Selfies are everywhere. And since most of my friends are boaters, most of the selfies I see (especially in summer) are taken on boats. Which, even though I'd never realized before, makes them all "#boaties." Selfies on your boat: get it?

My husband Paul has been taking boaties for more than 20 years, long before they had a name. I used to think it was weird, but he was just ahead of his time. Now, thanks to the lucky accident of two intersecting technologies (camera phones and social media), these self-taken images even have their own name. Here's one of us he took on an Irish riverboat cruise a few years ago.

Cruising down the Shannon River. Photo: Paul Cronin Studios

Cruising down the Shannon River. Photo: Paul Cronin Studios



boats.com has recently launched the hashtag #boatie to collect all these boating selfie images into one big photo "album." The variety of photos already submitted is a great reminder: boating and #boaties cover a very wide range of waterplay.

Here's another one I'm going to submit, taken during some sailing practice last winter on Biscayne Bay.

I took time out from Snipe practicing with Peter Commette for this boatie.

I took time out from practicing with Peter Commette for this boatie.



Don't forget to submit your own #boatie to the great photo mashup currently building on boats.com. Use the hashtag, and you might just see your own smiling face on our Facebook or Instagram pages.

Written by: Carol Cronin
Carol Cronin has published several novels about the Olympics, sailing, hurricanes, time travel, and old schooners. She spends as much time on the water as possible, in a variety of boats, though most have sails.