The Marine Industries Association of South Florida has partnered with Google Street View’s regional content provider to launch Waterway View. The new video resource brings Google’s Street View technology to the Intracoastal Waterway on the East Coast of Florida.
“Known as the ‘Yachting Capital of the World’ and home to the largest concentration of refit and repair businesses in the U.S., there is no better region than South Florida to launch this exciting new platform for boaters,” said Phil Purcell, CEO/president of MIASF, which owns the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, in a statement. “This is an incredible opportunity to add another tool to the toolkit of the marine industry in South Florida, which employs 136,000 people and produces and annual economic impact of $11.5 billion.”
Waterway View and its companion mobile app are interfaced with Google Maps programming, giving boaters immediate access to information while they are on the water. The Google Street View “blue line” will follow the waterway, helping boaters choose their destinations with the benefit of visual familiarization anywhere along the mapped waterways in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and portions of Monroe counties. The Waterway View app will be a free download from the Apple app and Google Play stores and on MIASF’s website, MIASF.org.
Waterway mapping begins in February with Broward County, with completion anticipated by summer 2018 in Key Largo. The app will be available for download in June. Here is a video that explains Waterway View.
“Just as Google Street View is a valuable instrument and a trusted way for businesses to connect with customers, Waterway View has the potential to be the most exciting new resource for the boating lifestyle, connecting boaters with restaurants, marinas, fuel docks, service and sales centers, and all the other resources they may need,” said Purcell.
Added Google Virtual Reality partner Jim Hilker, “Florida leads the country in boat registrations and its waterways are used by locals and tourists every day of the year. This will be a very useful platform for experienced boaters, newcomers and tourists looking to access the many locations available to them by water.”
Mapping boats are being provided by Boat Owners Warehouse and by MarineMax. “We are excited to be involved in this innovative partnership and look forward to rolling out a very useful new resource for all the boaters in the area,” said Steve Baum, president and CEO of Boat Owners Warehouse and MIASF Anchor member.
“The goal of this initiative is to increase awareness on the waterways,” said Chuck Cashman, chief revenue officer for MarineMax, also an MIASF Anchor member. “Boaters can plan a day out on the water in advance through a visual familiarization of local boating hotspots and boating-friendly businesses.”