Floating billboard now cruising Atlantic Ocean along Volusia County shores

PONCE INLET — A floating billboard made its debut this week along Volusia County beaches, turning heads as it made its way from Ponce Inlet to Ormond Beach.

"You can see people coming out on their balconies and taking their phones out to record," the boat’s owner Rob Guarriello said. "Every day we spend on the water, we get calls, which is nice."

Guarriello, who started the company Shark Bite Media, was granted a special permit March 16 by the Volusia County Council that allows the barge to come within 1,500 feet of the coastline. It comes in as close as 750 feet.

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Tuesday and Wednesday were the first days the weather permitted the 60-feet barge to make the trip. The seas have to be fairly calm for the boat to operate safely.

"Anything less than 3 feet is nice for us," Guarriello said.

The boat contains nearly 2.5 million LEDs, or light-emitting diodes. There are only three colors of lights, more than 819,200 each in red, blue and green. Combining these three basic colors in different proportions can produce an enormous range of colors.

The pair of 40-foot screens are powered by a diesel generator and Guarriello composes a playlist with the day’s ads and messages, which he can change while on the go.

Interspersed between ads for Cracked Egg Diner, Coors, Salt Life and a realtor were PSAs to wear sunscreen and "Help keep our beaches clean." A visiting family got a special message welcoming them to Daytona Beach . He put up some free information for the Humane Society.

"I know we have some naysayers out there, but I think once they see our product we’re going to make them proud," Guarriello said.

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The pricing is variable, but Guarriello said a couple hundred dollars could get a message on the boat for a day, while larger companies will spend thousands on extended campaigns.

Buddy Simmons captains the boat, and there’s always at least one other person on board. This week, that’s been Guarriello. He said he aims to make the floating billboard a sight people enjoy seeing, not something they have to put up with.

"Our goal is to be more of a message center for the community. Obviously, the ads are what’s going to support the business, but we want it to be something people look forward to seeing," he said.

'There's plenty of water out there'

At Andy Romano Park in Ormond Beach Wednesday, hundreds of people watched the passing boat and seemed OK with it, although some had a hard time seeing the advertising.

"It's hard to read," commented Midge Smith, a winter visitor from Michigan. "I don't know if it's the light. When I first saw it, I thought, 'I'm going to need binoculars.'"

Smith added that the floating advertising didn't bother her.  "Not any more than the planes flying over," she quipped.

Brenda Sloan, visiting the area from southern Illinois, appreciated one of the advertising barge's messages.

"I really liked the ad about keeping the beaches clean,” she said. “It didn't bother me at all. There's plenty of water out there. I felt like it's a good idea."

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Sloan added a caveat: "Now if it was a parade of boats, I might have a problem with it."

Floating billboards make frequent appearances in northern cities like New York and Boston, but have also been seen on both Florida coasts, causing stirs in Miami and Destin.

"There will likely be more that pop up because the tech just lends itself perfectly to it," Guarriello said.

Guarriello has been trying to secure permission for the business for about nine months.

"The 1,500 feet was the problem," he said.

Beach code prevents vessels from coming any closer to shore, but that’s too far away to make out the screen.

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Volusia County Councilwoman Billie Wheeler led the charge on the council March 16 when Guarriello was awarded the permit as a "pilot." The application appeared to be in jeopardy before Wheeler spoke up, helping persuade all but Councilwoman Heather Post in the 6-1 vote.

"Let’s see if this works," Wheeler recommended at the meeting. "If it doesn’t, can we tweak it?"

If the boat wants to return in 2022, Guarriello will have to come before the council once more.

In the meantime, Shark Bite Media showed movies on Ponce Inlet’s Disappearing Island.

"We weren’t really planning on doing movies, but when the whole COVID thing hit, we thought, 'Hey, let’s show a movie out on the water,'" Guarriello said.

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They’ve played School of Rock and Back to the Future, but couldn’t get their hand on Jaws. Universal Pictures didn’t want to sell a license if the movie was going to be played so close to the water, Guarriello said.

Volusia County is the shark bite capital of the world, after all.

For Guarriello, it’s been a winding path that led him to his latest business idea. He worked as a commercial airplane pilot and chartered fishing boats. He went into real estate, then opened a hobby shop in Daytona Beach selling remote-control toys.

"Hopefully this is my last venture," he said.