At 09:57 AM 12/12/01 -0800, you wrote: >My opinion only. > >I do not know anything about the status of the USPS membership levels or >why they might be experiencing a drop. USPS has had the problem of being a kind of elitist operation for as long as I can remember. I took their beginning class in 1958 and never took another. The class was excellent. The other stuff was too esoteric for what I considered practical use and I have heard similar comments from others. Hal Spoelstra teaches a class here in Portland on Coastal Piloting and then in the winter a class in Celestial. Hal's class is very practical oriented, unlike the USPS stuff. It's too bad, CG AUX is too operations oriented and the PS is too yacht club oriented. There is a need for practical, no frills teaching. Oh well. Capt. Mike Maurice Near Portland Oregon.

Hi Garret: My opinion only. I do not know anything about the status of the USPS membership levels or why they might be experiencing a drop. The Aux has recently seen an upswing in membership but I suspect it is post 9/11 and a desire on the part of many Americans to participate in some meaningful effort to support their nation. I do not think we are seeing PS members moving to CGAux. Usually it goes the other way. The USPS has no "Operations" side while the Aux works with the USCG to augment the USCG missions. Out primary function in the Aux is as a force multiplier for the USCG. To fulfill that role the Aux has been going through a lot of internal upheavals as we move our training and qualifications standards to conform with the regular USCG systems. While we have seen a recent surge in membership, the numbers in the Aux have also been declining over the past 7 years since this major revamping of training and qualifications began. Some of the older members, who were more used to the "boat-club" aspect of the Aux moved to the USPS. Many older members found the training and quals in operations just too much work. Some members did not like the fact that we shared VE and PE efforts with USPS. The USPS and the Aux now share joint national responsibility for Vessel Examination and Public Education. The basic boating courses offered are supposed to be the same. The Vessel Examination qualifications are also supposed to be the same. That's relatively new and it occurred because the Aux was simply not doing the job. There were too few of us to cover the huge population of recreational boaters. But there are also other factors. Most States are requiring mandatory education and licensing now or soon. There are many other organizations jumping into the boater education business including State agencies. That dilutes our "special" circumstances and let's face it, in a volunteer organization members need to feel special. Personally, I think the USCGAux should get out of the basic boating education business altogether. The reason we do not is because it is fertile ground to recruit new members. If you have an 8 week course, you can do a lot of subtle selling <G>. So hard-core operations (there are a lot of mission types under the "operations" banner) and advanced navigation and piloting are still the exclusive bailiwick of the USCGAux. Also Marine environmental training is growing in the Aux. We are starting a new 4 year program to qualify up for full USCG status in that area too. Unfortunately we have let the social aspects, the genuine fun times, and other compelling activities have dwindled. But, we're in a war right now. Maybe that's how it should be? Joe Engel -----Original Message----- From: Garrett Lambert [mailto:e16@telus.net] Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2001 8:49 AM To: 'TWL' Subject: TWL: Support Your Local (US) Power Squadron A remark at last night's graduation ceremony for the latest Safe Boating course at our local chapter of the Canadian Power Squadron caught my attention. With some pride, one of the speakers noted that the total number of Canadian CPS members now equals or exceeds the total number of US members. Rather than being proud, he ought to have been concerned. Yes, Canadian membership continues to grow rapidly, but it's clear that US membership must be plummeting. And that's probably a bad thing. When I read stories by Americans about their trips on inland waterways, they seem to always contain unhappy comments about bad manners and unsafe practices by other boaters, the very thing the PS courses strive to avoid or correct. Why has the PS fallen out of favour in the US? Are Americans joining the Coast Guard +Auxiliary instead? Cheers, Garrett

As a member of both USPS and CPSS... Last year was the first year that USPS members could train up for VE. This was under an agreement done in late 1999 I think. At the Seattle boat show the two orgs are adjacent or very near by and there is obviously a more healthy association at a member level (at least those who turn up for booth duty). USPS has been going throught the same agony of self examination as CPSS in terms of course content especially at the entry level. Same issues between the certification requirements and the Boating course. Member/not member etc. I joined Poverty Bay squadron (Des Moines WA) and was amazed at the vitality and quality of the group. Dinner meetings every month, lots of courses etc. Turned up for several events, booth duty, speaking, proctor etc. Turned out that there new student inflo problem was very similar to what I had experienced in a very old and struggling Squadron in Canada, Royal City Squadron. Curiously, the RCPS seems to have new life judging by the Christmas social I attended Monday night. Then when we moved to Shelter Bay, lo, USPS has a really low profile (so has CGAux and NACA and PBA) which is really strange given the boat population between Bellingham, Anacortes and La Conner/Shelter Bay. As Joe has mentioned there is a 'how can we help' groundswell throughout the land. Seems the right moment for all these orgs to get busy recruiting and putting up a higher profile (esp. CGAux). As Joe says, it would be better perhaps for PE to go more to USPS, but if we are really interested on boating safety, the more pervasively available the training the better (one theory). At the bottom, it would be easy to conclude that volunteerism among boaters is at a low ebb. Richard ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe Engel" <joe@jre.com> To: "TWL" <trawler-world-list@samurai.com> Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2001 9:57 AM Subject: TWL: RE: Support Your Local (US) Power Squadron > Hi Garret: > > My opinion only. > > I do not know anything about the status of the USPS membership levels or > why they might be experiencing a drop. > > The Aux has recently seen an upswing in membership but I suspect it is > post 9/11 and a desire on the part of many Americans to participate in > some meaningful effort to support their nation. I do not think we are > seeing PS members moving to CGAux. Usually it goes the other way. The > USPS has no "Operations" side while the Aux works with the USCG to > augment the USCG missions. Out primary function in the Aux is as a > force multiplier for the USCG. > > To fulfill that role the Aux has been going through a lot of internal > upheavals as we move our training and qualifications standards to > conform with the regular USCG systems. While we have seen a recent > surge in membership, the numbers in the Aux have also been declining > over the past 7 years since this major revamping of training and > qualifications began. Some of the older members, who were more used to > the "boat-club" aspect of the Aux moved to the USPS. Many older members > found the training and quals in operations just too much work. Some > members did not like the fact that we shared VE and PE efforts with > USPS. > > The USPS and the Aux now share joint national responsibility for Vessel > Examination and Public Education. The basic boating courses offered are > supposed to be the same. The Vessel Examination qualifications are also > supposed to be the same. That's relatively new and it occurred because > the Aux was simply not doing the job. There were too few of us to cover > the huge population of recreational boaters. But there are also other > factors. Most States are requiring mandatory education and licensing > now or soon. There are many other organizations jumping into the boater > education business including State agencies. That dilutes our "special" > circumstances and let's face it, in a volunteer organization members > need to feel special. > > Personally, I think the USCGAux should get out of the basic boating > education business altogether. The reason we do not is because it is > fertile ground to recruit new members. If you have an 8 week course, > you can do a lot of subtle selling <G>. > > So hard-core operations (there are a lot of mission types under the > "operations" banner) and advanced navigation and piloting are still the > exclusive bailiwick of the USCGAux. Also Marine environmental training > is growing in the Aux. We are starting a new 4 year program to qualify > up for full USCG status in that area too. Unfortunately we have let the > social aspects, the genuine fun times, and other compelling activities > have dwindled. But, we're in a war right now. Maybe that's how it > should be? > > Joe Engel > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Garrett Lambert [mailto:e16@telus.net] > Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2001 8:49 AM > To: 'TWL' > Subject: TWL: Support Your Local (US) Power Squadron > > > A remark at last night's graduation ceremony for the latest Safe Boating > course at our local chapter of the Canadian Power Squadron caught my > attention. With some pride, one of the speakers noted that the total > number of Canadian CPS members now equals or exceeds the total number of > US members. Rather than being proud, he ought to have been concerned. > Yes, Canadian membership continues to grow rapidly, but it's clear that > US membership must be plummeting. And that's probably a bad thing. When > I read stories by Americans about their trips on inland waterways, they > seem to always contain unhappy comments about bad manners and unsafe > practices by other boaters, the very thing the PS courses strive to > avoid or correct. > > Why has the PS fallen out of favour in the US? Are Americans joining the > Coast Guard +Auxiliary instead? > > Cheers, Garrett > > >

USPS suffered a lot in the transition in the 80s and 90s to a more approachable organization -read non-uniform- but at any time would probably be dissappointed to be known as elitist. More like the volunteer trainers at that time reflected the previous generation of life style relative to the students. Not much different today. Today there is a very strong effort to be populist, but based on the numbers, it does not seem to be effective. The more likely problem is that new boaters today, reflecting life styles, demand instant fixes. So courses, if taken at all, need to be very short in duration and instantly available. This (if true) is made to order for a street level shop offering instant courses at big bucks (it ain't worth taking if it does not cost big bucks, right?). There are several of these now operating in Canada as a result of the Federal requirement for an Operator's Certificate. Also, people are 'busier' I think with themselves and their immediate needs (like TV). Little is left over for training, membership, involvement. I wonder if organizations at, say, the bass boating level are experiencing the same thing. Based on sales, bass boating is huge. It is where USPS should be working hardest for recognition and recruitment. It is also where there are more fatalities. (Although the experience this year off the west coast might skew the numbers back toward the bigger boats.) Richard