Owning a boat, you learn a few things – and it's not always stuff you can find in a book. Seasoned boaters learn dozens of small lessons – often the hard way – as they work the kinks out of their vessel and its systems. And it is this experience that forms the basis of our latest essay contest.
We want you to share what you have learned by writing a few paragraphs on the best boating tip you know. Just answer the question: What's the single best tip you could give a new boater?
Of course, we never ask you to work for free. First prize is a West Marine dinghy, worth about $200; second prize is an Icom M34 handheld floating VHF, worth about $150; and third prize is a Norcross DF 2200PX handheld depthfinder, valued at about $90. Everybody who enters gets a free subscription to Mad Mariner.
We'll collect these tips over the next two weeks, until the deadline at midnight on March 13, and our editors will select the best. On March 17 we'll announce the winners and publish some of the tips. Additional entries will be published in our weekly tips column in the weeks ahead.
Tips can be on any subject: sail trim, safety procedures, must-have gear, modifications you have made, maintenance tricks, good habits, favorite websites or books – anything. If you know how to knock down odors, jazz up an engine or get fish blood out of Sunbrella, we want to hear it.
Entries will be judged on the value that they bring and the creativity they offer. But don't assume that a tip like "wear foulies when it rains" is going to win you the goods. Entries should be about 100 words – about four paragraphs – and no longer than 150 words. Try to avoid writing in the first-person, and check our tips archive to make sure your idea is in fact original.
To enter, simply read the rules and use the form on this page to submit your tip. There is no obligation to buy anything, and this is not a marketing exercise. If you win, we'll notify you via email and send you your prize.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD TIP?
Ever use standard household cleaners and paper towels on your electronics screens? Anyone who's done that learned the hard way that it ruins the face. Ever left water in the shower sump through the winter? Offenders here risked cracked fiberglass.
Odds are you've learned the right way and the wrong way to do all kinds of things aboard your boat – often painfully. The goal here is to share that knowledge and help your fellow boaters get a little more out of their time on the water.
After all, owning a boat is a lot like having a child: Many of the people you encounter freely dispense unsolicited advice about how to do your job better. Sometimes, though, that advice can come in handy and save you headaches and money.
Over the last year Mad Mariner has published hundreds of tips to make boating safer, easier and more fun. They have run the gamut from how to get your vessel through a hurricane to keeping your kids safe. We even published a tip on unique uses for salad dressing below decks.
This is your opportunity to win some cool gear and help other boaters – it really is as simple as sharing your best advice. Because, when it comes to the boat, we can all use a little help, right?
Leef Smith Barnes and Diane M. Byrne are editors at Mad Mariner.
