Boaters love to socialize, whether at the dock, on the water—or online. Discover Boating has launched a new Welcome to the Water application allows boat owners to create customized boating trip invites at Facebook.com/DiscoverBoating.

The new boating trip planner application launches just in time for peak boating season and is being promoted through Discover Boating’s Facebook page—which more than doubled its “Likes” in just six weeks, from 39,000 to 100,000, via a strategic Facebook ad buy. The application is also being supported with an ad buy that targets the 15.2 million Facebook users who listed boating or boating-related activities as an interest in their profiles.

“The boating industry is utilizing this social channel to leverage boat owners’ passion for the water and make it easy for them to introduce their friends and family to the boating lifestyle,” says Carl Blackwell, chief marketing officer for Discover Boating. “Our research tells us the strongest indicator of future intent to purchase a boat is personal experience, so this was the main insight behind the development of this application.”

The Welcome to the Water boating trip planner is available in the U.S. and Canada to those who “Like” Discover Boating at Facebook.com/DiscoverBoating. The application allows “captains” to simply invite their “crew,” using their list of Facebook friends to create an invite.

Beyond the standard date and time options, customizable application features include:

•           Type of Boating Trip: What are the plans? Will the crew be fishing, cruising or dropping anchor to swim?

•           On-Board Supplies: What can each guest bring for the trip? Snacks, fishing bait, towels or chip in for gas?

•           Where to Meet: Captains can also utilize Take Me Fishing’s Places to Boat & Fish tool to give their guests directions to more than 35,000 places to get on the water.

Once the crew accepts, trip invitations will be posted on guests’ Facebook pages and newsfeeds, allowing captains and crew to share their on-the-water summer plans. As added incentive, captains will be ranked by the number of people they invite and will be eligible to win weekly nautical prizes. The application will also generate a collective total of boating participants invited to get out on the water throughout the summer.