Turning Marinas into Villages

A community-first platform designed to transform marinas from transient stops into vibrant maritime villages. By connecting boaters and creating digital infrastructure for real-world interactions, Naval Nomad enhances the marina experience while building lasting relationships among nautical enthusiasts.

Naval Nomad focuses on community building first, with features that make boaters' lives easier added progressively based on user needs and feedback.

• Connect Network: Follow and connect with fellow boaters (like LinkedIn for the maritime community)
• Location Sharing: See which marina your connections are currently docked at (with privacy controls)
• Marina Chat: Location-specific conversations and community discussions
• User Profiles: Vessel information, travel history, and personal maritime story

• Public: Region or town only
• Marina-level: Exact marina visible to connections and fleetmates
• Precise berth: Crew only, or explicit one-off sharing

• Crew: People linked to a specific vessel with access to vessel dashboards
• Fleet: Groups of vessels that travel together (temporary or ongoing)
• Connections: Your broader maritime network

• Event Management: Marina events calendar and community meetups
• Journey Blogs: Document and share maritime adventures
• Route Planning: Advanced navigation and trip planning tools
• Marina Integration: Tools for marina staff to enhance customer service

• /landing - React community platform built with Vite
• /landing/infrastructure - OpenTofu/Terraform IaC for AWS (frontend hosting, CI/CD)

1. Install dependencies:

cd landing
npm install

2. Start development server:

npm run dev

The site is automatically deployed when changes are pushed to the main branch via GitHub Actions.

1. Build the application:

cd landing
npm run build

2. The GitHub Action automatically deploys to AWS S3 + CloudFront.

The project uses OpenTofu/Terraform to manage AWS:

• S3 bucket for static site (private) with CloudFront Origin Access
• CloudFront distribution and ACM certificate
• Route53 DNS for domain and aliases
• S3 backend state with DynamoDB table for state locking
• GitHub Actions (OIDC role) for CI/CD deployments

Community First: Every feature decision prioritizes building and strengthening the maritime community.

Progressive Enhancement: Start with core social features, then add complexity based on user feedback.

Privacy by Design: Location and personal information sharing is always opt-in with granular controls.

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

While the code is open source under the MIT License, the Naval Nomad brand, business concept, and related assets remain proprietary. See CONTRIBUTING.md for more details on intellectual property rights and contribution guidelines.