Southern Mexico: I was sitting in the cockpit over my morning reads (weather, news, website) when I noticed our blog numbers were going crazy. The website app informed me that our numbers were doing well so I checked out my stats page…and it was blowing up. I could not quantify why the blog stats were going crazy? It wasn’t a particular story, as we’ve been doing longer passages and then a bit of a land trip to Palenque so I have not been as active on the blog as usual, but we’re back in the saddle now…and waiting on more parts.
By mid-day the blog stats went over 200 views so I knew that something good was going on, so I started going through emails looking for anything to explain the numbers. Upon opening the “Noonsite February Sailing News and Updates” letter/email, I knew why the site was getting all those views. LiveFree2SailFast.com and Tulum are the featured cruisers in this months newsletter and the editor very generously linked back to our site, allowing all of their readers to check out our website….Thank you Sue!
What is “Noonsite”?
In my words, Noonsite is an online cruisers resource with a library of data about most countries and areas a cruising boat can visit and a huge library of cruising information. Starting in 2020 it became a repository for ever changing Covid-19 restrictions and country shutdowns that have affected the cruising community.
* Here’s Noonsite in their own words:
“Introducing Noonsite
Over the past two decades Noonsite has been the cruising yachtsman’s primary source of worldwide cruising information, including a wealth of up-to-date information on practically every country of interest. As the only source on the web for detailed information on country formalities and what to expect when you first arrive in a foreign port, plus port and marina information, a wealth of reports from cruisers and the latest cruising news, Noonsite should be bookmarked as every skipper’s favorite.
2020 saw a new channel of information open up to assist cruisers with the complex Covid protocols that are constantly changing at ports of entry worldwide, plus a new mapping system easily displaying ports of entry, open and closed ports, marinas and boatyards around the world and giving direct access to port and country information on the site.
Noonsite’s users share information with each other via the “comments” function on all ports, countries and reports and the monthly newsletter is the ideal way to keep abreast of what’s going on in the world of long-distance cruising. Noonsite remains a free resource for the cruising community.
Noonsite has received a number of awards in recent years, as well as being nominated for the Maritime Media Awards in 2017.”
- OCC 2021 Award as part of Team South Pacific
- SSCA Growltiger Clean Wake Award in 2020
- OCC Geoff Pack Memorial Trophy in 2017
In the end, LF2SF just had our best day “stats” day ever with nearly 500 views in one day, thanks again to Noonsite. Keep in mind, we’re a tiny (but growing) travel, sailing and cruising website written on a cruising sailboat with no sponsors, no budget for advertising and stories written by kids, dog, HelmsMistress and me….out of a desire to bring you the ups…AND downs of the cruising life. We hope to share the whole story of cruising and traveling slowly with kid and a dog (and cat) and welcome comments, concerns and questions. If you were one of those nearly 500 views to our site and you like us, please FOLLOW our completely free site to continue to receive weekly stories about sailing, cruising and travel with kids.
* – From the “Noonsite” Website
