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rwidman · 08-07-2021, 09:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

on a little related thread drift

the posts that I find useless to me and my 6'4" drift boat are the ones that say

"lots of water, we had 2' under the bottom"

what good really is that if they don't tell the boat draft?

I also find over 1/2 the hazard posts on the ICW about shoaling are really because 4' draft power boats think they "in the channel" if the depth is 6', which is way out of the channel so of course they go aground on the curves

Keep in mind that this information is "crowd sourced" and that nearly half the crowd are below average intelligence.

rwidman · 08-07-2021, 09:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shrew

I tried to update AC to correct some VERY incorrect information on my favorite anchorage. This was prior to the Garmin acquisition. It seems the old process required that the original poster be allowed to 'approve' the update. I got a weird E-mail basically explaining why the original poster thought his info. was correct and mine was wrong. My update was never accepted.

My choice was to submit a contradictory entry beside the incorrect one. I decided to let it be and never contributed to AC again. I do use it extensively.

That has not been my experience at all. In fact, I have been able to delete other people's reviews (for a reason). For example, folks often confuse an anchorage and a marina and post what is obviously the wrong review.

Or a review for a marina states that "the fish was fresh and the bartender makes good drinks".

rwidman · 08-07-2021, 09:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by torrmundi

You can add markers, but it’s extremely convoluted (almost useless). You should complain to Garmin, since they broke it. Here are the steps:

I selected an existing marker (that's a stupid approach, right at the start, since you are trying to make a NEW marker), then the More hamburger icon, then Edit.

That opens a blank browser page within the app, that eventually leads the AC Community page from the web. Scroll down the page to find the VIEW MAP hyperlink enclosed in a rectangle. This leads to the online map (completely different appearance than the app's native map theme). This map has the ">" tab at upper left side, which pulls out and contains the Add Marker hyperlink.

I have added markers and did not have to go through all that.

SuW · 08-07-2021, 09:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwidman

Keep in mind that this information is "crowd sourced" and that nearly half the crowd are below average intelligence.

Of course, that excludes present company...lol.

I have found that most AC reviewers are OK. Some may be a little terse. By its nature it probably self-selects for smarter-than-the-average-bears...like us

rwidman · 08-07-2021, 10:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuW

Of course, that excludes present company...lol.

I have found that most AC reviewers are OK. Some may be a little terse. By its nature it probably self-selects for smarter-than-the-average-bears...like us

Well, saying that they had two feet of water under their keel without stating the boat's draft strikes me as being "below average", but my favorite was the guy who gave a marina a bad review because they wanted to charge him to take a shower (he didn't have a slip in the marina, he had anchored nearby).

rwidman · 08-07-2021, 10:17

I think one problem with any of these resources is, people have become too lazy or too ignorant to even use them.

Join a Facebook boating group and all the people are asking is, "What's a good marina near (name of town)?

Sometimes I recommend Active Captain and even furnish the link, but I believe they are too lazy or incapable of figuring these things out for themselves.

SuW · 08-07-2021, 10:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwidman

I think one problem with any of these resources is, people have become too lazy or too ignorant to even use them.

Join a Facebook boating group and all the people are asking is, "What's a good marina near (name of town)?

Sometimes I recommend Active Captain and even furnish the link, but I believe they are too lazy or incapable of figuring these things out for themselves.

Tell 'em to Google it. If you put the word "marina" into Google search, the first thing that comes up is "marinas near me" with maps an' all...

No sentient beings on FB, imo.

bobnlesley · 08-07-2021, 10:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwidman

Keep in mind that this information is "crowd sourced" and that nearly half the crowd are below average intelligence.

It's a good few years since we've used AC - it took my 'free' chart away when I tried to update the flags one day, then someone explained how I could buy the replacements; when I replied declining this kind offer, they were good enough to assure me that whilst I wouldn't be able to use AC without so doing, they would still be keen to receive any info/updates I could submit to them. I settled for deleting it altogether and eventually gave the pretty free cap that they'd sent me for posting info to an Ecuadorian lad who'd brought us some fruit.

To be fair, I thought that the info posted from the 'below average' half was one of the best bits about AC, it kept us laughing for hours; our highlight was undoubtedly trundling steadily up the ICW reading posts from a boat which from the posting dates was somewhere ahead of us and which constantly ran aground - the groundings were never his fault of course, people had moved the marker posts and such - and then just south of Great Bridge, Va. we caught up to him - he was aground!

We quickly learnt which posters to heed and those to ignore, or laugh at; on the ICW I recall there was Bob123 or similar - definitely Bob and then numbers - he was our ICW guru and with a 6' draft we needed all the help that we could get.

It doesn't surprise me to hear that it's fallen away, the business plan of funding the platform via advertising and having users effectively freely trade information was a good one, but to charge users for that freely provided info - most especially those who'd given it to you - was never going to work as well: If you were capable/experienced enough to be contributing worthwhile info to AC, then you could get by without it and wouldn't pay. The novices would happily pay for the benefit of all that knowledge/experience, but only whilst it was up to date and accurate, so once the valued contributors had gone, it was worse then useless to them too; better just to ask around on the docks along the way, where i for one would happily and freely pass on anything and everything I knew.

CaptTom · 08-07-2021, 10:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwidman

Active Captain is what they call "crowd sourced". You are part of that crowd. When you find something that's wrong, change it.

If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

For the record, I was a very active contributor, and until recently still updated where I could.

It's sort of pointless if I'm the only one still doing it. I don't mind helping others who come behind me, but when there's no-one reviewing places I haven't been yet (or lately) then I fail to see any benefit to me. Being an unpaid volunteer for Garmin isn't high on my list of priorities, either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobnlesley

To be fair, I thought that the info posted from the 'below average' half was one of the best bits about AC, it kept us laughing for hours

Of course it's not just AC. Google Maps, Amazon, all kinds of reviews can be humorous. Like the person who rated our marina one star because we weren't open for lunch when he arrived. Uh...it's a marina, not a restaurant!

CarlF · 08-07-2021, 11:11

I've been using AC since 2010 (I got one of the original free ActiveCaptain hats for doing a bunch of reviews). I frankly don't see anything going downhill. In fact it got much better after Garmin took over and made a free web based version for planning at home. It includes charts for the entire world. This is also a quick and easy place to add reviews as some of the apps are cumbersome for this.

There are a few things to understand:

It is crowdsourced so no single review should be viewed as definitive. But it's very quick to scan a few reviews and see if there's general agreement.

For hazards, the most useful part of AC is where there is NO marker. If over 10 years no one has posted a warning that they ran aground - you can be pretty sure that you won't run aground there either.

And there's nothing wrong with old reviews. Rocks and anchorages don't change much. The first AC review I ever made in 2010 is still there. And the sandbar it warned about is still there. I went by it yesterday and someone was aground. Tow Boat was trying to pull them off.

As for marinas - you'll find recent reviews for any new marina or one that's changed.

I still post about a dozen reviews a year. That's well down fron the early days but I don't waste my time repeating what someone else said perfectly well.

Perhaps someday there will be a better solution. But so far nothing is even close. Waterway guide has only a small fraction of the content. I love Bob423's tracks on the ICW - but they are certainly not intended as a complete substitute for AC.

So when you see something new, PLEASE post it in AC. It's a great way to help out your fellow cruiser.

ixnax · 08-07-2021, 11:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwidman

Active Captain is what they call "crowd sourced". You are part of that crowd. When you find something that's wrong, change it.

If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

It's so frustrating that so few people are willing to do free work so we cruisers can get more free services. Terrible.

In other news, I just yesterday discovered that for 15 bucks a year, less than a nickel a day, I can help support CruisersForum which, not coincidentally, has us all met here today.

It could be that free isn't always a very good price.

**hpeer** · 08-07-2021, 13:02

FWIW I just posted to AC through AquaMaps, it appears my post was accepted successfully. I did need to log into Garmin as prompted through the AquaMaps interface.

I have posted before when I thought I had something to add.

There are too many annoying posts with no useful content.

We draw 6-1/2’ and I am frequently looking for info on entrance draft. Damn hard to find.

What I do not know how to do is how to ADD a location. For example I am anchored in the Scuppernong River, good location, not marked. How to add?

Mike OReilly · 08-07-2021, 13:30

I haven't posted anything to AC for many years now. I don't bother because where I mostly cruise, there really aren't enough people to make it work. Crowd-sourcing needs crowds, and where I spend my time, there just aren't enough cruisers.

But I still think AC, and Waterway Guide, are useful tools. I'm not sure what the problem is with AC, but it seems to be functional when I go to the site. I know Garmin pulled the plug on a few apps, and altered the way people sign in, but it still seems to work.

rwidman · 08-07-2021, 14:41

I think anyone who equates posting a review is equivalent tp "working for Garmin" is a bit off his rocker.

If anything, you are working for other boaters and they are working for you. It's "volunteering" a few minutes of your time for the benefit of other boaters.

I use Active Captain on a daily basis when cruising, especially in unfamiliar places.