Here in Newfoundland Canada we are having a new years paddle on Jan 1.
We may have to break ice to get into the harbour of Quidi Vidi but it
will be done.
There is a similar event in Central Newfoundland ( North Coast 400 KM
away ).
If anyone is here, we can likely find you a boat and keep you dry.
This is covered in the NF.Paddling news group.
This UK group seams to slow down a little.
HMMM the Land of the BCU cools of?
CIAO Alex

wrote in message
oups.com...
Here in Newfoundland Canada we are having a new years paddle on Jan 1.
We may have to break ice to get into the harbour of Quidi Vidi but it
will be done.
There is a similar event in Central Newfoundland ( North Coast 400 KM
away ).
If anyone is here, we can likely find you a boat and keep you dry.
This is covered in the NF.Paddling news group.
This UK group seams to slow down a little.
HMMM the Land of the BCU cools of?
CIAO Alex

Shush! You're disturbing the silence.
We're having a Mexican stand off.
Whoever posts first loses.
Oh hang on.....

D

Oh. Sorry David.
Ah well , Its over now. You still have open water. This should be a
busy news group.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Oh. Sorry David.

Not really a problem, I don't think anyone noticed.

Ah well , Its over now. You still have open water.

Not today I don't, the canal is frozen & I don't do icebreaking in my
boat.

This should be a busy news group.

True, but unfortunately some posters are/were very intolerant of other
people's opinions, and rather than agree, disagree, or ignore those
opinions, they went elsewhere to a place where dissent is not permitted.
Meanwhile a few of us read what few postings there are, rarely bothering
to reply.
I would be quite happy to see more postings, but that requires more
posters willing to post.
I still post occasionally, mainly so the lurkers know someone is still
here keeping an eye on the old place, and trying to keep the standards
up. ;-)

Anyway, Merry Christmas!

David
Not a fan of the humourless departed.

David Kemper wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
Oh. Sorry David.

Not really a problem, I don't think anyone noticed.

Ah well , Its over now. You still have open water.

Not today I don't, the canal is frozen & I don't do icebreaking in my
boat.

This should be a busy news group.

True, but unfortunately some posters are/were very intolerant of
other
people's opinions, and rather than agree, disagree, or ignore those
opinions, they went elsewhere to a place where dissent is not
permitted.
Meanwhile a few of us read what few postings there are, rarely
bothering
to reply.
I would be quite happy to see more postings, but that requires more
posters willing to post.
I still post occasionally, mainly so the lurkers know someone is
still
here keeping an eye on the old place, and trying to keep the
standards
up. ;-)

Anyway, Merry Christmas!

David
Not a fan of the humourless departed.

Not to worry. The Kayak Newfoundland and Labrador news group serves
atotal population of under a half million and only a couple to five
hundred do much paddling. It is the spot though and the news group is
active as all get out.
Your news group will turn around or will possibly be replaced perhaps
by something moderated.
The trouble with that is postings looking for paddles take for ever to
show up, often after you get back from a nice trip or the next day.
Thos one is pretty quick
Anyway all the best with it all in the UK. There should be lots of
lochs open. I am from Scotland ( long time ago ) the Gareloch never
froze with the exception of a skim at Gareloch Head.
Anyway. Good Luck.

wrote in message
oups.com...

David Kemper wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
Oh. Sorry David.

Not really a problem, I don't think anyone noticed.

Ah well , Its over now. You still have open water.

Not today I don't, the canal is frozen & I don't do icebreaking in
my
boat.

This should be a busy news group.

True, but unfortunately some posters are/were very intolerant of
other
people's opinions, and rather than agree, disagree, or ignore those
opinions, they went elsewhere to a place where dissent is not
permitted.
Meanwhile a few of us read what few postings there are, rarely
bothering
to reply.
I would be quite happy to see more postings, but that requires more
posters willing to post.
I still post occasionally, mainly so the lurkers know someone is
still
here keeping an eye on the old place, and trying to keep the
standards
up. ;-)

Anyway, Merry Christmas!

David
Not a fan of the humourless departed.

Not to worry. The Kayak Newfoundland and Labrador news group serves
atotal population of under a half million and only a couple to five
hundred do much paddling. It is the spot though and the news group is
active as all get out.
Your news group will turn around or will possibly be replaced perhaps
by something moderated.

I'm not keen on moderated groups as the moderator's bias prevents open
debate. I prefer the killfile to get rid of annoyances.
Most of the action that was here, moved to a moderated board at:
www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk.
I upset the moderator though so I'm barred from posting there. :-)
I don't do hero worshipping. The mutual admiration scene does nothing
for me.

The trouble with that is postings looking for paddles take for ever to
show up, often after you get back from a nice trip or the next day.
Thos one is pretty quick
Anyway all the best with it all in the UK. There should be lots of
lochs open. I am from Scotland ( long time ago ) the Gareloch never
froze with the exception of a skim at Gareloch Head.

Scotland (Glasgow) is 4 hours drive away on a good day.
According to some of the Global Warming theories, the UK should become
colder in the winter if the warm ocean currents are disturbed.
I haven't accepted that global warming is actually not part of the
natural cycle of temperature changes yet. The concentration on the
effects of road transport on global warming through CO2 production seems
like scapegoating to me, as heating for homes produces far more CO2.

Anyway. Good Luck.

Thanks. Small world eh? I lived in Ontario for 3 years & BC for 7 years.
I hold dual citizenship.
I first paddled, in a wooden kayak, at Qualicum on V.I.
I was about 9 years old.
sigh
Those were the days...........
/sigh

David
Not a fan of chest pounding.

David Kemper wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
This should be a busy news group.
True, but unfortunately some posters are/were very intolerant of
other
people's opinions, and rather than agree, disagree, or ignore those
opinions, they went elsewhere to a place where dissent is not
permitted.

It was not just "some posters" who went elsewhere, David, more or less
all of the regular posters from the days when this was a vibrant and
useful group left. Your post incorrectly suggests that it was a
minority who went of in the huff, rather than the fact that it was the
majority who left because the newsgroup was becoming unusable.

It wasn't intolerance of other peoples' opinions that caused these
people to leave, it was the fact that some people (one in particular)
posted their opinion on one or two topics (BCU corruption, weirs,
personal vendetta against BCU members, etc.) more or less constantly,
to every thread and at every opportunity. The rights and wrongs of
these opinions quickly became irrelevant (he may well have made some
fair points) as the sheer volume of off-topic (to the thread, not to
the group) posting, becoming abusive as people complained, drowned the
group.

People weren't too interested in much of what he had to say, so when
his threads on a given subject were ignored, he simply inserted his
views into every other thread on the group. Every day! Until the group
was swamped! Folks got fed up trying to ignore it and simply left.

Ironically, given your eulogising about the halcyon days, you aren't
entirely innocent in the demise of this group yourself. You indulged in
a bit of goading, baiting and downright trolling yourself. Your first
posts to the group are in the post Bennett era so, perhaps, you never
really saw the group at it's best, when it was a useful resource and a
fun place to hang out.

Anyway, don't just take my word for it. The 'facts' are all available
from the usenet archives on google and from the message board on the UK
rivers guide site. Compare the latter with the sorry ghost group UKRBP
has become, see if you can find any any intolerance there.

"urchaidh" wrote in message
oups.com...
David Kemper wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
This should be a busy news group.
True, but unfortunately some posters are/were very intolerant of
other
people's opinions, and rather than agree, disagree, or ignore those
opinions, they went elsewhere to a place where dissent is not
permitted.

It was not just "some posters" who went elsewhere, David, more or less
all of the regular posters from the days when this was a vibrant and
useful group left. Your post incorrectly suggests that it was a
minority who went of in the huff, rather than the fact that it was the
majority who left because the newsgroup was becoming unusable.

It was a minority who first left, led by one of the more vocal critics
of Allan, to set up a forum where they could exclude those whose
opinions they didn't want to hear. I gather the forum is getting more
traffic than this group ever enjoyed, so perhaps, for some people, but
only while they agree with the group owner, migrating to a private forum
was a good thing. The functionality of discussion boards has never
impressed me much. I'm aware of the work needed to set up and maintain
such forums, which is fairly time consuming, and must also have some
financial impact. Do the people running the board find time to work and
play as well?


It wasn't intolerance of other peoples' opinions that caused these
people to leave, it was the fact that some people (one in particular)
posted their opinion on one or two topics (BCU corruption, weirs,
personal vendetta against BCU members, etc.) more or less constantly,
to every thread and at every opportunity. The rights and wrongs of
these opinions quickly became irrelevant (he may well have made some
fair points) as the sheer volume of off-topic (to the thread, not to
the group) posting, becoming abusive as people complained, drowned the
group.

I must say here that the abuse seems to have come from other people and
was mainly directed at Allan and Timmy the Sponson Guy.
I haven't any recollection of Allan being abusive. Offensive possibly.
Giving offence can be amusing, while hurling abuse never is.


People weren't too interested in much of what he had to say, so when
his threads on a given subject were ignored, he simply inserted his
views into every other thread on the group. Every day! Until the group
was swamped! Folks got fed up trying to ignore it and simply left.

See above, better for it?


Ironically, given your eulogising about the halcyon days, you aren't
entirely innocent in the demise of this group yourself. You indulged
in
a bit of goading, baiting and downright trolling yourself. Your first
posts to the group are in the post Bennett era so, perhaps, you never
really saw the group at it's best, when it was a useful resource and a
fun place to hang out.

I can indulge occasionally, especially when someone is taking themselves
too seriously or has an overinflated ego.
Allan pinched the not a fan tag line from me though, I first used it
here, once, as a throwaway signature. Allan saw the possibilities of
multiple interpretations of the tag and used it relentlessly. I got much
enjoyment from it, very often finding it the most interesting part of
the post. Funny how such a little thing can offend so many people, but
only if they chose to be offended. Absolute top class!

Allan and I were real life friends before either of us posted here.
Allan introduced me to the joys of usenet.


Anyway, don't just take my word for it. The 'facts' are all available
from the usenet archives on google and from the message board on the
UK
rivers guide site. Compare the latter with the sorry ghost group UKRBP
has become, see if you can find any any intolerance there.

Well, some of us can't because UKRGB is a private message board, and not
available to those who do not toe the owner's line. As I mentioned
earlier, dissent is not permitted. One of the main reasons I stay here
and post periodically, rather than leaving, is that I want those who
tried to dictate to me (and to Allan in particular), to know that they
lost and that they still can't force their will upon the group. This
group can either become tolerant or remain a ghost group. No-one has the
right to dictate on what terms anyone else may post here. Meanwhile the
mutual admiration society have their board and have to live with
whatever disadvantages and costs that arise from it. That was, is, and
as far as I know remains, their choice.

David
Not a fan of petty dictators.

I'm willing to post, I just don't have much to post about! Haven't used my
poor baby (I:3) for about 3 months now!

Charlie.

"David Kemper" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...
Oh. Sorry David.

Not really a problem, I don't think anyone noticed.

Ah well , Its over now. You still have open water.

Not today I don't, the canal is frozen & I don't do icebreaking in my
boat.

This should be a busy news group.

True, but unfortunately some posters are/were very intolerant of other
people's opinions, and rather than agree, disagree, or ignore those
opinions, they went elsewhere to a place where dissent is not permitted.
Meanwhile a few of us read what few postings there are, rarely bothering
to reply.
I would be quite happy to see more postings, but that requires more
posters willing to post.
I still post occasionally, mainly so the lurkers know someone is still
here keeping an eye on the old place, and trying to keep the standards
up. ;-)

Anyway, Merry Christmas!

David
Not a fan of the humourless departed.

"Charlie" wrote in message
...
I'm willing to post, I just don't have much to post about! Haven't
used my
poor baby (I:3) for about 3 months now!

Charlie.

I would like to get out and paddle more too. Finding the time while also
running a business can be difficult.
NYR: make more time for paddling,...later when the weather improves
though.
I paddle on flat water, usually on the same few bits of water, except
when competing in races. Since I left the BCU 2 years ago I haven't been
able to do any competitions, so the motivation to get out paddling to
keep race fit is no longer there. Maybe I should put principles aside
and rejoin?

David
Not a fan of quitters.