Deleted thread

[Wild Bill]

I've sat around reading all this tech vs. social stuff long enough. Now my opinion.
It seems to me that the social stuff is the reason for the tech stuff. Both of them have merit and both are necessary. Why keep your boat running if your not going to use it. The social part is just another excuse to play with our toys. The tech stuff keeps the toys playing. They need each other. Instead of arguing with one is more important, lets give them equal importance, because they are equally important. Show me a rendevous that did not have a technical issue. Now show me a technical thread that did not end up being a little social.
Folks we are people. We are social creatures, like it or not.
What would I rather do, wade through a bowl of home made, damn good wings with the BIRD and a few other Hatt owners or stand on my head in a engine compartment? Same as the rest of you, eat wings. Yes, I do like to work on my boat. Its a labor of love. It has to be or we wouldn't do it.
So, lets enjoy the season and each other. BIRD is a little crazy and I'm a cranky old buzzard, some girls don't like boys like me, But.. some girls do.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVEYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[(Nobody You Know)]

Merry Christmas all!

I came on a little over a year ago and since have thoroughly enjoyed this Forum. On the tech side I have presented very few (like one or two) Threads that did not generate excellent and logical responses. There really is not much you can present as related to (Hatteras) boating without getting several very good answers.

The "Sandbar" is IMHO one of the smartest moves "Sticky" made. For me this has generated a sort of freindship with people I have never seen or met, and some whom I have enjoyed communicating with either on the phone or by PMs. There is ample evidence that the "Sandbar" has rapidly become a platform where a good many other members are now creating rendezvous and or assisting one another in moving boats. In short, though we sometimes get a little carried away, there's something for everyone!

Hey, here's a nice little Christmas quote for you:
”…live each day like it's your last because it very well may be. Take time to stop and smell the roses, and stop taking things so dang seriously! God meant for life to be enjoyable, just like Jack Hargrave probably liked cruising better than designing. Why else would he have gotten into that line of work, and why else would any of us own a Hatteras?”

Here's bettin that none of you can guess who said that!!!

Again, MC, HH, and HHnka

 

[Paul45c]

Hey, here's a nice little Christmas quote for you:
”…live each day like it's your last because it very well may be. Take time to stop and smell the roses, and stop taking things so dang seriously! God meant for life to be enjoyable, just like Jack Hargrave probably liked cruising better than designing. Why else would he have gotten into that line of work, and why else would any of us own a Hatteras?”

Here's bettin that none of you can guess who said that!!!

Again, MC, HH, and HHnka

Aw heck, I think I'll belly up and win that prize. That would be "the DirtyBIRD ." No question.

Ok, ok, you all knew that, anyway.

 

[Boss Lady]

I moved this as it definitely wasn't a part wanted or for sale thread

Heh, I've been on a cruise - literally - for the last week. Home now, and my kid just opened her presents. I'm off to lala land but am "back" and around..... as usual

Hi Karl,

Glad you are back, they have thrown some tough questions out while you were gone! Merry Christmas

 

[Maynard Rupp]

I really enjoy this site. On our trip to Florida I spoke on the phone with AD Daly and several others. Jim Rosenthal and I had dinner together. At the Colombus Day get together at Elliot Key, I spent time with Angela, Ed Egatio, waved to Carl Guzman, and met Freebird. I have shared several conversations and drinks with Pascal. So we do get to shake hands with each other sometimes. I am kinda' a technical guy and I enjoy solving my boat problems and trying to keep the thing perfect. I may even get more enjoyement from that stuff than I do from using the boat. I know that sounds crazy, and maybe I am. I try to throw a thread out that will generate lots of good thought. The one I started about fuel tank problems is still going strong. All of you that contributed to that thread have really put the problem in perspective and maybe even solved it. That kind of interaction is great. It is also great when someone poses a question that someone else has the answer to and the methods for curing the problem.

 

[egaito]

OK, since we're all sharing on this topic....

I've not noticed a lack of sandbox threads, so I'm not sure how folks are labeling the forum overly "technical" and lacking "social" threads. I can see how perhaps we've been lacking in one-liners, off-color humor, and daily apologies for said humor.

If social is defined by one-liner posts that somehow offend someone (all in fun of course), yet say absolutely nothing, then we've indeed lost something. I like to have fun, but for me, things got to the point here that resembled a chat room more than a forum. I simply found it impossible to weed through the posts to find any actual content, and in turn, I found my forum usage going steadily down. I didn't spend a lot of time complaining about it...just visited less and less frequently.

If social is defined by bringing us Hatty's together, sharing our boating (and occasionally other experiences) and facilitating meeting each other, I don't see anything missing. CDR was a testament to the social value of the forum, and an amazing event to me. The help and advise I got through the forum, and not just technical, but navigation, anchorage, customs (woohoo!) and contacts were amazing. I met people from all walks of Hatt life and enjoyed the company of every single one, including the 'Bird. Some didn't make it, and were met only in spirit, but I look forward to meeting them in person as well. And this forum was both the instigator, and the facilitator of that gathering. A complete success in my eyes.

I have to give the guys at Sam's a lot of credit. It's easy to forget that this isn't a "public" forum, rather one sponsered by a business, a business dealing in a high end yacht brand (spare me the "pass the Grey Poupon comments please), trying to maintain an image that goes with the brand, and preserve a relationship with the (corporate) brand owner. The content here got to the point that it no longer represented the reputation, or image of our sponsor, and I respect their decision to make changes they felt necessary to keep it in line with their goals and desires.

I also recognize, and appreciate, what to me was an extraordinary effort by Sams (and the volunteer moderators) to accommodate everyone, first by creating the sandbar to try and separate some of the off-topic and often off-color content, and trying to patiently to keep the forum in a form they could feel proud of.

I think of the forum as somewhat of a neighborhood. In many, there are covenants, that like it or not, if you buy into the neighborhood, you are bound to. You can't move in, paint your house hot pink, put cars up on blocks in the front yard, along with a sign that says screw authority, and then cry foul because in your eyes the other residents don't have a sense of humor, because you expect them to all change to appreciate yours.

I think we're once again finding our balance, and who knows, maybe one day, the 'Bird can join in and enjoy being part of the neighborhood without feeling the need to "fix" all of us. if I want to be fixed, I'll call Dr. Phil. If I want to talk about boats, and in particular, Hatts, I'll come here.

 

[MarioG]

Truer words have never been spoken...

 

[nor'easter]

I have been standing back and observing the tech vs social arguments, as my opinions have been reflected in many threads. I agree that we need the tech stuff, but we should have both. I am selling my 39 and looking to move up to a C in the future. Many of the threads here in the tech dept have helped me hone my interest to a few models, even when the threads aren't directly related to them in particular.
On the social side, I enjoy reading but have contributed little. In San Diego, CA there are only a couple of "us" that I recognize boats here on the forum. I have had the opportunity to meet "luckydave" who opened his beautiful and mighty 60C for my wife and I to take a peak. I hope that he and I can hook up with each other again, and with some tuna in the future.
I am often envious of the close proximity (relatively) that the east coasters on this forum are to each other. It would be great to get together with like minded boaters/Hatters and enjoy the spoils of our hard work, as well as share the knowledge that keeps them running well.
The bird was a bit goofy for my taste, but he may say the same about me. In his wake, there seems to be a bit more social stuff being talked about, and that is a good thing IMHO.

 

[Boss Lady]

Having spent a career in the military I have managed to spend time in most parts of the country and many parts of the world. I have learned that we all really are the same but our regional cultures her at home keep us from seeing that most of the time. If we don't take the time to see things from another perspective we get it wrong everytime. This cultural problem is so bad that we get lableled as the "ugly american" all over the world and at home we have the north vs south, and east coast vs west coast arrogance problem. I think this is influenced by our competitive natures. I have really good friends from all over the country, and we laugh about how ignorant we used to be before we all met and came to appreciate our differences. We don't have royalty here in America (thank God), but we do have people that think they are better than the rest of us due to where they come from or what university they attended, or how much money they have made. Well they have surely missed the boat of life by thinking this way. My horizons were extended greatly when I learned to take the time to find out about my northern cousins(figuratively) and their different customs as well as many other places in our great country. The best pizza is found in the subway in NYC, and the Irish pubs in Boston are a blast, the best seafood is in Florida, and the best crawfish I ever had were in Louisiana. California is still the land of fruits and nuts, but the best clam chowder on the planet is on the fisherman's wharf in Monterey. I grew up in the south and we know how to have a good time, my business partner is from New Jersey and his wife felt like she had shown up to the sequel of Deliverence when she came to an old fashioned hoe down one Saturday night, too much culture shock. Now she feels right at home. I had a similiar shock visiting a friend in NY, when I was invited over for a family football party, ( Italian policemen), I kept waiting for the brawl to break out. I guess my point in all this is you can remain ignorant or you can open the door a crack and you may find that you just might meet some new friends that you normally wouldn't have thought you had anything in common with. We do have an appreciation of Hat in common if nothing else.

Cheers

 

[Passages]

I used to be a fairly prolific poster but I've pretty much stopped.

Things were getting a little intense about a month ago. For me, It became personal when I started a thread involving a funny photo about a mystery fish. It was zapped for no other reason - as far as I could tell - other than the 'bird tacked harmless reply to it. I no longer knew what was acceptable - even in the Sandbar - so I stopped contributing as opposed to chance crossing some invisible line. I'm sure there are others who share simlar feelings as indicated by the lack of recent activity.

Perhaps this slow period is healthy and necessary - the site is just catching it's breath. I hope so.

 

[egaito]

.....I guess my point in all this is you can remain ignorant or you can open the door a crack and you may find that you just might meet some new friends that you normally wouldn't have thought you had anything in common with. We do have an appreciation of Hat in common if nothing else.

Cheers

Maybe I'm reading you wrong....but to clarify, if one liked where the forum had gone, one was enlightened, and if not, ignorant?

 

[Boss Lady]

I didn't say anything like that. I did say that we are from different backgrounds and different parts of the country, and from my experience I have found that one should take the time to learn about the other guy and maybe your perspective will be different. That is what I try to do.

 

[egaito]

I didn't say anything like that. I did say that we are from different backgrounds and different parts of the country, and from my experience I have found that one should take the time to learn about the other guy and maybe your perspective will be different. That is what I try to do.

I knew I wasn't reading that right...it sounded way out of character, and I can appreciate the sentiment. Born a NJ Italian, transplanted to tobacco country as a teen, then further south to Atlanta before crossing a couple of oceans for business and pleasure, I don't consider myself sheltered or closed minded....I ate stuff I didn't recognize in Japan even though they brought in KFC to "keep me comfortable". Heck, as a young city slicker, I remember a road trip through NM on the way to California, stopping in a remote town for gas and lunch, at a real road house (we didn't have those in North Jersey, and the men were still wearing six-guns....talk about a culture shock.

My point is that I don't think that's what the issue has been though. For all of the people that have shared an honest opinion here, even where we differ in opinion, most all of us have shared a cocktail in person, or swapped a story or a lie on the forum in perfect harmony.

Despite a wide diversity in age, boat, and budget, I've found a lot in common, and not all about boats or Hatts, with everyone I've met here, be it boats, trains, planes or automobiles. Heck, even the 'Bird and I have a few things in common that aren't normally discussed in the forum. I know he still reads, and hope he hasn't worn out that T shirt, or forgotten the martini he owes me for hooking him up. I still intend to collect one day.

None of that has anything to do with the forum or what appropriate content for it is according to it's charter and sponsors. I'm just a guest here, thankful for the resource, and like others have an opinion that's worth just what was paid for it. It does not define what I think of others here, just as I expect it doesn't define how others interact with me. I'm willing to behave here as our hosts desire to keep the resource alive, well, and freshly stocked with new knowledge about one of my favorite topics.

 

[jim rosenthal]

I can't speak for all the other Forum staff, but for myself I will say this: I very much want everyone to post and frequent the Forum. I want people to enjoy this space and have fun. I also want people to be aware of the feelings of others and respect them. Ed's point about neighborhoods makes it far better than I could. I am glad that things have settled down a bit and hope that we are able to reattract all those folks that may have gone away, hopefully temporarily.

Since I visit forums on other topics, I've noticed that the group evolves- people come and go. For example, on the GT40s forum, the Administrator is the same, but just about everyone else has been replaced. Folks find new interests, move on, etc. I hope that we are able to hang on to our constituency here, because there are a lot of folks whose opinions I value and whose company I enjoy a great deal. With more to come, I hope.

 

[Wild Bill]

Jim,
I don't expect too many of the faithful followers to vacate for one simple reason, they are as solid as the boats we have in common. My Hatt turns 30 next year and I turn 60 (it's going to be one hell of a party), I can't recall any 30 year old GT's. Yep, we'll be around and so will our Hatts.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

I can't speak for all the other Forum staff, but for myself I will say this: I very much want everyone to post and frequent the Forum. I want people to enjoy this space and have fun. I also want people to be aware of the feelings of others and respect them. Ed's point about neighborhoods makes it far better than I could. I am glad that things have settled down a bit and hope that we are able to reattract all those folks that may have gone away, hopefully temporarily.

Since I visit forums on other topics, I've noticed that the group evolves- people come and go. For example, on the GT40s forum, the Administrator is the same, but just about everyone else has been replaced. Folks find new interests, move on, etc. I hope that we are able to hang on to our constituency here, because there are a lot of folks whose opinions I value and whose company I enjoy a great deal. With more to come, I hope.

Jim-- whats the link to the GT40 page. I have a friend here that owns 2 complete (1 running) and 1 parts car. He was in the owners registry 5 years ago and I would like to try and catch up with him. Thanks, ws

 

[34Hatt]

Lots of good points here I think Chris "Boss Lady" made some good points. I also see you come to N.Y some what so Ill be waiting for your call to tell me when your coming . That goes for anyone else and if its in season, a boat ride goes with that .

Passages I used to be a fairly prolific poster but I've pretty much stopped.

Things were getting a little intense about a month ago. For me, It became personal when I started a thread involving a funny photo about a mystery fish. It was zapped for no other reason - as far as I could tell - other than the 'bird tacked harmless reply to it. I no longer knew what was acceptable - even in the Sandbar - so I stopped contributing as opposed to chance crossing some invisible line. I'm sure there are others who share simlar feelings as indicated by the lack of recent activity.

I can say for a fact that the Bird knew this was happening and was a Big reason for him leaving. It was kind of the last straw

 

[Boss Lady]

I do get to NY on occasion and I will look you up on my next trip. There are some good places to eat and I look forward to seeing NY from the waterfront!

 

[hunshatt]

Chris, you know if your plane comes to boston, or portland, I'd better get a call. No boat ride, cause I'm thinking I have a long path in front of me, but I may suprise myself.
thuddddd

 

[Boss Lady]

Well you had at least better know where to find some good clam chowder if there is no boat ride!LOL Boss Lady has been on the hard for 2 years come January, so I feel your pain. Mine will be finished in March so you will have to come down when you get the itch.