Story By: ROBERT STOPPER, Lyons
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| Jeff & Karen Siegel aboard their boat, A Capella |
Mention the
words, “Active Captain” to serious boaters, and the response might be, “You
mean the Bible of the boating world? I follow it faithfully!” “Active Captain”
is an interactive cruising guide book on the web. For boaters, it is a quickly accessed location
to learn what other boaters have said about a particular marina or community. All
the data is gathered through “crowd sourcing” to “Active Captain”. The web site,
with over 200,000 viewers, is followed throughout the world! Founders and
owners of the site “Active Captain” are Jeff and Karen Siegel.
At the
request of many boaters, especially “Great Loopers”, Jeff and Karen are far
from their home port of Castine, Maine. In their DeFever 53RPH Trawler, they
are presently plying the waters of the Western Erie Canal and visiting
communities along the waterway.
Jeff and
Karen are on a mission- to provide updated information about each canalside
community and to offer possible ways to better promote each community and the
Erie Canal. After evaluating the docking area, touring the community, and meeting
with representatives of the community, updates are immediately placed on the
Active Captain website for the world to see.
On Tuesday
evening, July 30, Jeff and Karen met with members of the Lyons Community,
including Mayor Corrine Kleisle, Lyons Town Supervisor Brian Manktelow, members
of the Meet and Greet Crew, and other representatives of the community. After giving a personal evaluation of the
present status of the Erie Canal, Jeff and Karen, from the lens of “world- wide
tourists”, evaluated the Lyons docking area and the community at large. (Jeff
and Karen have lived on their boat for the past 11 years and have traveled thousands of nautical miles).
They found
both the docking area and the community, especially the Hotchkiss Building and
the Wayne County Museum, very favorable to the boater tourist. Then they
offered several ideas for consideration which might enhance future boaters to
stop, visit, and then stay at the dock for the night and possibly even for
several days. A general discussion followed the presentation.
After
walking the streets, visiting several stores, touring the Hotchkiss Building,
the County Museum, Dobbins Park and Murals, Abbey Park, Lock E 56, The Ohmann,
and the Trail of Hope, Jeff and Karen concluded the second day of their visit
by attending a Jazz Concert on the Village Green, accompanied by their
beautiful Golden Labs, Dylan and DeeDee.
Ironically, music lovers of the evening vied for the privilege of
walking the dogs. Yes, in the category of “Dog friendly,” Lyons is listed as
“Outstanding”!
A special
“Thank you” to Jeff and Karen for assisting all the Erie Canal Communities in
their quest for more boating tourists.
To see what the world- national as well as international- is reading,
and to see what boaters are saying about your community, visit www.activecaptain.com.
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Gil Burgess Said,
Another well-written story, Bob!
Posted on Sun Aug 04, 10:03:00 PM EDT