboard.....A little more than a year ago, Stephanie was retiring from her career and came home and said 'I think its time for a big adventure.' We didn't know quite what that meant. Eventually she said hey, what if we lived on a boat? We sold our house and we bought a 50' Carver motor yacht.

On how the adventure is going so far.....We are so in love with this boat. I loved my Sea Ray, the only difference is Sea Ray had so many great t shirts and Carver makes nothing! We have been loving life. It is slower, easier and we can feel disconnected from everything so much easier. It's an amazing lifestyle.

On how boating equals stress relief.....We had about an hour and twenty minute drive on Fridays from our home to our boat and we could feel ourselves de-stressing on the drive. When we stepped on the boat, 100% of whatever was going on that week was forgotten. It was an amazing way to de-stress. We could go ten minutes, drop anchor, and feel like we were on vacation.

On how to follow their adventure.....We started a blog – ourfloatinghome.com – everybody was so curious about where we were going and how to stay in touch. I just wrote a blog post called 'Simple, Slower, and Chores' and I describe how simple life is on the boat. We get up, I go up and watch the sun go up over the water, have breakfast. I love watching boats. We're always looking at the water. It's a slower way of life. We have no commute. We're not dealing with traffic. We've got reality TV just outside our boat. And then for chores, when I had my home, I was tired of cutting the grass and shoveling the driveway, all that stuff. The thing about the boat, it's always gotta be clean, something always gas to be fixed, and I don't mind! I would so much rather wash and wax my boat than mow my lawn or weed whack!

On planning their route, or not.....It's less planned out than you might think. We came up with an 18-month plan. It's not bothering us that we don't have a specific reservation or know where we're going. I've structured my coaching business to do three days per week. All the calls happen Tuesday-Thursday. Friday through Monday we can be mobile. If we pull into somewhere we love we can stay there. We're totally flexible and loving not having an exact idea of what we'll be doing.

On useful technology for living aboard.....I have so many apps. I have an app called BoatTracker which will tell you your average speed, top speed, how long you were out. That's a very good way for me to keep track of oil changes and things like that. It will also show you with a satellite where you were with your entire trip. There's another one I got called Anchor Alarm. When you set your anchor, you use your finger and draw a little area that the boat is allowed to swing. If it heads out of the circle you have drawn, it will alert you. The other thing I use is Navionics. It's always updating and is really cool.

On 'Just Saying Yes'.....Some people say you should have waited a year and maybe, but are you ever really ready? Sometimes you just have to say yes and go for it. Sometimes you can overthink things, the what if. When you get really excited about doing something big in life, you get romantically excited about it but then the other side of our brain kicks in and we start playing the what if game.

On using Social Media to further boating education.....We both belong to a lot of these Facebook groups. There's a facebook group called LiveAboard, Trawler Living, Carver facebook groups. There's boat repairs, so many things you can learn from other people. There's an education out there if you're willing to look and be open minded.

On possible future boating plans.....There's a thing called the Great Loop! We started reading these books and it's something we are considering. We've read several stories of people who do the Great Loop, it takes them about a year. One of the things that appeals to us when you do the great loop, most of it is slow. You're seeing parts of this country that nobody really sees.

Please, listen to the whole podcast. The blog really doesn't do this one justice! Happy boating! And to all the Northern listeners, I hope you delay the shrink wrapping as long as possible!

One of the things I have come to realize in talking to so many boaters over the last few years is that boating in and of itself is great, but often times it is the means to another end. It is a gateway to a wide variety of activities and experiences that bring happiness into so many lives. Just think of all the things boating can give you access to: fishing, diving, cruising, skiing, wake boarding and wake surfing, time with family and friends, camping and hiking in remote places, boating up to restaurants...the list goes on and on! My last two guests in particular were great reminders of the fact that it isn't just boating, there are many other ways to enjoy the water. Nathan Heber talked about his love of kite-surfing that spawned from his days of sailing, and Rachel Johnson is now an avid stand-up paddle-boarder after growing up on powerboats. The things they all have in common are the love of the outdoors, the appreciation of nature, and of course - the water. Put all these people on or near water and you have a formula for instant happiness. I hope you all find the same.

Rachel Johnson is the Executive Director of the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC). She oversees the strategic direction and daily operations in support of the NSBC's mission of Safer Boating through Education, Outreach, and Training. Rachel has been with the NSBC for nine years, previously as its Communications Director.

Rachel was recently appointed by the Department of Homeland Security to serve as a member of the National Boating Safety Advisory Council, has done extensive committee work with the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators as Subcommittee Chair and Committee Member, and, most recently, her article on the importance of developing and implementing grassroots campaigns and their impact on positively changing people's behaviors was published in the U.S. Coast Guard Proceedings magazine.

Rachel was recently recognized with PR News' People to Watch in PR Under 30 and the Association Forum and USAE's "Forty Under 40," recognizing 40 up-and-coming association or nonprofit professionals under the age of 40. Among other accolades, under her management, the NSBC's "Ready, Set, Wear It!" Life Jacket World Record Day received ASAE's 2013 prestigious Summit Award for making "America and the world a better place to live" and, in 2016 alone, the NSBC was recognized with eight national awards.

Rachel and I discussed, of course, safe boating and some of the outreach initiatives they are working on; how she has fun on, and below, the water through her stand up paddle boarding and scuba diving hobbies, and lots more!

On their latest outreach.....Our Get Connected campaign is our newest campaign. The idea behind this is letting boaters know about the engine cut off device and how, if you're wearing it, you can stop what could potentially be a tragic propeller strike or something similar. It is really a positive campaign and we want to focus on the proactive always wearing it.

On living the boating lifestyle.....I'm originally from outside of Baltimore and I grew up on the Bush River. My parents had a 23' powerboat. These days I've traded it in for a stand up paddleboard. I like that slow, easy style of the SUP. My parents had two boats that I remember. One was a smaller 19' Bayliner. Then they upgraded to a Trojan powerboat. They also had a couple of PWCs. For me it was just about being out on the water. My first job was a lifeguard at one of the yacht clubs.

On what attracts people into boating.....Every story is so personal. the water draws you in of course and I think all of us share that. But why it draws you in differs – some people love to go fishing, or crabbing at 5am, whereas some like me just want to relax on a quiet Saturday morning. Some people just want to hang out by the dock. They want to relax and hang out with their friends. It draws out your sense of adventure, but everybody's story is a little different.

On spreading the word about boat safety.....Nowadays, with social media and more access to non-profits and to companies, the safety side of things has changed. It's so much more readily accessible than it was when I was growing up. Things like the media and social media are helping to bring these important topics to the front so we can have these important conversations. Bringing in some spokespeople that speak to our audiences help. Shaw Grigsby was wonderful to work with. And just last month we introrduced a PSA with Hunter Bland. He says to this day 'I would not be here if it were not for my life jacket and engine cut off device.'These people's lives get changed by a couple of seconds and people like Hunter want to do such good in the world sharing their stories so others don't have to face the same consequences.

On the importance of partner organizations.....We have an incredible member base. This past year we introduced two new categories for instructors and instructor trainers that want to get more into the training side. We have member organizations and what I really love about them is how varied they are. We have other non-profits, boating and water safety groups, local USCG Auxiliary Groups and Power Squadrons, manufacturers and the commercial industry side. Even though we come from different audiences, we're all sharing that same message

On the the hazards of Boating Under the Influence.....Last year, where the primary cause was known, alcohol was listed as the leading factor in 15% of deaths. We partner with NASBLA on their Operation Dry Water campaign. Nationwide they work wit state agencies to ramp up enforcement. We support them with our outreach efforts. You can have fun enjoying what boating offers without boating under the influence.

On bringing safe boating to children.....We're coming out with an entire new youth program. The sidekicks activity books teach kids about boating safely. They are absolutely amazing but we have been using those characters for 20 year so coming up in the very near future we are printing new books to bring in the next wave of our youth program!

On her scuba passion.....We're big scuba divers and have been around the world to go to different dive sites. My husband was a rescue diver in the Navy and has thousands of dives under his belt. I've always loved the water and I thought 'why am I not under the water, why am I not closer to this beautiful nature?' I started diving around 21 or 22. We got to dive with some reef sharks in the Bahamas. We went to Bermuda and went diving there. Costa Rica was an amazing dive, we saw a barracuda. The one that will never be beat is when we went diving in December in Iceland alongside the Tectonic Plates.

Additional safety tips.....On a national level, the life jacket wear rate for adults is really low. Last year, 83% of those that drowned weren't wearing a life jacket. We always want adults wearing their life jackets. Boating under the influence is a big one for us. And then some other simple things before your trip like filing a float plan. The Coast Guard has a free app where you can file the float plan and send it to a friend. Another one is taking a safe boating course. One other is think about the weather before and throughout your boating trip. Don't be afraid to postpone it if the weather is bad.

On advice for soon-to-be boaters.....Get out there and try different types of boats! There are things like boat clubs. Take up your friends offer. Try out different types. Think about what you want to do on the boat. It's such a gateway to other activities. Sometimes the boat is what gets you to what you want to do. Discover Boating helps you determine which boat might be right for you. Seek out the experts and see what resources they might have for you.