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[David Chin]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

David, there are two Search modes here. One is the plain CF Search, the top of the menu that drops down when you click on the button. What it does is match words exactly, and then comes up with posts that have that word, which it obligingly highlights in red. That is useful, for instance, if you want to find if a brand x widget has been mentioned. It requires an exact match.

About the 4th or 5th option down on the menu, there is the CF Google Custom Search, and it is the type of search engine that tries to guess what you want by what you enter. So, if you enter something like "Daysailer sail boats under 20 ft.", it will come up with a bunch of CF threads having some mention of that, or "trailer sailer, etc." It is the CF Google Custom Search that is my friend, I can usually contrive to get it to find me what I want.

I'm not the best expert here at getting around CF, by a long shot, but I'm in your hemisphere, and once you have been active for a while, you can send PM's, but in the mean time, just start threads, even for questions about navigating this forum. You will never be the only one with the question, there's a heck of a lot more viewers than there are posters. Ignore all grumpy replies. Assume someone is having a bad hair day, and move on. Many here are quite content to answer old questions.

The same thing used to happen with sailing magazines, all the electric stuff had been done, then, once a year someone would write the same old thing about batteries. It's life. Repetitive threads are okay. CF isn't a library, although it has one, and it is hard to find the archives.

Oh, and don't believe Boatman 61. He hasn't run out of sea stories, not by a long shot.

Ann

Thankyou, Ann. A very strange thing happened to me just a moment ago. I made a post on this thread and it disappeared when I went back to edit the link. I made another similar post with the corrected link. Now what?

[JPA Cate]

The most likely thing is some kind of operator error, like accidentally clicking on "post quick reply", although you can try scrolling around, often if you've done that, it has already posted it and the writing space is blank. If you use the "Go Advanced", it will let you preview your post, as well as go down and edit it. That method also has access to emoticons.

Another possibility is v-bulletin had a glitch. They don't happen often, but they do occur.

For example, you have two very similar posts in this thread, and it was that that made me think that you actually posted the one before you were quite ready.

Ann

PS. We are hauled out, right now, and I will be in and out. As a volunteer, I have no set hours.

[Mike OReilly]

My thanks to Awaywego, Sawbonz, SH and David for the kind words and affirmative posts. ("Who would ever need 64k or RAM!?"). I can't send normal thanks as I'm on my ipad with limited net access.

I've said it many times; this is a 'discussion' forum. It's not a database or a library. People come here to discuss cruising related topics. That said, Ann's advice regarding the Google search function is an excellent one. There is a wealth of information buried in past threads, and some questions are worth investigating this way.

But in general, keep asking the questions. Who cares if they've been asked a thousand times. If it does bug you just move on. Don't respond. Read another thread. Life's too short to be bothered by such silliness.

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Martin, I think that for most people, their sailboat is one of many "toys". Can't play with it all the time, though, or they can't enjoy the other ones. That's one reason you see many boats no longer sailed.

Then there is the job issue, sometimes jobs move people to where they can't have their boat, there's time pressure, and they don't sell it.

Or, maybe, one of a couple no longer wants to sail.

Ageing can be a factor too. ..... A health condition that prevents use of the boat for long periods. That happened to us, 7 months each time. Yet, this boat is rarely in a marina and is used all year round by me and my husband, but it also sat 7 months in two different marinas, where a kind friend looked after it for us.




There are threads about this, too, one running now is titled something about an Athena 50 languishing.

Humans just aren't as tidy and logical as one might wish, sometimes.

Ann

Very nicely expressed, Ann. There is no substitute for wisdom. Good luck and safe sailing.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by rognvald

Very nicely expressed, Ann. There is no substitute for wisdom. Good luck and safe sailing.

Oh I dunno about that, some of us are doing OK without it - thank you

But I concur about Ann, she is blessed with it...

[softdown]

Originally Posted by rognvald

In an Age Of Instant Gratification, experience doesn't matter. Buy a boat, take a few sails, and you're an expert. You can pontificate about the proper anchor, best GPS, the use of a drogue, or anything even remotely related to cruising. When they sell their boat in a couple years, they will take up mountain climbing and, once again, will become experts in that field after a few climbs and will inform untold millions about proper technique, etiquette, and climbing apparatus. To deny this is a generational thing is patently untrue since the difference in generations over 50 and under are truly great. We are not all the same. We differ by intelligence, experience, culture, and generation. It has been this was since Man first descended from the trees and made a living on the African Savannah. Secondly, there is a perverse(my opinion) desire by entire world populations to become "famous." Their avenue is Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and internet forums. It has been generated by intellectually crippled personalities like the Khardashians who have fame, success and million dollar lifestyles generated by their insipid, brain-dead postings. We even see these people in sailing videos where the dramatic highpoint of a video is not some insightful experience, but rather waiting for a bikini clad girl to bend over in a cheesecake pose in pathetic a soft porn stance to the glowering eyes of their viewers. And, like the Khardashians, they are making a living doing it. CF once had a member who was the poster child of the New Gen of Cruisers who had many opinions and little experience. He was the last word on everything nautical and his generation of followers lauded his every post and sought to emulate this "experienced" cruiser. He even wrote a guidebook to Mexico after only one trip and railed against contributors differing from his own opinion about the proper way to cross an ocean--he had never crossed an ocean. But he was popular, well-liked and an icon. Sadly, for him, his story ended in disaster and I imagine he has "moved along" to other venues of expertise. I don't think there is anything wrong with CF Forum and believe they have actually evolved for the better since I have joined in their being more open-minded in heated/controversial discussions and content while still maintaining respectability. Much of what people are complaining about here is a natural progression for some to become involved in a pastime, gain knowledge/lose interest and move on. This will always be the case in these type of Forums. And, as far as repeating topics, this is only natural as new members come and go and ask "age old" questions for some that are new to them. Good luck and safe sailing.

Paragraphs are your friend.

[David Chin]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

For example, you have two very similar posts in this thread, and it was that that made me think that you actually posted the one before you were quite ready.

Ann

Why do you say that I have 2 very similar posts on this thread? Where are they? How do you know?!

David

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

1. I've said it many times; this is a 'discussion' forum. It's not a database or a library. People come here to discuss cruising related topics. That said, Ann's advice regarding the Google search function is an excellent one. There is a wealth of information buried in past threads, and some questions are worth investigating this way.

2. But in general, keep asking the questions. Who cares if they've been asked a thousand times. If it does bug you just move on. Don't respond. Read another thread. Life's too short to be bothered by such silliness.

Mike,

1. Correct. This particular forum is just that, a discussion forum. While there may be some "stickys" here, most of what's here is day to day banter. On our Catalina 34 website, we have a daily-dose forum, much like this one, however, we have also "captured" 30 years of C34-specific and general boating information in a wiki and 30 years of copies of published notes from the Catalina Mainsheet magazine, that I've shared with all of you here via links that I post. The "library" you mentioned.

Recently, I had the occasion on our C34 forum to respond to a new skipper, suggesting that she avail herself of the wealth of information on our website. Some yahoo, who owns a different boat with similar systems, who also uses our forum (and many others) to promote his own marine business, took me to task, saying how dare I ask someone new to do her own homework and research!!!

I wouldn't have been so pee-d if he hadn't done two things:

1) Disparaged our website for not "correcting" those past 30 years of "collected wisdom" some of which, of course, had changed over the years. Like, AGM batteries in 1990, who would've thunk?!?

2) Called me out by name and said he'd "heard offline" that people were offended by me asking them to do their homework and research after showing them exactly where to look, and he said so in public. I have been active on our website and helped build it for the past 15 years and have personally built our "101 Topics" with FAQ links that I use here often. He's been there for all of two or three years. His answers to her boat-specific questions were replete with incorrect answers.

This dirtbag has tried to get some traction on many other Catalina one-design websites. He is often helpful to some, for hardware, but is mostly offensive, personally. He is frustrated in that he can't get the "leader" of his own boat class to fund his own version of what he thinks their 45+++ year old boat website should be, so he preys on other websites and disparages those who built informative and helpful resources.

Sorry for the rant, but there is, I believe, a vast difference between a website like this that is almost 100% discussion and others, like our C34 website (and many others), that is partly discussion but "deep" with historical and archived resources, available for all to share.

Boat systems are not boat-specific.

That said, my favorite post here is Dockhead's CTS crossing the of the English Channel thread. I'm crossing the Strait of Georgia sometime soon, I look forward to putting it into practice.

2. I agree. Mike, you're right, for all new forum respondents, keep asking. And, Mike, many thanks for your own contributions. Enjoy your cruise. I'm off at o'dark thirty myself for Friday Harbor.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by danielamartindm

The Forum reflects who is sailing and cruising, which is a melding of living generations; and as society changes, so do people. I see plenty of young people here in St. Pete sailing smaller, no-A/C/no bells-and-whistles sloops now, in the dead of summer. I see their posts here, and I see in them what I used to be before I had the means to purchase a six-figure yacht. IMO, if the pages of this forum reflect the current cruising community, it is alive and well.

This young female sailor seems to be like the ones you speak of. She has a pretty nice webpage as well.

Here's a funny quote from her website:

“This is kind of like…a bachelor pad,” one my older sailing buddies said looking into the cabin of my 1968 Pearson Ariel, as the sun set across a sea of landlocked masts.

“Yeah, except I’m a girl.”

“Except you’re a girl. It’s minimalist. It’s not a couple’s boat.”

I also like her boat which is an old Pearson Ariel.

http://www.dinghydreams.com/

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Mike,

1. Correct. This particular forum is just that, a discussion forum. While there may be some "stickys" here, most of what's here is day to day banter. On our Catalina 34 website, we have a daily-dose forum, much like this one, however, we have also "captured" 30 years of C34-specific and general boating information in a wiki and 30 years of copies of published notes from the Catalina Mainsheet magazine, that I've shared with all of you here via links that I post. The "library" you mentioned.

Exactly! And the perfect example. Your website (which I recommend to anyone researching cruising topics) is set up and organized as a library. It is a curated, catalogued collection of info, how-tos, and cruising experiences. Another site that comes to mind is Mainsail's.

These are libraries or databases people can search. CF is not that. While it contains a lot of the same info found on sites like yours, it's structure and intent is as a discussion space. The two overlap in content, but the purposes and designs are different.

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

2. I agree. Mike, you're right, for all new forum respondents, keep asking. And, Mike, many thanks for your own contributions. Enjoy your cruise. I'm off at o'dark thirty myself for Friday Harbor.

Thanks Stu. The same back at you; always appreciate your thoughtful and experience-driven posts. Enjoy your latest cruise. Ours is going well. Hard day of 4+ meter convoluted seas and "20 to 30 knot winds". Just dropped the hook off an island north of Anticosti. Feels like a two-day stop to me.

[Sawbonz]

[QUOTE=JPA Cate;2450149]
About the 4th or 5th option down on the menu, there is the CF Google Custom Search, and it is the type of search engine that tries to guess what you want by what you enter. So, if you enter something like "Daysailer sail boats under 20 ft.", it will come up with a bunch of CF threads having some mention of that, or "trailer sailer, etc." It is the CF Google Custom Search that is my friend, I can usually contrive to get it to find me what I want.
/QUOTE]

Ann,

I don't believe the Google search option is available on the iPad app, which of course opening the site on Safari pushes you to automatically. Perhaps that's why I have never found anything useful from search!

It just struck me though...it is so much nicer to just answer a question. A person's experiences shape their understanding and it is interesting how that will then interface with someone else's to answer a question that you didn't even know you needed to ask! I think they call that.....life.

[SSgtPitt]

Looking back at the 2nd thread I started "50 and Shoving Off", I realize now I asked the same question so many others did and still do.

I recv'd a lot of support and information and with the input from CF I bought my first and only boat a couple years ago and have been steadily working on her getting ready to leave for the dream in 2018.

Posting new threads lets you connect with new people and get direct support to a direct question. Reading a book gives you some information or history, using CF to discuss items from that book gives you a connection.

It felt great when I got kudos from established users about actually doing what I said I was going to do, rather than just dreaming and wishing.

And why don't you guys fill out your profiles? It makes it easier to figure who to accept advice from.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

And why don't you guys fill out your profiles? It makes it easier to figure who to accept advice from.

I used to have mine all filled out and I even used my real name here as my user name. But there were too many new people who just seemed crazy (I just base that on things they wrote and the way they wrote them) that I took it all out. I'm sure I still have too much info here to stop a good crazy internet person from finding me, but all I can do is take reasonable actions.

This was really brought to light to me on a thread right here on CF. There was a woman here who was all proud that no one could find her by using her user name. She posted that numerous times until I got curious and tried. Even with my limited skills I found her first name and where she worked in 10 minutes and I figured it would be a small jump from that to knowing where she lived.

Moral - be careful what you post on a public internet page.

[zeehag]

this place did used to be a lot more fun. oopsy
said it out loud yet again...uhoh.... political correctness has become more severe--one is no longer to call out a bully and lash in public. oh well... one can dream.
some days it is almost as fun as when the old funky ones of us , of whom there be fewer and fewer, were here posting goats and 3 hour tours and ssssm was discussing dumpster diving.
occasionally we get an interesting fun thread... rarer now.
now i am seeing more ocd and less add in the threads.
still same number of grammar nazis..
..is interesting to watch the progress of fellow been banneds.... h aha ha ha ha ha
boat recipes...tellme how do you like your boat cooked then i will submit recipes.
there is much less creativity now than in much earlier years.
ohmy i been member since 2008. can anyone add that high?? ha h ah aha h aha ha

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by zeehag

this place did used to be a lot more fun. oopsy
said it out loud yet again...uhoh.... political correctness has become more severe--one is no longer to call out a bully and lash in public. oh well... one can dream.
some days it is almost as fun as when the old funky ones of us , of whom there be fewer and fewer, were here posting goats and 3 hour tours and ssssm was discussing dumpster diving.
occasionally we get an interesting fun thread... rarer now.
now i am seeing more ocd and less add in the threads.
still same number of grammar nazis..
..is interesting to watch the progress of fellow been banneds.... h aha ha ha ha ha
boat recipes...tellme how do you like your boat cooked then i will submit recipes.
there is much less creativity now than in much earlier years.
ohmy i been member since 2008. can anyone add that high?? ha h ah aha h aha ha

I'll agree and join this soon to be deleted thought