Question detail: 10. What additional topics would you like to read about in THE ENSIGN? (blank or none responses deleted)

Summary

count response
17 None
13 Maintenance and repair tips, how-to articles
10 Other
10 USPS-Member recruiting, retention, squadron success
8 Legislation, regulations
8 Product reviews
8 Safety tips and education
7 History, old boats, restoration
7 Personal experiences to learn from
7 USPS-Education, teaching aids
6 USPS-National info
5 Cruising stories and destinations
5 Cruising stories and destinations
5 Navigation, celestial navigation, electronic navigation
5 PWC and small boats
5 USPS-squadron activities, squad exchange-type articles
4 Electronics
4 Electronics
4 Product recalls and consumer information
4 USPS-Cooperative Charting
4 USPS-practical info for squadrons
3 Boat reviews, comparisons
3 Environment
3 Local information
3 Pictures
3 Seamanship and skill-building education
3 USPS-history
3 USPS-member profiles, outstanding members, leaders
2 Aharts, journal-style cruising logs 
2 Boat design
2 Chartering 
2 Chartering 
2 Engine maintenance, products, tips
2 Engine maintenance, products, tips
2 Humor
2 International travel
2 Kids and boating
2 Nautical trivia, terms
2 USPS-Civic, local involvement, Sea Scouts
1 articles from experts (outside USPS)
1 Boat accidents
1 Book reviews 
1 Inland boating
1 USPS-public relations
1 Weather, monthly weather calendar

 

  Detail

  1. Personal watercraft and day use craft.
  2. I would like to see boats rated for their durability vs. other boats. 
  3. Stories of members using and enjoying their boats. 
  4. more articles about sailboat gear and additions
  5. More information about Personal Water Crafts:  Safety Education and Legislation.    More pictures too.   
  6. legislation that affects boaters
  7. More maint. tips
  8. More articles and facts about nautical history and trivia.
  9. Nautical History, boat repair and maintenance
  10. Successful activities that squadrons have tried that other squadrons might try such as social, fund raising, etc.
  11. Articles about successful recruiting and RETENTION of members
  12. New products and product reviews are always interesting.  Maintenance tips are always interesting.
  13. Surprisingly I have found the member profiles interesting.
  14. Articles written by expert authors in various boating related subjects.  How about a visiting author’s column( not a USPS member)?
  15. Squadron History.
  16. communications with the public history
  17. Keep book reviews coming.
  18. Not sure.
  19. More concerning boat maintenance, repairs, etc. or what UPSP can do for the local chapters.
  20. Electronics new products  Celestial Navigation  Seamanship  Computer assisted navigation  Government legislation
  21. I need to think this one over.  More about partnering with Sea Scouting as we do here in Mobile.
  22. How to start a Chapter where none exists.
  23. more articles on how we can help improve water quality and reduce pollution
  24. More about Squadron events
  25. cant think of any
  26. USPS history.
  27. *Use of modern electronics in all phases of boating.  *Use of USPS members in defending our land [remember what our fathers did in WWI ?].  *Boat maintenance WORKSHOPS  *MUST HAVE and HOW TO USE MUST HAVE things for different kinds of boat use  *updated WEB source lists for all kinds of boating needs
  28. Boat reviews/assessments
  29. humorous sea stories
  30. pros' / cons' on boat purchasing what to look for, for the novice. Articles to keep us up dated on water facts etc
  31. How about inexpensive trips and ideas for getting more enjoyment out of a boat, without having to have  thousands of dollars lying around? It seems to me that the USPS is still bound up in the 'I have money' and 'I have been around for 30 years' groups that it doesn't address young families, young singles, and recreational boating, like for skiers or boats as play. I don't care about cruising to Key West, or the Dry Tortugas, because I don't have that kind of money.
  32. Educational, like more info on uses of GPS's, new electronics etc.  Need not be directly associated with boating per se.
  33. Old boat restorations and cruising stories.
  34. I'd like to see better written articles and less space to letters from people carping about USPS.   
  35. More informative advance warning of changes being considered by national committees. Not just 'it's being discussed', but the rationale for changes (pro and con) so that members can participate intelligently BEFORE THE FACT. There's a good spectrum of knowledge in the membership, and the committees would still have the vote.
  36. I think that you have all the bases covered at this time.  However, I am sure there will other topics added that I am unable to think of at this time.
  37. cruising stories
  38. Squadron involvement in other organizations and events. More photos of members and events.
  39. The above pretty well covers it.
  40. Issues coming up at national meetings that affect my membership and USPS
  41. outboard engines and prices  outboard repairs  fishing
  42. More about the advanced courses, like Piloting and Advanced Piloting
  43. Maintenance articles should be more in depth. More detail.  Some articles seem to brief for full information.
  44. ...can't think of any
  45. More seamanship tips.
  46. Cruising and sailing
  47. More DIY type stuff. (Do it yourself.)    More 'boating gone bad' stories for all of us to learn from. We all have one or two. It would be a good monthly feature. 'Boating Gone Bad!' I like the way it sounds.
  48. Articles that show action
  49. How about a section on good old boats and their designers.  (One for power and one for sail)    Or, brief bios on famous designers    or, famous boats  or, popular cruising grounds w/ articles submitted by members
  50. More educational courses
  51. As America's Boating Club, need to talk more about boats. Reader's interest has to be taken into account...
  52. Latest technologies, Government directions such as the future of Loran, chart development, etc.
  53. Unknown, unusual happenings.
  54. More How To articles
  55. Can't think of any new topics however I would like to see more articles like the Ahart Odyssey.
  56. Members personal information and tips of their travel and any problems they came upon.  I see some of this but would like to hear more.
  57. Integration of boating groups into local waterway communities, issues, pursuits, successful partnerships for better living
  58. More squadron level articles of interest to the membership in general.
  59. none
  60. Congressional legislation that affects quality of and timeliness of weather information reporting. I believe there has been some of this in the Ensign.
  61. Some real serious offshore cruising & navigation.  Something with some meat on the routines & procedures followed by the professionals & successful delivery captains.  Not just a litany of equipment failures and jury rigging needed to limp into the nearest port.  Let’s see a well planned & prepared offshore trip, where every crewmember describes his job and how it fits in with the rest of the team.  Don't use a race as an example.
  62. Engine Maintenance topics, including inboard, outboard and out drives.   
  63. issues addressed relating to our waterway resources.  how they are being acted on at a congressional level.
  64. I really like to hear about the activities of other Squadrons that we could use in ours.  We need all the ideas we can get to increase our membership.
  65. What squadrons are doing to attract and retain new members.      Ideas which seem to work in promoting interesting meetings.
  66. Keep the journal of the Ahart travels. Fascinating.
  67. Feature Boats (antique or classic)
  68. Boats and equipment that DOESN'T work as advertised and have a BAD HISTORY!
  69. More product reviews.  We are always on a search for all kinds of products for the boat including accessories, hardware, cleaning, appliances, electronics, engine maintenance and on an on it goes. Some times we waste our time and money trying out items that really do not work well and sometimes we miss obtaining a wonderful product for our boats that others may have learned worked well.
  70. none
  71. The above list is pretty inclusive
  72. Articles on different boat systems from a surveyor's point of view - early signs and symptoms of structural and mechanical problems, i.e. boat care topics.
  73. The day mariner activities and local events.
  74. educational nature safety ideas
  75. Boat insurance coverage & policies; boat electronics; more on maintenance & safety.
  76. You have a good variety.  I do not know what you can add.
  77. I realize that we always have new and inexperienced members(readers), but some articles are a bit immature for a boating organization such as USPS.  Years ago we used to have one or two articles each issue on innovative ideas, homemade fixes for problems, or clever solutions for common problems.  They were good.
  78. disaster recovery experiences
  79. Topics are well rounded and well written.  I'm just not as interested as I was at one time.
  80. Weather section each month like the star section.
  81. I'd like to see more chartering information, like Europe England and Ireland.
  82. I also read three other magazines; Boating, BoatU.S. and Trailer Boating, so I get a good cross section of topics.
  83. very clear, complete articles on training aids  'education' articles to improve boating skills, case histories    DO NOT compete and duplicate info in well established commercial boating magazines.
  84. More on cooperative charting     Help explain how to use the cooperative charting website better
  85. navigation related articles
  86. More topics on canoes and kayaks.  Write articles about each district. Where they are located, number of squadrons and members, and where they go boating etc.
  87. It's excellent as is.
  88. boating areas, e.g., harbors, waterways, lakes, from squadron member's perspectives.
  89. You should have sections of advanced courses with sample questions and answers.  People would learn from the sample questions and it could be used as a tool to encourage more people to sign up for advanced courses.
  90. Any thing on more details on how to projects
  91. Training aids and other items directly related to gathering groups of members and/or non-members to teach them or learn as a group. Innovative concepts that would inspire us to 'think outside the box' in getting our message out to the public.  Stories about 'pioneers' among us who have successfully done such things and how they were able to do it.
  92. Most of the suggestions listed above are excellent and I would like to see any or all of them included in future issues of THE ENSIGN.
  93. More squadron activities
  94. Boating for Kids
  95. Cruising - Sailboats
  96. Product evaluation  Discussion of course development and progress  Discussion of USPS policies  Report of Operating Com.
  97. more knots etc.
  98. celestial navigation
  99. Actions of the Governing Board
  100. Some stories of past sailing experiences when equipment was simpler.     Being almost 90 we no longer have a boat.
  101. Boat maintenance and improvement.  It appears the magazine is oriented to those who write checks as opposed to those who do their own work.
  102. Proposed legislation and regulations that the U. S. Coast Guard is looking at and information about the continuing effort to bring the different state rules and regulations into conformity with each other to improve boating safety.
  103. Would like to see some area that has practice questions for the various grades.  Would help keep our skills sharp.
  104. 1. What works for a squadron     a. Getting students for Boating Class     b. Getting your members to take a class     c. Different speakers for general meetings   
  105. Personal stories of members and their activities and local squadron activities. Also 'pats on the back' to single out a members that go above and beyond to make boating safety and their squadrons better.
  106. Technical and mechanical topics to help mantain my boat.
  107. Recall notices  Comparison of nautical products  Reference of nautical safety issues.  Practical cases, collisions learnings, fire mitigation and prevention, night precautions, fog and stormy weather,
  108. I would like to hear of boater problems and how they have fix them.  Example:  how something went wrong and how they were able to correct it.
  109. More technical and informative boating and safety articles by knowledgeable writers.
  110. Anything about increasing membership...success stories...programs and promotions that are working.
  111. Additional info on stargazing, maybe more days.
  112. Places to visit
  113. Regional information regarding inter coastal waterway or waterway changes due to hurricanes, accidents, bridge maintenance etc. 
  114. The absolutely Terrible new AP course. The material is crawling with unforgivable errors based primarily on extremely careless editing and the ridiculous belief that 90% of the old AP and all other new electronic navigation tools can be taught in 2 hr. classes extended over a 10 week period.  Time the education dept did a little house cleaning.. These nasty comments are from an SN with 23 merit marks all for teaching at the squadron level.
  115. can't think of any
  116. Member retention and new member ideas.
  117. More safety tips ( Safe towing)
  118. none
  119. CONSUMERS INFORMATION
  120. Leadership and change agents
  121. Boat stories of trips. Logs of old ships.
  122. I'm a ham radio operator but haven't got up on freq. lately. would like to hear a little bit about that field. also maybe a little bit about fishing around the area
  123. More articles about experiences outside of the US
  124. Additional product reviews and product safety.    More frequent listings of USPS publications available
  125. I like the variety that it has now.
  126. Its A-OK
  127. Water survival, humor stories
  128. I enjoy stories about travel on the Inland Waterways around the US, especially the great circle and the Intracoastal.  A travel log so to speak.
  129. More Cooperative Charting Articles
  130. More about the individual squadrons across the United States.
  131. Boat swapper kind of stuff.
  132. Safety afloat, and 'dock-side'   ( ...more of these...)    Questions, i.e. 'self test' on safety, marine maintenance, rough weather tactics, etc. etc.    Something which would create a challenge for the reader, and to be able to share, and compare with the other boating members of the squadrons.
  133. Education promotions,deals with USPS
  134. None
  135. Experiences / happenings during boating.  Cruising far away destinations.  Rules of water different from United States.  More blue water informations like Seven Seas Cruising Association.  Informations of blue water boats/ coastal boats/ fishing boats.
  136. No suggestions
  137. I think it is well rounded
  138. CRUISING STORIES
  139. articles on children and boating or families with young children and boating safety. Women with boating questions and answer section or websites.
  140. Perhaps you can cover local proposed boating legislation since we have members most everywhere. Our members are very creative and have much to offer, perhaps a forum where members can contribute.  Boaters are interested in boating issues elsewhere.
  141. chartering (have been a few, especially the one on 'the long, narrow barge boats in France'
  142. I think a 'Meet the Bridge' type column listing the activities of the present National Bridge and offices held at both squadron and district levels as they progressed to their present positions would be very interesting.
  143. The above list failed to list the NOS/USPS Cooperative Charting Program that has been in place for more than 35 years and has been identified as one of the primary civic volunteer functions we do.... Education, Vessel Inspection, and Cooperative Charting
  144. I'd like to see an educational section, officers guide, in depth repair of boat & more support of wearing the uniform
  145. First Aid & safety  Co-Op Charting & how to report via the new structure
  146. 1.the future of USPS  2. More about Squadrons at risk, with PRACTICAL ideas as to revitalization of those at risk AND NATIONAL  3. More push towards mandatory education (state)
  147. Boating Accidents News(current or historical). For the historical ones, the conclusion of the claims and determination of causes as concluded by the regulating authorities.
  148. Time is a factor for most of us - I've not had the time to read many articles - now as a retired person should have most time.
  149. Success stories (and ,hopefully, there are some) about squadrons that have been successful in increasing membership and involvement.
  150. My membership expires on May 31, 2006 and after 16 years as a member and many merit marks I am so dissapointed with the local squardon that I will not be renewing.  Therefore, my remarks on this survey are probably somewhat negative.
  151. Engine Lubrication Products
  152. Political action, lobbying ,etc. being taken on behalf of the USPS regarding funding for dredging  of the ICW.
  153. Celestial navigation section (retain, Navigation section - tips and procedures or a quiz with answers provided on a different page,
  154. How to keep a few bad seeds/members from taking ownership of their local squadron to the point of running away good/active members... I seen this happen twice in my current squadron over the last eight years. I am no longer active in the squadron because of this problem.
  155. Boaters that fish from  their boat, canoe, kayak, etc.  We need to reach out to the small boater because that is the vast majority of the boating public is and  we do not have many as members.
  156. I HAVE NO DIRECT SUGGESTIONS
  157. I would like to see more articles about the USPS workingwith Sea Scouts and how both organizations can benefit.  My Squadron (Evansville Bend - District 24) has worked closely with my Sea Scout Ship.  We have signed up a bunch of Sea Scouts as apprentice members, who have completed Boatsmart and Seamanship classes.  One of our Sea Scouts, Suzanne Kissel, has developed a presentation on the benefits of the USPS working with Sea Scouts and has given this presentation to our Squadron and at the District 24 Annual Meeting.  She has been contacted by other Squadrons about giving this presentation, as well.  Perhaps readers might be interested in an article on her?
  158. I believe we are missing out on a population of boaters, the PWC people.  They are now families and doing activities in groups.  PWC owners are taking long trips in small groups.  Our training film, 'Jet Boat' is sooo outdated.  How about some info and a new perspective on this population and activity that is changing? Perhaps our prejudices about this group might change.
  159. it needs to lighten up and not be so serious and dry
  160. Boat and boating equipment reviews.
  161. Attracting the younger boaters.
  162. I would like to see less of an ongoing article like the on that went on forever by the Aharts (sp).  Need more on what to do at the governing boards and the annual meeting.
  163. New products  safety training  lessons learned/real life experiences affecting boating safety  new courses  boat shows  maintenance issues 
  164. USPS means education.  Every year there are awards given out to some great teaching aids at the national level.  However, how many people actually see the winners, the runners up?  It would be nice to have a section, or at least two or three articles a year which would show off these aids and perhaps have instructions on how to  build one for your class.  In the case for electronic aids, perhaps a place to download a copy for your class should copyrights not be violated.  We can build on great aids and not have to reinvent the wheel in every squadron. 
  165. For what conditions did a designer design a specific boat. I'm interested in sail myself.    Expert’s advice on sail trim.
  166. Electronics, maintainance
  167. articles on actual boaters experiences good or bad so that other boaters may learn from these experiences.
  168. old sailors vocabulary
  169. I would like to se more articles about navigation, especially those taught in the AP course.  Other than that, I think the above list pretty much covers all of the topics that I can think of.
  170. A sure-fire way to hit the lottery so I could afford the fuel cost. Seriously, when comparing a 10 hp outboard to a 500 hp thunderboat, they each get about the same miles per gallon (lousy) but the thunderboat gets you to your destination sooner.
  171. How about more pictures and where they come from
  172. Anything that might change our current boating rules/regulations or way we currently operate and enjoy our activities.