BOAT/U.S. Magazine articles from September 2004

BOAT/U.S. Magazine archives from September 2004

Behind the buoy.
September 1, 2004... Appearing before a Congressional panel nearly 35 years ago, BoatU.S. Founder Richard Schwartz charged that the federal government was asleep at the wheel. Little was being done to ensure that boating was a safe and enjoyable recreation for all...

BoatU.S. rescue beacon saves three.(BoatU.S.Reports)
September 1, 2004... An EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon) rented from the BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water earlier this summer helped save three sailors who abandoned their disabled 30-foot sloop 120 miles off of Cape...

American takes world trophy.(BoatU.S.Reports)
September 1, 2004... The action was nonstop at the BoatU.S. ISAF Women's World Match Racing Championship in June at the Eastport Yacht Club in Annapolis, MD. Some 16 teams representing the top-ranking women sailors in the world raced for five days for the world...

BoatU.S. Magazine wins Award.(BoatU.S.Reports)
September 1, 2004... BoatU.S. Magazine, the official publication of Boat Owners Association of The United States, has won an Apex Award in the "Magazine Covers" category. "We're all very proud that our covers do not rely on scantily clad women to depict the boating...

Fish stocks on the rebound.(BoatU.S.Reports)
September 1, 2004... A report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) earlier this summer shows that some fish stocks in the U.S. are rebounding. The Status of Fisheries of the United States reports that a number of fisheries...

Update your radio registration.(BoatU.S.Reports)
September 1, 2004... For the thousands of boaters who have purchased a VHF-DSC radio and obtained a maritime mobile service identity number (MMSI) from BoatU.S., it's time to update your registration information if anything has changed in the last few years. ...

Do volunteers need background checks?(BoatU.S.Reports)
September 1, 2004... Are the dedicated volunteers that teach hundreds of free boating classes such a danger to society that they need to undergo criminal background checks? Apparently the state of New Jersey thinks so, even though most instructors are Coast Guard...

Location a major factor in hurricane preparation.(BoatU.S.Reports)
September 1, 2004... With NOAA forecasting above average tropical storm activity this year, the July issue of the BoatU.S. damage avoidance newsletter Seaworthy looked back at last fall's devastating Hurricane Isabel. The lessons learned could help boaters better...

No oversight of no discharge zones.(BoatU.S.Reports)
September 1, 2004... The Environmental Protection Agency EPA doesn't provide oversight of existing pumpout facilities in no-discharge zones (NDZs), and supervision by the states is not much better, according to a report by Congress' General Accounting Office (GAO)....

Aweigh with words.
September 1, 2004... Don't Eat That!-- No matter How Good It Sounds ACROSS 1. Horn or Hatteras 5. Not the sharpest knives in the drawer 10. Coleridge's "The _________ of the Ancient Mariner" 14. Gusto, like swashbucklers have 15....

California Sea Scouts sweep championships.(BoatU.S.Reports)
September 1, 2004... When California sailor Trevor Gurley took the stage last June in Osterville, MA, to accept First Place in the Richard Schwartz BoatU.S. National Sea Scout Sailing Championship, he looked very familiar to the sponsors. That's because the Newport...

Ballast water fines raised.(BoatU.S.Reports)
September 1, 2004... In the ongoing effort to prevent the spread of invasive species in our nation's waterways, a new regulation, effective last month, slaps steep fines on oceangoing ships that fail to report to the Coast Guard when they dump ballast water in U.S....

Aussies create world's largest no-fishing zone.(BoatU.S.Reports)
September 1, 2004... The Australian Parliament has re-zoned the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, the world's largest marine protected area, to close one-third of it to "all extractive uses," including commercial and recreational fishing. The closed areas, or...

Life jacket ideas floated.(MemberForum)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... I read Chuck Husick's article on life jackets with interest. Even back 30 years ago when I was on the decks of aircraft carriers we had an emergency flotation device that all flight deck personnel wore that resembled a "fanny pack" on a belt,...

Missing link.(MemberForum)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... I take exception to the statement in the article "Boaters Beware" by Dick Thompson, spuriously linking Greenpeace with terrorism. Greenpeace policy and practice hold all life sacrosanct. Greenpeace always alerts the authorities to any...

Have a Tampa.(MemberForum)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... I just finished reading the July article by Dick Thompson entitled "Communications Gap." Although I enjoyed the article and the information concerning the good things going on in the Port of Tampa, I was somewhat annoyed at what I feel has...

Everybody in the pool?(MemberForum)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... It was with great interest that I read of the backlog of documentation processing in the July 2004 issue of BoatU.S. Magazine. In the last paragraph you point out that there is no requirement for recreational boats to be documented (other than...

This record's a killer.(MemberForum)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... I read in the July 2004 issue of BoatU.S. Magazine of the "record" 37-lb. mako shark. How ridiculous these types of "line class" records are. I don't care if you were fishing with kite string, there is no valid reason to kill a 37-lb. mako...

First aid is foremost.(MemberForum)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... After reading "Tom's Top Tips," in the July issue, I feel compelled to add what I think should have been the No. 1 tip. Although I don't live 24/7 on a boat (nor do I want to) I know that "cruising" can take you to many remote places. My No. 1...

More on maladies.(MemberForum)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... The article about seasick remedies by Bob Adriance in the July 2004 issue of BoatU.S. Magazine was very factual and will be a help to a great many people. Toward the end, the author touched on the importance of watching the horizon and incoming...

Sorry to see you go.(MemberForum)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Honestly, I have received the best service from BoatU.S. in the past two years, better than I have from AAA for my automobile. The two calls I made for distress were answered quickly, professionally and safely. I haven't renewed because I may...

Volunteers on hold.(MemberForum)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Documentation is not the only thing being delayed. My wife and I paid our dues in February to join the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Nothing yet. In fact, last week we got some more forms to fill out for background info. And some of these were...

AskCap'nDrew.
September 1, 2004... Dear Readers: I'm a dad again. My wife delivered our third child on June 17. We already knew that he would be a boy, but we're delighted to report that he's healthy. He looks quite a bit like Winston Churchill right now, but I'm hoping that...

A new lease on lighthouses.(Cover Story)
September 1, 2004... In her wickedly funny memoirs of life on a tiny island seven miles off the coast of Maine, The Lobster Chronicles, famed fishing captain Linda Greenlaw devotes a chapter to the Isle Au Haut Lighthouse and its transformation from surplus federal...

Buddies buoy boating.
September 1, 2004... Is boating more popular today than in years past? Depends on how you look at it. Sales of new boats for example, peaked in 1988 at 562,000 but were down to 411,700 in 2002. In fact, participation in boating is down, according to the industry's...

Enzyme additive increases fuel economy up to 15%.(Advertorial)(Advertisement)
September 1, 2004... Product Description Startron[R] is the world's first fuel treatment to be based on naturally occurring enzymes. Although this is a very unique application of enzyme technology, we encounter various enzymes in our everyday lives. For...

A fare share: a different approach to boat buying.
September 1, 2004... Are you considering buying a boat, or moving up to a bigger one? Before you pull out your checkbook, you may want to consider whether you want to share the purchase cost with others rather than going it alone. Many companies are now offering an...

Idaho's gems: western lakes are no small potatoes.
September 1, 2004... From the air, the lakes of northern Idaho spread like jewels across the Gem State's panhandle country. The crystal clear waters of remote Priest Lake hang like an expensive pendant just below the international border, seemingly put there solely...

Defective boats spur congressional action.(Consumer Protection Bureau)
September 1, 2004... This is a tale of three separate but inter-related stories, of a family in possession of a defective boat, of a move by Congress to impose criminal penalties on marine industry wrongdoers and of a campaign by the marine industry to have its...

2003 BoatU.S. Foundation annual report.
September 1, 2004... With the help of Boat U.S. members, the ever-growing number of boating safety and marine stewardship programs of the BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water have been touching boaters' lives for over 20 years. The Foundation is a...

My little runaway.(TangledLine)
September 1, 2004... A day of fishing off Tavernier Key in Florida this summer became an "international incident:" a crewless boat "ran away" and ended up 100 miles or so south in Cuba. The strange turn of events occurred 10 miles offshore when BoatU.S. member...

Boating shows on PBS.(TangledLine)
September 1, 2004... Should rain set in to cancel some of your outdoor plans, two series on Public Broadcasting System (PBS) are worth a look. The first is "Cruising America's Waterways," in its second season on 200 PBS stations. A travel-by-boat series that...

Caught with his pants down.(TangledLine)
September 1, 2004... BoatU.S. has awarded numerous Theft Rewards over the years to diligent members, but one recent case where a member caught a burglar red-handed--and red-faced--puts a whole new wrinkle in the case files. The member, who preferred his name not be...

Ask the cruising experts.(TangledLine)
September 1, 2004... With the Log of Ithaka posted twice monthly at BoatU.S.com, fans of long distance cruising or those planning for future getaways can ask anything they want of authors Bernadette and Douglas Bernon. Questions published in our last issue are...

Speaking of boating ...
September 1, 2004... At many boat and yacht clubs across the country the boating season will soon be winding down. But the BoatU.S. Speakers Bureau is heating up, according to Claire Wyngaard, Speakers Bureau Administrator at BoatU.S. Headquarters. ...

Grenada.(Destination)
September 1, 2004... Before the early 1980s, almost the only Americans familiar with Grenada were hardcore cruising folk, because the island's location on the 12[degrees] North latitude line (south of which, according to yachtie lore, hurricanes don't go) made it a...

Clean Water Grants for 2004.
September 1, 2004... No one knows better what the local water quality issues are than the people who live near and use the waterways. That's where dozens of community groups come in and fortunately, the BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water is...

Cuba crackdown.
September 1, 2004... Going far beyond any previous government directives on Cuba, President Bush infuriated most of the sailing world in February with a presidential proclamation saying U.S. boats could be boarded and seized if federal agents believed the operators...

Last voyage.
September 1, 2004... When Lynn Kershner's longtime friend and next-door neighbor passed away a few years ago, his friends and family members decided to scatter his ashes offshore, near Chincoteague, VA. Kershner remembers, "Once the ceremony began, I understood why...

Power Squadrons chart new course.
September 1, 2004... The United States Power Squadrons, long seen as a conservative bastion in boating instruction, is conducting an educational revolution. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Arguably one of the top providers of nautical knowledge to recreational...

Consumer Alert.
September 1, 2004... Federal laws require marine manufacturers to issue defect recall notices when boats or related equipment contain "defects which create a substantial risk of personal injury" or when they do not comply with boat manufacturing regulations. The...

Techno talk.
September 1, 2004... Boat owners spend a lot of time looking at boats, their own and everyone else's. We all enjoy the complimentary remarks of those who see our boats. However the value of being seen is not limited to satisfying our vanity--there are times when...

When the wind blows: deciding "weather" to venture offshore.(Damage Avoidance)
September 1, 2004... At first glance, the sailboat being abandoned by its crew looks like it's been out for a Sunday sail. The boat is floating comfortably on its lines, the seas seem only moderately choppy and the crew perched on top of the cabin looks calm, even...

Auxiliarists hone rescue skills.
September 1, 2004... "Man overboard!" It's a shout that every certified member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's boat crew program hears at least once a year--though seldom in earnest. For decades the Auxiliary has required its coxswains and crew to...

Trucks go retro.(HotTips and News You Can Use)
September 1, 2004... When at the launch ramp, trailer boaters generally like to attract as little attention as possible. But if you happen to be launching with the world's first convertible pickup truck, that could be difficult. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The...

Lock it up.(HotTips and News You Can Use)
September 1, 2004... Marine electronics are often the most expensive equipment aboard. Unfortunately, when mounted on a bracket at the helm or flybridge, it can also be the easiest way for a thief to make a buck. Unscrew the mounting knobs, cut the wires, and it's...

Outboard ring around the prop.(HotTips and News You Can Use)
September 1, 2004... Congress recently asked the U.S. Coast Guard to draft a proposal regarding propeller injury avoidance. "If we don't do something," said Capt. Scott Evans, chief of the USCG Office of Boating Safety, "there could be legislative initiatives from...

Boat bits.(HotTips and News You Can Use)
September 1, 2004... 32 million number of Europeans who participated in boating in 2003. Source: British Marine Federation 72 million number of Americans who participated in boating in 2003. Source: National Marine Manufacturers Association

Boat bits.(HotTips and News You Can Use)
September 1, 2004... 5,497 miles of navigable inland waterway in Alaska with controlling depth of nine feet or more. 38 miles of navigable inland waterway in Rhode Island with controlling depth of nine feet or more. Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...

Get your boat ready for winter!(Advertorial)(Advertisement)
September 1, 2004... Even though it may still be warm out, it's time to start thinking about winterizing your boat now, before the temperature drops. It's a common misconception that winterizing is only necessary in the most northern or frigid parts of the country....

Better Boat Graphics.(Membership)
September 1, 2004... If you always thought you had a little bit of artist in you, the new BoatU.S. Boat Graphics Web site is the place to try your hand at designing your own custom boat lettering. All you have to do is log on to BoatUS.com/boatgraphic and enter...

Fountain 38 Sport Cruiser.(2ndTimeAround)
September 1, 2004... Fountain's 38-foot Sport Cruiser is capable of speeds that could get you a ticket on 1-95 so it's no wonder that even though the model is no longer in production, it remains popular among boaters for whom getting there fast or just going fast...

Gozzard 36: two out of three boats sold in the U.S. are bought used. Many of these have an enduring appeal, having withstood the test of time. In each issue, we'll feature a review of one powerboat and one sailboat by noted naval architect and surveyor Jack Hornor.
September 1, 2004... Several weeks ago I received an e-mail from a reader admonishing me for neglecting, in one of my reviews, to make it clear that the performance of a cruising sailboat is a very subjective thing. When designers of cruising boats are faced with...

Behind the boat.
September 1, 2004... Every summer for the past 10 years I've volunteered as a sailing instructor for my club's youth training program. And each time it comes up, I grumble about giving up vacation time that could be spent cruising. The truth is, I get a big...

Where our flags fly.
September 1, 2004... Send us a photo of your boat, preferably flying the BoatU.S. flag, and we'll publish it here. Please include the name, make, size and home port, as well as your member number. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...