BOAT/U.S. Magazine articles from July 1999

BOAT/U.S. Magazine archives from July 1999

BEHIND THE BUOY.
July 1, 1999... Publishing a magazine for the Association's 500,000 members is a lot like entering a crowded channel on a sunny afternoon. While steering a steady course, you've got to be mindful of the needs of competing traffic (personal watercraft,...

Hurricanes Back with a Vengeance.
July 1, 1999... Now that El Nino is gone we now have to be concerned about his evil sister, La Nina, who has taken his place in the central Pacific. Her mass of cooler-than-normal ocean water temperatures now has the potential to disrupt global weather...

1998 Accidents Down Slightly.
July 1, 1999... Preliminary figures reported by state boating administrators show that boating accident fatalities dropped from 819 in 1997 to 814 in 1998. A downward trend is always welcome, especially after 1997 in which fatalities rose 13% from an all-time...

Weather Channel Cleared.
July 1, 1999... A lawsuit by the family of a victim of a fatal boating accident against cable TV's Weather Channel was dismissed in U.S. District Court in Miami. In a ruling that has weather broadcasters nationwide breathing easier, Judge James Paine wrote...

Boating Boost in Ohio.
July 1, 1999... Ohio boaters will see more of their state tax dollars at work for them in boating programs for the first time in 40 years. The Ohio legislature approved a bill this year to boost the amount of state gas tax on marine fuel dedicated to boating...

More PWC Restrictions Surfacing.
July 1, 1999... It's hard to hit a moving target, they say, but personal watercraft (PWC) continue to draw fire from regulators. The National Park Service has banned PWC from Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina and from Voyageurs National Park in...

Grassroots Grants Applications Available.
July 1, 1999... Are there boating safety issues you would like to address in your community? The BOAT/U.S. Foundation for Boating Safety is now accepting grant applications through November 1 for funding in 2000. Volunteer groups that are nonprofit and not...

Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Money.
July 1, 1999... A $32 million federal program designed to build facilities for transient, non-trailerable recreational boats that was pushed through Congress last year by BOAT/U.S. is beginning to make some headway at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the...

Life Jacket Law Stays Afloat in Washington.
July 1, 1999... A bill passed in the Washington state legislature and signed by the governor establishes a children's life jacket law for boats under 19 feet. The bill will require children 12 years and younger to wear a life jacket while the boat is underway...

Zebra Mussels Go Soft.
July 1, 1999... A recent study by Ohio Sea Grant and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has determined that the zebra mussel can colonize soft areas such as sand and mud. This marks an expansion in the amount of territory capable of hosting the aquatic...

Fishing for Life.
July 1, 1999... With the passing of a new law, Georgia joins a score of states with lifetime fishing licenses, and anglers seem hooked. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources sold over 1,000 of the combination hunting and fishing Sportsman's Licenses in...

Oil Spil Liability.
July 1, 1999... Nearly a decade after the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA90) was passed in response to the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, skippers of vessels from freighters to runabouts are reminded that any discharge of oil or gas, even if the result of an...

'River Rat' Revisited.
July 1, 1999... Florida law enforcement officials dropped criminal charges against three Jacksonville marinas in a high-profile water pollution case, but the lack of pump-out facilities "Operation River Rat" brought to light remains a problem for area boaters....

MEMBER FORUM.
July 1, 1999... Unconventional Day I would like to thank BOAT/U.S. for being a major sponsor of the Women's Sailing Convention. The 10th convention was the best yet (I've missed only one!). Gail Hine works to teach women how to race to win and how to...

DEVIANT READINGS(c).
July 1, 1999... One of the quiet pleasures of boating is watching the effect of the wind upon the water. With the arrival of a gentle breeze, small groups of patterned ripples, officially known as catspaws, begin to form on the surface. (Legend has it these...

GETTIN' SHIP SHAPE.
July 1, 1999... If you've read my column before, you may have noticed that I try to inject a little humor when I'm writing about boat improvement projects done over the years on my television show. However, this time the subject matter is serious. I will be...

Want To Be on TV?
July 1, 1999... Fans of "Ship Shape TV" who have watched host John Greviskis repair and rejuvenate scores of boats over the past few years will now have the opportunity to have their boat repaired and, perhaps, have the project filmed for a future episode of...

SEA SCOUTS Sailing Back.
July 1, 1999... Chuck Modlin made it in the business world the old-fashioned way, by hard work and half-hitches. And bowlines and sun sights and varnishing brightwork. Sure, a formal education helped but so did the marlinespike seamanship, celestial navigation...

Radio Rules To Live By.
July 1, 1999... Despite breakthroughs in cellular and satellite phone technology, a VHF marine radio may still be a boater's best friend out on the water. They're relatively inexpensive, can bring immediate help and, for most boaters, no license is required...

West Winds.
July 1, 1999... When I moved to California from Connecticut a few years ago, I arrived (like so many other newcomers) with a full supply of Eastern expectations, most of them having to do with weather. I kept reminding myself that endless summer had to be a...

Search & Rescue.
July 1, 1999... There's Plenty of Responsibility to Go Around The U.S. Coast Guard routinely saves about 12 lives a day without much public fanfare save from those who are rescued and their families. Occasionally such efforts make it onto the national news...

What to Know When You Think It's Just a Tow.
July 1, 1999... It May Be Salvage Sticker shock is one of the few downsides of owning a boat. Almost every boat owner, sooner or later, gets caught by a bill that seems totally outrageous when compared to the service rendered or the boat part needed. ...

Paying the Price for Extended Service.
July 1, 1999... Service contracts -- sometimes called extended warranties -- are just one of a dizzying number of options presented to consumers during the frenzy of buying a new boat. Such contracts seem attractive because they hold out the promise of...

Thaw-some Discovery.
July 1, 1999... Perhaps Jim Anthony of Conneaut, OH, wanted "solid" proof for a fish story he would tell his grandchildren. Whatever the reason (and Anthony himself is not exactly sure), he kept a blue pike in his freezer for 37 years. Now his catch may help...

Off the Charts.
July 1, 1999... BOAT/U.S. staffer Steven Pavlidis took an interesting route to his current position with the BOAT/U.S. Jacksonville Marine Center. Before starting last fall, Pavlidis cruised the Bahamas for 10 years with his wife aboard their 40-foot sailboat...

Curiosity Stop.
July 1, 1999... We wrote last fall about efforts in North Carolina to find ways to attract boaters to stop and sample the local culture while on their way north or south via the ICW. Well, one small town is doing just that with a unique folk museum only a few...

Sampling the Oceans.
July 1, 1999... With more world cruisers crossing the oceans in private vessels, a group based in Southern California thought it was the perfect opportunity to collect hard-to-obtain seawater data to aid marine scientists. Thus, on a party aboard Microsoft...

An Untold Story.
July 1, 1999... A prize-winning new book by W. Jeffrey Bolster, Black Jacks: African American Seamen in the Age of Sail, fills a big gap in Atlantic maritime history. It wonderfully describes the heretofore untold contributions of the tens of thousands of free...

Soldini Wins Around Alone.
July 1, 1999... Nine months of high seas drama ended at 1:32 a.m. May 8 as Italian single-hander Giovanni Soldini crossed the finish line of the global Around Alone race and became the first non-Frenchman to ever win this event. Soldini, a BOAT/U.S. member,...

Check Out Member Rewards.
July 1, 1999... What do BOAT/U.S. members Ronald Blain of Plainwell, MI, Will and Jeannie Brule of Arlington, TX, and Daniel Collina of Oak Ridge, NJ, have in common? They are among the 264,000 BOAT/U.S. members who received a "check" from BOAT/U.S....

Fishing for Angling Ethics.
July 1, 1999... Dick Schaefer is an avid hunter and he's got the wallet card to prove it. But it's not a big game score sheet or a bird hunter's brag list. In his pocket is a "Hunter's Code of Ethics," a statement that not only guides his actions in the field...

SEIZURE REFORM MAKES HEADWAY.
July 1, 1999... They say politics makes strange bedfellows and this certainly was the case this spring when groups as diverse as the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union teamed up to turn the tide on the contentious issue of civil...

BOAT/U.S. FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT.
July 1, 1999... Using new technology to reach more boaters, the BOAT/U.S. Foundation for Boating Safety had a benchmark year in 1998. Building on the initial success of projects such as the Internet boating safety course and the nationwide distribution of...