Harry Krause wrote:
Reggie Smithers wrote:
Harry Krause wrote:
Reggie Smithers wrote:
Skipper wrote:
This NG has is going through challenging times. Where once it was the
predominant boating NG populated by many industry experts, it has now
become little more than an off-topic chatroom. Most of truly
knowledgeable have long since abandoned this forum for saner climes.
Where once the very best advice could be found here, now serious
questions will most likely be greeted with flame.

Perhaps the time has come to convert rec.boats to a moderated NG and
restore its previous image. Yes, I know it would be a daunting
task. To
win, the proposal must have 100 more YES votes than NO votes and
two/thirds of the votes must be YES. We could announce the proposal in
*all* the boating groups.

The moderation could be set up to recognize white contributors and
black
contributors. Thus automating 95% of the moderation tasks. New
contributors could be hand moderated until they've posted two or three
times. Moderators could be voted on by the group, and a committee
would
have to agree before a contributor was blacklisted (we don't need a
BoaterEd). Open on-topic debate WOULD be encouraged.

Should you be interested in seeing this forum as a moderated NG
respond
in this thread. If there is enough support we'll just grab hold of the
tiger's tail and run with it.
--
Skipper
Skipper,
It will be a lot of work, but I think you can do it.


Are you encouraging Skipper or just playing him?
I personally think it is impossible to get the group moderated, and
believe that very few people in the group, including Skipper, want the
group moderated.



I also believe it is impossible to get this group moderated, but am
curious as to why you believe that Snipper is opposed to such
moderation. He seems hot for it.

I believe Skipper was trying to emphasize the need for on topic posts.
I also believe Skippers West Coast vs East Coast, Floriduh etc. post are
efforts to get people to discuss boating topics. Anyone who has spent
more than a few weeks in any NG soon discovers what kind of posts will
generate the longest threads.

The problem with the West Vs East posts are they have been beaten to
death, no one is really interested beating the horse anymore, so they
generate NO on topic discussions. I find skippers posts about the
beauty of the Sea of Cortes to much more interesting than the Florida is
a piece of **** posts. Very few boaters in rec.boats have visited the
Sea of Cortes, and it would be a great place to charter a boat and enjoy
some very different boating and scenery. The last thing I would want to
do is spend a week or two in a tiny 22' boat, but it would be a great
time in a 36-40' trawler or sailboat.

Skipper may not get the Sea of Cortes often, but it obviously made a
lasting impression on him.

Skipper has also done some River Cruising which very few of us have
done. I would find that to be a better use for a small cruiser. It
would be easy to trailer, easy to maneuver around the river traffic, and
locks. It would also be easy to find a place to tie up for the night,
eat a great dinner and sleep ashore.
--
Reggie
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That's my story and I am sticking to it.

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