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Advertiser Information

The Waggoner Cruising Guide is THE annual guide for cruising the Inside Passage waters of the Pacific Northwest—from Olympia, Washington to Ketchikan, Alaska, and the West Coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It often referred to as the “Bible for Northwest Cruising.”

The guidebook contains complete and essential up-to-date information for boaters on moorage at marinas, parks, and anchorages; charts needed; piloting suggestions; VHF radio frequencies and phone numbers; weather stations; local knowledge and interesting people and places along the way. The guide is illustrated with over 150 maps and 300 photographs.

The Waggoner started in 1994—2012 will be the 18th Edition. It is by far the Northwest’s most popular boating guide with over 30,000 copies in use every season.

Who Should Advertise

Any business whose products and services are aimed at Northwest cruising boaters should seriously consider advertising in the Waggoner Cruising Guide. This includes Chambers of Commerce, tourism agencies, ports, marinas, repair facilities, supplies and equipment for boats, charter companies, restaurants, grocery stores, real estate, even veterinary hospitals—whatever boaters need or hope to find.

The readers of the Waggoner Cruising Guide are the ideal demographic. They own their own boat or they charter. They like to travel and spend 2-9 weeks or more boating every season. They may spend from $750-$4500 a week while cruising on restaurants, moorage, groceries, supplies, and boating parts and services. In a year they may spend between $5,000–$50,000 or more in boat maintenance, upgrades or modifications. An ad in the Waggoner Guide is in use for a year and many times longer. With an estimated 30,000 Waggoner Cruising Guides in use at all times, it works.

Each year, 96% of the Waggoner’s 220+ advertisers renew for the following year. Waggoner advertising works for the marine industry.

Circulation

Annual sales are 7500-8500 copies per year. The 2011 print run was over 9,000 copies. Sales at the Waggoner display in the 2011 Seattle Boat Show came to just over 650 copies, and over 600 copies through dealers on the show floor, a steady stream of devoted and enthusiastic Waggoner Cruising Guide users.

Repeatedly, people say the Waggoner is the “book they rely upon; the best guide in the Northwest; the one book they would not be without.”

Distribution

In addition to the Seattle Boat Show, a large number of copies are sold at marine supply stores, nautical chart agents, and nautical bookstores in the Northwest. Trade bookstores account for a small percentage of sales. Several hundred direct sales come from the Waggoner web site and Amazon.com.

Distribution in Canada is through Heritage House Publishers, in Surrey, B.C. Approximately 1/3 of the books are sold in British Columbia to both Canadian and U.S. Customers.

The Waggoner Cruising Guide is printed in November of the year prior to the date on the cover. It is available in stores and online for Christmas gift giving and trip planning through the winter and spring. Almost 50% of the Waggoner Guides are sold prior to the cruising season for trip planning.

Waggoner Cruising Guide Website and Apps

Each week 1000-2000 boaters access the WaggonerGuide.com web site for up-to-date boating information. Updates on marinas, customs procedures, safety items are all posted to aid in trip planning. Waggoner advertisers appear on the website for no additional charge.

In 2012, the Waggoner Cruising Guide will be released as an App on the Apple iPad and iPhone and on Android pads and phones. Waggoner advertisers will appear in the apps. Location specific advertisers will benefit from the tie-in to the GPS capabilities of the pads and smartphones.

Promotion

The Waggoner Cruising Guide has displayed at the Seattle Boat Show since 1982. In the spring, the Waggoner runs regular ads in yachting magazines in British Columbia, around Puget Sound and Northern California.

Waggoner Cruising Guide Editor/Publisher, Mark Bunzel, and Founding Editor, Robert Hale, make presentations at yacht clubs, boating type clubs and Power Squadrons meetings throughout each year.

For more information about rates for advertising in the Waggoner Cruising Guide in print and electronic media, download our Rate Card. (931KB)

To contact us about placing an ad, please call (425) 780-5015, fax information to (360) 299-0535 or e-mail info@waggonerguide.com.