Big Poll?

I had this on the battery watering systems thread and decided it may become a hijack so it's here ......

I've always used AGM's on my trawlers. Sorta assumed others did too. But I'll bet it's like my assumption about only a few used all chain on their anchors. I made another assumption recently too along the same lines. Perhaps most everybody uses regular lead acid batts?

Would be interesting if someone would make up a poll w fifty or so topics so we could actually get aquainted w each other .. boat wise anyway. And then post the results both as in how many use AGM batts (as an example) and then a page that would list everything for each person. Wanna know something about a member just look at his poll profile. Holy cow (sea cow of course) he's got 8 bilge pumps! Or had no idea anybody used no chain at all for an anchor rode. Or I thought about 20% of us had Rocnas but it's only 2%. I'm not the only one that has assumptions .. I just talk about mine. All of us have assumptions we're not even aware of.

But it would be way too much work so getting somebody to do it at the level I'm talking about probably wouldn't happen. But is that an assumption?
__________________

How/where does one create a poll?


I think what you are really asking for is a database/spreadsheet.

I am not going to say I don't have assumptions. But I operate the boat the way I see fit. I don't expect or assume anyone else operates theirs like me. But if you are curious, just start a poll on different subjects. The reason I suggested putting things in your signature is to get to know each other. Maybe we should put our anchor and battery choices there....

jleonard,
Yea .. database. May be interestin to many. Many also wouldn't want to be sling'in out their personel stuff. Going down the " hide in the bushes" road may draw out many lurkers too. Number of lurkers on this forum is something I've wondered about. What if I thought I was weird (I know some do) I may find I'm not so weird at all. What I had in mind would probably tell more about the self than others. But who knows ... the polls so far have only scratched the surface. And Baker assuming assuming others are like you is normal. Always thought you were special .. now I know.

It would tell you something about the membership, but little about good seamanship.

Greetings,
Mr. mb. "What if I thought I was weird..." Ah...um...Naw, too easy.

I, for one, would be interested to hear of the practices of others, and their individual rationales therefore, and would be correspondingly happy to share mine. As an example with AGM's, I have them, but did not spec them. The builder tried to get me to pay for the upgrade but I told them I would have preferred lead acid. As a favor to my builder, I agreed to accept the lead acid's, but have come to regret that decision. If you want to know why, you will have to wait for the survey OP recommended.

We really have enjoyed polls and made a few. They're limited to ten items but then I think that's good as you can create polls about different subjects. We've learned a lot about the demographics of members through them.

Get brave and go start one manyboats. And if you screw it up two or three times then you'll be like me on my first one. Mods can always get us out of trouble though.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. mb. "What if I thought I was weird..." Ah...um...Naw, too easy.

Click to expand...

You may be weird however you are usually right on target, although in a weird way.

I've participated in some of the polls over the years but I've never paid attention to the process of creating one or how the results are displayed other than the results graph one gets immediately after voting in one.

With regards to Eric's idea of using a poll or polls to learn about individual members' preferences and practices, do the polls call out who (by user name) voted for what, or do they simply show the tallied results in the bar graph format we see when we vote?

Marin said:

I've participated in some of the polls over the years but I've never paid attention to the process of creating one or how the results are displayed other than the results graph one gets immediately after voting in one.

With regards to Eric's idea of using a poll or polls to learn about individual members' preferences and practices, do the polls call out who (by user name) voted for what, or do they simply show the tallied results in the bar graph format we see when we vote?

Click to expand...

No, the polls don't say who voted which way. However, most of the time people post in the thread. So you have the statistics from the poll and comments in the thread. My wife and I have been very pleasantly surprised with the participation levels in polls and the corresponding thread.

Greetings,
Mr. hm. "What if I thought I was weird..." Nope. I was quoting Mr. mb. Me? Heck, I'm not weird at all. I'm eccentric...thank you very much.

Things we've learned from polls we started.

89% walk, 48% bicycle, 59% fish. The fishing was higher than I would have guessed but the real surprises to us were the number of people using exercise equipment and the number playing golf or tennis. Unfortunately we left rowing and kayaking out

89% run at 9 knots or less. We got 3 to 5 members in each of the other speed bands. 23% cruise at 12 knots and up. It was interesting that about 20% had two cruising speeds.

64% use their boats year round. 36% don't use during the winter.

About 25% use their boats fewer than 60 days, which would probably be triple that number in the general boating population. As a group we really use our boats.

Over 50% of the group puts 75 to 200 hours a year on their engines. Over 40%, however, put more hours on with 16% over 500 hours. 8 members said 500 to 1000 and we were happy not to be the only ones over 1000.

We learned how much a part of the trawler type boating scene drinking is. We'd gathered that from various books we read and then observing. Still I was surprised that 43% have a drink most days and 67% at least 2 to 3 times a week.

70% here are over 55 years old with three who voted over 75 years old. Honestly, the part that surprised us was the number of younger boaters. 7 under 35, 19 under 45. There's a general assumption by many that trawler type boats are only for older retirees. Clearly there are others attracted to the boats or the style of cruising.

Shoes on boat was a hot issue. We found 72% wear shoes on their boat. I was a little surprised the number was that high, but I was more surprised that 35% do not wear shoes in their home. So, more wear shoes on their boats than do in their homes.

Now we learned far more in the discussions generated. My favorite was what various members do for exercise, how many use their boats year round, and that we found there is a wide range of ages here. Found the shoe poll perhaps the most interesting, especially listening to the reasoning. It may have helped us understand those who do things differently from us more than any of the polls.

I can say that with every poll we learned a bit more about the others here and that was our intent. I think of TF members as true cruising power boaters. Active boaters. Seeing and experiencing a lot. In spite of different types of boats, different ages, those here look for many of the same things we do. We love reading of experiences and think it's great when someone asks about an area and people jump in with recommendations. Honestly, you can learn about most anything boating wise here, even anchors if you care to wade through it all. I wouldn't mind an anchor poll, just to see what people do really use. Still, hearing of other's experiences with different types is very useful information.

OK now that was weird.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. mb. "What if I thought I was weird..." Ah...um...Naw, too easy.

Click to expand...

Ah yes. My apologies. But, maybe just a bit.

Greetings,
Mr. hm. Apology accepted. Now back to that "Big Pole" Mr. mb is suggesting....

Marin, All,
The all chain poll listed the names of the voters beside what they voted for. I had mixed feelings about that. One could see before voting how many voted for what and who voted for what. TMI. Some that use almost 100% line were probably to mostly intimadated by the poll and choose not to reveal that and abstained from voting.

About the weired I essentially gave someone liberty to call me weird and "someone" took the bait.

BandB,
Thanks for the wonderful input.

MYTraveler,
I think you just bellied up to the bar. I hope there's many more like you. Many would need to particapate to be really revealing. This is something that letting it all hang out will be the ticket to the greasest success.

jleonard,
Go for it but I don't know either ..... but I think I did it 5 or so years ago.

MYTraveler said:

As an example with AGM's, I have them, but did not spec them. The builder tried to get me to pay for the upgrade but I told them I would have preferred lead acid. As a favor to my builder, I agreed to accept the lead acid's, but have come to regret that decision. If you want to know why, you will have to wait for the survey OP recommended.

Click to expand...

Did you mean you agreed to accept the AGMs?

And you regret it?

OK, that's a teaser... How about a bit more insight into that? In another thread if you like, so you don't have to wait for this one to generate a poll?



Or maybe talk somebody (who knows how to do it) into started a poll about battery types... so you'd have a logical platform for that discussion?





-Chris

If you want a proper poll, it's probably best to have a thread (this one?) that scopes out the subjects you want people to comment on, compile them, put something together on Survey Monkey, have a trusted few comment and edit, and then direct all to the Survey Monkey site. You could cover a wide range of topics and view the results accordingly.

Frankly, it doesn't matter to me what everyone else is doing. Rather, I want options with expert opinions, and then make a decision based on what is right for my, or rather our situation.

FWIW, I use flooded lead acid batteries and the fluid levels are checked monthly.


Jim
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