After you’ve done all the hard thinking and planning involved in designing an array system that suits your site, your budget, and your business goals (and you’ve received a permit to start your farm), it’s time to bring your farm design to life. This is an exciting step in your journey as an ocean farmer. Your farm plan will transition from sketches and gear lists into an ever-mounting pile of real-life equipment in your shed or garage.

The process of locating and purchasing all of the required components of your array systems will involve a fair amount of time and logistics. You’ll need to contact different dealers, organize the shipping and delivery of bulky, heavy equipment, and make alternative arrangements if something is unavailable or out of stock. Start early! You’ll want to begin this process as soon as you receive your lease and permit, and by mid-summer at the latest.

As you source your gear, you might find that some of the components that have been recommended to you—either through the Farm Design Tool or by other people—aren’t available in your region or are prohibitively expensive to ship there.