In an industry increasingly focused on sustainability and cutting-edge navigation, FarSounder has positioned itself at the intersection of innovation and marine conservation. At the Palm Beach International Boat Show 2025, Onno Ebbens, Chief Marketing Officer at YATCO, sat down with Cassie Stetkiewicz, Director of Operations at FarSounder, to discuss how the company is reshaping the way we think about navigation, safety, and data-sharing in the yachting world.
Watch OLD How FarSounder Is Making Ocean Navigation Safer and Smarter | YATCO video on YouTube.
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Video Transcription:
Sharing FarSounder’s Story
Onno Ebbens: “Well, we’re back on the terrace, and the FarSounder story is quite an interesting story.”
Cassie Stetkiewicz: “Thank you, I think it is too. It is!”
Onno: “So I want to just dive a little bit deeper in—can you introduce yourself to the people that don’t know you?”
Cassie: “Sure. I’m Cassie Stetkiewicz. I am Director of Operations at FarSounder. We manufacture and develop forward-looking sonar systems for navigation, and that’s who I am. I originally started at FarSounder almost eight years ago. I started in the marketing realm, and now—since our last CEO, Cheryl, retired—I have taken on some other responsibilities and moved to Director of Operations with Matthew, who is our new CEO.”
Onno: “Matthew is Cheryl’s son, right?”
Cassie: “Yes.”
Onno: “Yeah. So, it is kind of like FarSounder has got this family view to it.”
Cassie: “Yes, it does.”
Onno: “Is that how you experience it as well?”
Cassie: “Yes. when I started at FarSounder—I was Matthew’s neighbor. I was in the travel industry, traveling globally for mall contracting, tour development-type of things, and in the marketing side as well for a major tour operator. He lived right next door to me, and we used to see each other socially. Then he brought up that there was availability to work at his company, and through his passion and excitement about his company, he really drew me in. I started working for him—again, about eight years ago—and I’ve never looked back since.”
Onno: “I mean, I know Cheryl and Matthew very well, and they’re like—they’re special people.”
Cassie: “They are. They’re very special.”
The Soul Behind the Tech
Onno: “I mean, what I like about it—it’s not just a product, which is probably an amazing product (I’m not enough of an expert to decide on that), but they actually care about the industry. They care about the sea, don’t they? And you do, probably, as well. I think that’s so interesting, because you come from the travel industry, which is also a luxury travel industry. But looking at it from that perspective, what’s the main difference between those two worlds?”
Cassie: “I’d rather probably mention the similarities, where there’s a lot of overlap. Both are global industries. We are also concerned about sustainability in the travel industry as much as the yachting industry is—making sure you do no harm. Even though you do want to go to those out-of-the-way places, see interesting things, and be a part of the culture, you don’t want to do anything negative. It just wants to be a positive experience. So, with my background of just wanting to get out there and see the world, I think a lot of the yachting industry feels the same way. They just want to go out, see the world, and be a part of it in a big way. And also, at the same time, be part of the solution—not the problem.”
From Prevention to Participation: FarSounder’s Broader Mission
Onno: “That’s true, because I do think the industry really cares. And that brings us a little bit to the solution that you guys have—because, in a way, what you do helps as well, right?”
Cassie: “Oh yeah, totally. So, we were actually founded on the premise that we don’t want sea vessels to hit things in the water—including whale strikes, groundings, causing oil spills, and things like that. Part of who we are and where we develop towards is that premise: that we want to help prevent any accidents. We also are trying to find new ways to help. So, we have developed a way for our customers to upload the data they collect every day to the cloud, and they’re able to download that information—and donate it—to Seabed 2030.”
Supporting Seabed 2030: Data for Global Impact
Onno: “Exactly! That’s what I want to talk about—Seabed 2030—that’s a fantastic initiative. Do you want to explain shortly what it is?”
Cassie: “Yeah. It’s an initiative to map the seabed by 2030. They’re doing it through citizen science and donations of seabed information in any way at all to gather it. So, they’ve really brought the community together—not just the yachting community, but mariners in general—to come together, give the data, and try to make a difference. Because hydrographic companies can only do so much. And when you’re out there anyway—why not donate what you’re doing as well? It is sharing data. There’s no privacy involved, etc. It’s raw data.”
Onno: “Oh yeah.”
Cassie: “It’s totally anonymous. No one would ever know where the data came from. So yeah, it’s just a way to donate—just blindly donate—and not have to worry about anyone knowing where you are or anything. So, it’s no concern for the yacht industry.”
Onno: “No, and how many vessels are participating already through you guys?”
Cassie: “See, I don’t know the actual number—but there is a fair amount of our industry. We’ve rolled it out to all of our customers now, and those who have updated their software are donating now. So, I don’t know the exact number.”
Onno: “No—but enough?”
Cassie: “Yes, definitely enough.”
Whale Sightings and Marine Conservation
Onno: “And that’s nice. I think it’s a great initiative. It shows that we need to care about this industry. We live off the sea, so we need to look after the sea, don’t we?”
Cassie: “Yes, totally. And our latest software release—I mean, I’m changing the subject a little bit—but whales. Our systems can see whales. So, when our customers see them, they can now hit a button that will pop up on the screen that says, ‘I saw a whale.’ And then that data can also be uploaded to a cloud and sent to interested endpoints.”
Onno: “So you can basically track where the whale population is?”
Cassie: “Yes, if one of the crew members sees a whale, they can log it, and we can send it to the scientific community, so they know where the whales are going.”
Onno: “That’s pretty amazing. And what was the reason behind building that into the software?”
Cassie: “Again, it’s our motivation to make the marine environment safer, to help science whenever we can, and to donate to causes that help protect whales and the environment in general. And we want to help our customers be a part of that. We feel like they do want to be a part of that.”
A Shared Vision for the Sea
Onno: “Well, I think those are the best final words of this interview—that the customers want to be a part of that, and you guys want to be a part of that. Thank you so much, Cassie. It was great talking to you.”
Cassie: “Thank you, Onno. I really appreciate the opportunity.”
