With the boating season starting and outfitting work underway, some of us at Mad Mariner started thinking: how do we really use our boats?

Thus this month's contest was born: a 20-question survey designed to figure out what most of us actually do on the water every season. Not those blue water dreams (though they are important), but the boating we engage in right now.

How you use your boat plays a huge role in how you set it up, including the amount you spend, the equipment you buy and the work you do. It's worth a few minutes to think about it – and this contest should get you thinking.

Fill out the short online survey – it takes less than 9 minutes – and you will be entered into a drawing to win a brand new 8-foot West Marine RU-260 Sport Dinghy, worth almost $800. In two weeks, we'll announce the winner and release the findings of the survey, giving us all some valuable insight into what most boaters do and how each of us compares.

Be sure to fill out the survey before the deadline at 11:59 p.m. April 17, and read the rules first – then tune in when we announce the winner and the findings April 21. Who knows – you might win a free dink.