{{short description|Boat-related web site and non-profit organization}}{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox organization | name = Boatnerd | headquarters = Port Huron, Michigan, U.S. | region_served = Great Lakes | website = https://boatnerd.com/ }}
The '''Boatnerd''' corporation is a registered not-for-profit corporation that provides information about vessels operating on the Great Lakes of North America.<ref name="Fwdailynews2013-03-13" /><ref name="BoatnerdCampaign" />
== Services == The organization holds annual festivals at locations of interest to those engaged in maritime commerce on the Great Lakes. ''The Globe and Mail'' profiled Boatnerd in 2008, when its festival was held at a shipyard in Port Colborne, Ontario, where the ''Calumet'', an 80-year-old lake freighter, was being scrapped.
According to ''The Globe and Mail'', the site's volunteers sometimes report breaking news before it is announced by official authorities. The newspaper quoted a volunteer who noted that while professional mariners occasionally teased the volunteers, they also monitored the site and would promptly correct any errors.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}
The organization maintains an office in Port Huron, Michigan, overlooking the confluence of the St. Clair and Black Rivers.<ref name="Acheson" /><ref name="BoatNerdHQ" /> The site went online in 1995 and became a registered not-for-profit corporation in 2006, under the name ''Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping Online''.<ref name="BoatnerdCampaign" />
The organization also conducts fund-raising raffles that offer unusual prizes.<ref name="BoatNerdTrip" /> Some Great Lakes freighters were originally built with an "owner's suite," which is rarely used today. Through partnerships with shipping companies, the organization has arranged for donors to win cruises aboard working lake freighters in these suites. Seventy-six donors have participated in such cruises.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}
== Recognition == When Acheson Ventures provided space for the organization's headquarters in its Maritime Center overlooking the St. Clair River, it described Boatnerd as "the most widely used website for Great Lakes maritime information."<ref name="Acheson" /> Reporters have considered the site reliable enough to cite or quote by name in their articles.<ref name="Netnewsledger2013-11-09" /><ref name="BuffaloNews2010-09-12" /><ref name="ToledoFreePress2014-09-26" /><ref name="DailyTribune" />
The organization was profiled by ''The Globe and Mail'' in 2008.<ref name="GlobeAndMail2008-09-26" />
In December 2014, travel writer Bob Boughner wrote in the ''Chatham Daily News'' that "the average person, like myself, would have no idea where the ships were headed or what they were carrying if it wasn't for a relatively new organization headquartered in Port Huron, Mich., known as BoatNerd.com."<ref name="ChathamDailyNews2014-12-05" />
==References== {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=ChathamDailyNews2014-12-05>{{cite news |url = http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2014/12/05/travel-writer-finds-contentment-on-st-clair-river |title = Travel writer finds contentment on St. Clair River 3 |work = Chatham Daily News |author = Bob Boughner |date = December 5, 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150815164830/http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2014/12/05/travel-writer-finds-contentment-on-st-clair-river |archive-date = August 15, 2015 |url-status = dead }}</ref>
<ref name=GlobeAndMail2008-09-26>{{cite news |url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/nerds-ahoy/article1350013/ |title = Nerds ahoy |work = The Globe and Mail |author = Patrick White |date = September 26, 2008 |location = Toronto |archive-date = November 21, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131121030156/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/nerds-ahoy/article1350013/ |url-status = live }}</ref>
<ref name=BoatnerdCampaign>{{cite news |url = http://www.boatnerd.com/501/default.htm |title = Campaign for boatnerd |publisher = Boatnerd |archive-date = May 9, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130509163620/http://www.boatnerd.com/501/default.htm |url-status = live }}</ref>
<ref name=BoatNerdHQ>{{cite news |url = http://www.boatnerd.com/about/worldHQ/default.htm |title = World Headquarters at Vantage Point, Port Huron, Michigan |work = Boatnerd |access-date = November 21, 2013 |archive-date = May 9, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130509134229/http://www.boatnerd.com/about/worldHQ/default.htm |url-status = live }}</ref>
<ref name=BoatNerdTrip>{{cite news |url = http://www.boatnerd.com/trips/ |title = Cruise the Great Lakes on a Working Freighter |work = Boatnerd |access-date = November 21, 2013 |archive-date = September 7, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130907015511/http://www.boatnerd.com/trips/ |url-status = live }}</ref> <ref name=Acheson>{{cite news |url = http://www.achesonventures.com/MaritimeCenter.aspx |title = Visit the Maritime Center at Vantage Point! |publisher = Acheson Ventures |access-date = November 21, 2013 |archive-date = July 28, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130728170846/http://achesonventures.com/MaritimeCenter.aspx |url-status = dead }}</ref> <ref name=Fwdailynews2013-03-13>{{cite news |url = http://www.fwdailynews.com/archives/boat-nerd-reveals-childhood-obsession/article_19d4c2b2-39c6-5ba1-a191-d8e1caf58b47.html |title = Boat nerd reveals childhood obsession |work = Fort Wayne Daily News |first = Jeff |last = Jones |date = March 13, 2013 |archive-date = April 10, 2014 |archive-url = https://archive.today/20140410052820/http://www.fwdailynews.com/archives/boat-nerd-reveals-childhood-obsession/article_19d4c2b2-39c6-5ba1-a191-d8e1caf58b47.html |url-status = dead }}</ref> <ref name=Netnewsledger2013-11-09>{{cite news |url = http://www.netnewsledger.com/2013/11/09/lake-superior-storm-claimed-edmund-fitzgerald/ |title = Lake Superior Storm Claimed Edmund Fitzgerald: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald |work = netnewsledger |first = James |last = Murray |date = November 9, 2013 |archive-date = November 21, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131121030213/http://www.netnewsledger.com/2013/11/09/lake-superior-storm-claimed-edmund-fitzgerald/ |url-status = live }}</ref> <ref name=BuffaloNews2010-09-12>{{cite news |url = http://www.buffalonews.com/business/article187652.ece |title = Tough times for Great Lakes shipping |work = Buffalo News |first = Mary |last = Kunz Goldman |date = September 12, 2010 |access-date = November 25, 2013 |archive-date = September 23, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100923053046/http://www.buffalonews.com/business/article187652.ece |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref> <ref name=ToledoFreePress2014-09-26>{{cite news |url = http://www.toledofreepress.com/2014/09/26/maumee-river-busy-with-new-project-freighter-action/ |title = Maumee River busy with new project, freighter action |work = Toledo Free Press |first = Don |last = Lee |date = September 26, 2014 |location = Toledo, Ohio |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141110111019/http://www.toledofreepress.com/2014/09/26/maumee-river-busy-with-new-project-freighter-action/ |archive-date = November 10, 2014 |access-date = January 1, 2015 |url-status = dead }}</ref> <ref name=DailyTribune>{{cite news |url = http://www.dailytribune.com/20100425/despite-the-name-this-website-is-for-anyone-but-nerds |title = Despite the name, this website is for anyone but nerds |work = Daily Tribune |date = April 25, 2010 |access-date = June 22, 2015 }}</ref> }}
==External links== * [http://boatnerd.com/ Boat Nerd website]
Category:Water transportation in North America Category:Non-profit organizations based in Michigan