Behind The Buoy

Boat/US Magazine, July, 1999 by Michael G. Sciulla

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, sailboats and 45-foot motoryachts) as well as strong currents and the prevailing winds.

With this issue we mark the beginning of our fourth year as a magazine and the conclusion to three years of building a publication designed to appeal to all boat owners, both power and sail, from the owner of an 18-foot runabout to an 80-foot oceangoing yacht, whether he or she lives in Starboard, ME, St. Petersburg, FL, or Santa Barbara, CA.

Unlike most boating publications that cater to very specific boat-type niches, regions, or which concentrate on the joys of buying a new boat or telling their readers which island to escape to, BOAT/U.S. Magazine was created with a different reader and a national audience in mind.

One of our most compelling association demographics is that over 60% of our half-million members have been boating for more than 20 years. Based on these numbers, it was obvious to us that BOAT/U.S. had succeeded in attracting a huge number of Americans who are very passionate about their boating.

Many of these experienced boat owners could probably teach a course on boat ownership or provide a firsthand account of a voyage to places both near and far away. Recreational boating is their lifestyle, not just something they do from time to time. These mariners form the core of the national recreational boating community. Over the years they have developed an appreciation and understanding of the issues and problems that confront this community and have gotten actively involved.

BOAT/U.S. Magazine was created, in part, to serve as a forum for all of the different and sometimes conflicting elements of recreational boating. A sailor who might never break the spine of a powerboat magazine should have no trouble feeling right at home in the pages of this publication.

BOAT/U.S. Magazine also celebrates the activities and involvement of its members in the various recreational boating communities. Almost every article features a BOAT/U.S. member making a difference. In our last issue we featured a BOAT/U.S. member who teaches hundreds of women to sail each year and another who hopes to save the presidential yacht Sequoia. In this issue we spotlight a member who is a leader in the Sea Scout revival and another who wants to encourage more ethical angling.

Along the way we have sought to broaden our editorial mix with a lighter touch. While our "Tangled Line" column, written by Managing Editor Elaine Dickinson, focuses on what our members are up to, Stephen Reverand's column, "Deviant Readings," may well be the only column written exclusively to amuse recreational boaters in a literate fashion.

To these columns we add this month a new column aptly titled, "West Winds." Written by Wolcott "Tony" Gibbs, Jr., the author and former editor of The New Yorker and Yachting and contributing editor to Islands magazine. Appearing on page 13 in this issue, "West Winds" was conceived in response to the age-old question periodically put to us by West Coast readers who ask, "Why don't you have more in the magazine about boating on the West Coast?" We hope you enjoy Tony's astute take on West Coast boating.

Meanwhile, we have not abandoned our core constituencies, so to speak. This issue takes a hard look at the U.S. Coast Guard, its search and rescue operations and some tough times that might be ahead for the boating community if the Coast Guard does not get enough funding to do the job right.

We also try to breathe some life into two rather complex issues: salvage vs. towing and civil asset forfeiture. While all of these subjects may seem somewhat esoteric, failing to be fully informed could have a profound impact on your boating.

And that, of course, is the reason why we write BOAT/US. Magazine the way we do.

Michael G. Sciulla

Editor & Associate Publisher