Features
A complete website, trip requests that reach your phone, and the booking tools you already use. Anything marked Captain comes with the Captain plan; everything else is free.
Phone app
Captains live on their phones, not at a desk. Put First Mate on your home screen and the things you do every day are one tap away.
Trip request alerts on your phone
The moment an angler sends a trip request, your phone buzzes with their name, date and party size. Tap it to open the request and call or reply.
Alerts for Message button questionsCaptain
Quick questions from your site's Message button arrive the same way, so nobody waits on a reply while you are on the water.
Post a fishing report from the dockCaptain
Snap a photo, type two lines about the bite, post. It goes up on your reports page for anglers and Google to find.
Block a day in two tapsCaptain
Weather, a private trip, a day off: pick the date and it comes off your availability calendar right away.
No app store, nothing to update
Add your dashboard to your home screen from the browser and it opens like an app. It uses the same login as your dashboard.
Anglers reach you
Some anglers want to book. Some just want to ask if the redfish are biting. Your site gives both a way in, and every message comes to you.
A Message button on every pageCaptain
Anglers tap it to text you, message you on WhatsApp, or send a quick question without filling out a full request. You choose which options show.
Trip requests with the details you need
Name, date, party size, trip and their note land in your dashboard and your email, on every plan.
A mailing list in your nameCaptain
Signups from your footer and request form, with a one-click CSV export whenever you want to send an update.
Widgets and booking
Gift cards for the holidays, a video of last week's catch, a map to the dock, your booking calendar. Paste the link and it shows up looking like it belongs.
Gift cards and merchCaptain
Paste a Gift Up or Square link and it shows as a proper section on your page. Other stores show as a clean link button.
Video, maps and formsCaptain
YouTube and Vimeo videos, a Google Map to your dock, Google Forms and Google Calendar, placed on any of your own pages.
Booking calendarsCaptain
FareHarbor checkout on your trip pages, FishingBooker links, or the built-in availability calendar with Google, Outlook and Apple sync.
Safe by design
You paste a link, not code. We build the widget from the link, so nothing on your site can break or slow it down.
Unreel Charters
First Mate is built by the same team as Unreel Charters, the charter directory. Your site and your listing work together instead of being two more things to keep up.
Verified captain badges
When Unreel Charters has checked your Coast Guard license and your insurance certificate, your site shows USCG Licensed Captain and Insurance on File badges, updated automatically.
One profile for your site and your listingCaptain
Link your Unreel Charters listing and keep your details matching: send a change from one to the other with Push and Pull buttons, or turn on automatic sync. A field changed in both places always waits for you to pick.
Not on Unreel yet? One clickCaptain
Create a free Unreel Charters listing straight from your site, with your name, photos, trips and rates already filled in.
Getting found
A good-looking site only helps if people find it. Every First Mate site is built the way Google likes to see a local business.
Built for Google from day one
Sitemaps, meta tags and local business schema on every page, plus a page for every trip and every species you target.
Your Google reviews, on your site
Reviews come over from your Google listing on every plan. On Captain, new anglers can also leave reviews with photos that you approve before they show.
Fishing reports that keep workingCaptain
Every report gets its own page, so every good trip is another reason for Google to send the next angler your way.
Site stats on every plan
Visits, phone taps, booking clicks and trip requests, so you know what your site is doing for you.
Already have a website?
The questions captains ask before they move from their current site.
Often the same day. We build a draft from your Google listing or your current website, you look it over and change what you like, and it goes live only when you press Publish.
Yes. It stays registered in your name wherever you bought it (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace, anywhere). You never transfer it to us: you change two website records we show you, an A record and a www record, and your domain points to your new site. Using your own domain is part of the Captain plan.
Yes. Those two records only move the website. Your email runs on separate records (called MX records), and we never ask you to change them. Just leave them where they are.
Nothing. We don't touch it or delete it; once your domain points to First Mate, visitors simply see the new site. The old one stays with your old host until you cancel there, so save anything you want first, and keep that account if it also runs your email.
Any site move can cause a short dip while Google reads the new pages, and it usually settles within a few weeks. Your First Mate site is built the way Google likes to see a local business: a sitemap, local business details on every page, and a page for every trip and species.
You do. Your photos, text, trips and reviews are yours, as our Terms say. If you ever leave, email support@firstmatesite.com and we will send you a copy of your photos and text.
Your site stays live on its free firstmatesite.com address with everything you added kept. Captain features, including your own domain, switch back on the moment you subscribe again.
On any plan, send us your Google listing or your old website and we set your site up for you, then make your first round of changes free. After that, change anything yourself from your phone, or email us.
No card needed. If you do not keep Captain, your site stays live on the free plan.