At the risk of this post being deleted....

[Big Al]

May I ask the question:

Is this C-Boats Forum still relevant?

IMHO, there seems to be so much more C boat stuff going on at other sites. Many I met at ALF said they hardly looked at this site any more. And instead of being my go-to site, I'm getting tons load more info from "the others".

Just askin.



Big Al

[FullGnarlzOC]

Its relevant if you want to fix your boat and don't know how - and if u want to reach a broader audience

also if you want to talk freely about class II rivers. I have tried to start the class II conversation at these "other sites" and have been ridiculed.


Al... at these 'other sites' it isn't fit for kid sister to read. or my grandma for that matter. i am offended daily. which is why i keep checking cboats... in hopes that the 'G' rated chatter starts back up.


...C-squirt armada....another reason for relevancy

[FullGnarlzOC]

besides isn't being relevant... all relevant?

[Sir Adam]

Despite allegations to the contrary, we don't randomly delete posts that bash us or the site - if you search you'll find lots of them:)

In the past 13+ years we've had ebb and flows in terms of posts here, and membership. Oddly enough though things have been more quiet than not here lately we have a record number of new registrants (that are real - we're back to manually checking each one unfortunately). I have noticed things tend to get quiet when folks are out actually paddling (a good thing) and that every "winter" (Nov-Jan) everyone seems to get restless and on each others nerves.

So we'll keep fulfilling our stated mission here- whether that is what you personally are looking for at this time or not is up to you.

If anyone has new ideas, we always welcome them... as long as they fall in line with the direction we've kept the site moving in (G / PG rated if you will). This site is what the community makes of it after all!

[greybear]

Al:
I Agree with the two others that have chimed in. The other site are interesting but I check cboats daily if not on the water or away from my desk. I enjoy reading the post and learning about other experiences on the water and sometimes off. I enjoy find out about boats not currently the hot thing out there and just asking for help with repair questions. Cboats has also help me with a recycling project, being the treehugger that I am I have started recycling old canoes folks just need out of the house/yard or boats believe to be done for. There are always folks looking for a starter boat to learn in and don't want drop and arm and leg. I guess I am long winded but cboats is hangout on the web and lets me know during droughts and cold winters I am not alone.
Greybear

[PAC]

So Tommy...

...C-squirt armada....another reason for relevancy

...you going to stop by and check it out? Or maybe even take part?

Hope to see you there even if its to toss rocks at folks that are in deck boats.... Just make sure you can run real fast!

[Sir Adam]

speaking of the Cquirt... perhaps the demo maven will appear for all to try. If anyone can figure out where it is;)

[ezwater]

I don't know any other sites like this site. I'm on boatertalk, pnet, myccr, SOTP, mountainbuzz, and even OldSparkeysForum, and I don't know of any that comes close to doing, for a c-1/OC1 paddler, what cboats.net does.

But if you've got something that must be done, but it can only be done in k-1, then there's nothing more to say.......

[Mike W.]

speaking of the Cquirt... perhaps the demo maven will appear for all to try. If anyone can figure out where it is;)

Neat boat. I know I enjoyed my time in it. Didn't Huge have it last?

[Kelly-Rand]

Didn't Huge have it last?

Gluten for punishment I guess. I'm still relishing my brief stint in that boat in Adam's backyard (Hudson). Good for roll practice. I have another, the 911, that I still haven't secured a skirt for so I can take it to Walden pond to do rolls in.
I would like a Mentor but I need a bump in the rear deck so I can get my size 12's under it. It is a good thing that after 11 years I'm still getting a good education in the Viper.

And speaking of boater boards I'm still a fan of cboats. It has fulfilled my needs for a rational discussion of c-boating. I have other outlets for regional issues and connecting with boaters to paddle.

Spending time surfing the internet is time lost. Surfing the river is timeless.

[TheKrikkitWars]

No risk of your thread being deleted, though it did cross my mind to use the edit function to vandalise it for my own entertainment*...

I think if anything the relevance of C-boats has gone up as traffic has dropped off a little, there's less banter than there was but there is a lot of high quality information and well expressed opinions...

I have to ask though what are "the others"?

*I moderate another forum which gives mods carte-blanche to do anything "because it's funny".

[RobG4]

I'm curious as to what 'others" they refer too as well.

Granted, I am new to the open boater online community.

Paddling.net is for reviews, Boatertalk et al seem like kayaker sites.

The others, Myccr, SOTP are regional sites from what I can tell. Decent for boat reviews or if I want to know the state of paddling in England or Canada.

Are there any other decent general canoe forums other than Cboats.net?

[PAC]

demo maven

Nah... it can't show... even the look of it would be class VII for the Gnarlz!!!






Note to self... this could get ugly! Sending XOXOXO to you Gnarlz! Really do hope you can make it.. hope we have a wide selection of water to choose from!

[eddyhops]

Gluten for punishment I guess.

[arhdc]

I am relatively new to this world also but I find this to be the most user friendly and targeted place in the web for single bladers.

The others (pnet and boater talk) have a lot of chatter that is hard to follow and not related in the least to my interests and I find the formatting of the forums most challenging to navigate. I only have so much time to follow boards and this is the best one out there of c/oc boaters that I have found.

There are regional club boards that are good for connecting with local paddlers and that is great but not for canoe related information and talk.

I think that some of this perceived drop in relevance for cboats.net may actually be due to the increase in social networking sites (mainly facebook) and the fact that if all you want is to share pictures/videos, find padding partners and "just chew the fat" (a totally G-rated expression) these type of mediums often work better. There are mobile apps for checking in and posting, videos and pics can be sent directly from your smartphone and by their nature they are places to banter. Last week this could be seen during ALF where the GDI group in facebook was on fire and there was not much going on ALF wise in cboats.net. Facebook groups are all well and good for the more social aspects of information exchange on the internet but it is hard to get into any real substance in terms of discussions in them. They are not very searchable, things are not under nice subject lines and there is no way of ensuring that the information that is there is going to remain available for those that come along later with the same questions.

Personally I like the fact that this forum is well suited to sharing substantive information. I like to follow some of the chatter on facebook and my local club boards when I have time but I rarely get much that is useful to me. A new c/oc-boater can gain an education here and there is a wealth of information available for the asking. I also think that this forum has contributed and will continue to shape the sport by its very existence.

I think that Big Al has illustrated this point in his question. For those looking for information or to share information (how to fix a canoe) this is the place to be. There is also a social network here and the opportunity to get to know folks from all over. Having said that, there is a place for the social networking sites also and for some they may the best place to hang out.