Jim and Susan Moorhead’s retirement plan looks better than most. It includes a comfortable boat, a lot of fine scenery, ample travel, excellent communications and – potentially – the means to support this lifestyle into the future.
A year ago the Moorheads boarded MEMORY MAKER, the 52-foot trawler-yacht they had previously bought in Maryland and refitted in Nova Scotia, and set about creating an electronic travel guide.
“Coastline Memories” is a website (www.coastlinememories.com) stocked with information on Maine coastal towns from Bangor to Portland. Eventually, as the Moorheads work their way south, it will cover ports and cruising destinations down the Eastern Seaboard, perhaps as far as Florida. But for now, Maine is keeping them quite busy.
“We’re reaching out to a market not covered by anybody else,” said Susan in an on-board interview off Falmouth in mid-July. The questions they want to answer, she said, are “why come here?” and “what is there to do and see?”
The nature of the Internet, including the likelihood that most users gain access to it via computers on land, not afloat, means that in most cases the Moorheads are “reaching into people’s homes,” Susan said. In contrast, “most people who read [printed] publications are already here.” For now at least, the major value of their website may be advance travel planning.
That could change, however. On-board Internet access is growing. The Moorheads use AirCard, a new wireless service that – for about $250 plus a $100 monthly charge – provides Internet access via a standard PC. Coverage for this service is spreading along the coast. In addition, of course, regular satellite and regular cellular phone coverage are available in the region.
For those who use computers on board but don’t want to pay for wireless Internet access, it’s also possible to download the Coastline Memories site onto a hard drive and then use it on board.
The number of larger boats manned by liveaboard retirees or well-heeled weekend cruisers is growing, Jim Moorhead said when asked about the market potential for the Website.
The Moorheads’ business plan calls for advertising to support their site. “We’re selling ads,” Jim said, acknowledging “a slow start.” In mid July the Penobscot River section of the site showed more than a half-dozen ads, and Camden-Rockport-Lincolnville had 12. Casco Bay, which is the current focus of the Moorheads’ efforts, had yielded five ads by mid-July. Site statistics showed 53,000 “hits” last month, Jim said. Advertisers get links to their own websites if they have them, plus a page of their own on the Moorheads’ site. “We backend all pages,” Susan said. “It gives all advertisers a web presence and a website within our site.”
In addition to the ads, the site includes considerable information about points of interest (such as the Portland Observatory, the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, the Bangor Museum and Center for History) as well as local nonprofit organizations such as Maine Audubon and the Island Institute.
Finally, there’s the Magazine Page, a members-only section with a swap-and-for-sale column for marine-related items, a recipe corner, a mailbag, a “mooring swap club” and space for articles and profiles written by the Moorheads, who are also soliciting contributions from readers. Annual membership (subscriptions) to the Magazine Page are $25 annually, and it’s open to advertisers as well.
The website wasn’t the Moorheads’ first retirement idea.
“Originally, we thought we’d do vacation charters,” said Susan, “but I wasn’t sure – I didn’t want to be the maid.” She had worked extensively with computers and together, Susan and Jim decided that the Internet travel guide made more sense for them than an on-board bed and breakfast. So as Jim concentrated on the boat and plans for getting from place to place, Susan went to work with a consultant on the website, which she now programs from a work station just aft of MEMORY MAKER’s pilot station.
The couple had been in the real estate business in Pittsfield, Maine for about 30 years before deciding to undertake their new venture. They sold the business and their house, bought the boat and moved aboard last spring. “We’re committed,” said Jim.
Authors of all Maine cruising books, from the Duncan-Ware Cruising Guide to the New England Coast to the Taft-Rindlaub Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast, are obliged to confront the question of privacy; much of the Maine coast is privately owned and not all owners or residents of island communities welcome more tourists. The Moorheads acknowledge the problem but point out that many communities depend heavily on tourism, and that businesses in those places have the right to advertise where they want. If businesses in a remote community won’t advertise on their site, then “we won’t go someplace where we’re not supported,” Susan said. “We’d definitely respect privacy,” she added.