The usual suspects - closed thread(s) that is

Beyond patient really.
Off topic rambling discussions are permitted to exist and everyone can enjoy some chit chat with other boaters if they care to.
The only restriction is just that members remain civil.
Not too much to ask eh?

 

I found a forum which might interest you, Fros.

http://beeradvocate.com/community/

 

No its not. But post #100 sums it up nicely.

When I started this thread I took two examples like politics and religion because those were the latest on the parade when the plug was pulled. it could just as well been women, booze related etc.

The Israel tread in my view although I did not contributed will have an effect on the whole world if it comes to a boil, fuel issues will result (boats), some seaways effected (boats) and the situation is not only political but religious as well when Islam is in the vicinity. Of course this will be debated and get heated at times.

Jeff had repeated him over so many times he really should have been a politician and at the end of the day he pays the rent and calls the shots. But at the same token the most popular threads ever on this domain are actually non boat related and my thread "where is this" Brein Eiland's "Jokes" and many more comes to mind. Surely this is an indicator that their is a need other than boating amongst members when posting boating matters ...

Jeff, I did mentioned that http://5psi is a webpage that's sole purpose is to inform visitors about steel boatbuilding covering all disciplines thereof and not a discussion forum, although there is a contact link if someone wants to contact me re info not published on webpages.

But if I may be so bold, just be aware when you take fun and debates out of a forum like the two examples I mentioned in my previous post. Some valuable members may seek other pastures to be offer assistance within there expertise to members asking for it and have fun and debating when feeling like it.
Currently your site is the best boat discussion forum and perhaps leave the "Open Discussion" as is, let the guys debate with a bit more leeway and if things really get out of hand, cut the thread. At the same time, put a little warning up to inform newbies to stay clear if sensitive about anything due to nature of some debate. Just a final though from me for what its worth.

With this post I graciously bows out of this thread.
Hopefully there will be some threads in future in OD that one can participate again, but Im gonna miss the fun and humour (note: correct English spelling of humour)

 

Don't get me wrong Wynand. I like the forum. It is both entertaining and informative. Sometimes hilarious.

It is just my friend thinks it's not his cup of tea and I respect him for that.

 

We're all touchy when its our ox being gored.

 

Hey, you talkin about MY ox?!?!?!

-Tom

 

All our oxen.

 

Not even back then. Usenet was a hierarchy of newsgroups and people were (and mostly did) expected to stay reasonably on topic. Serious deviations resulted in flame wars for the unmoderated newsgroups and extensive use of kill files, a feature I wish someone would implement for these BBS's (basically, an ignore thread and/or poster feature so you never see anything in the kill list). As the numbers rose and self-discipline dropped away, the groups became pretty much unuseable. A number of us here have lived right through that era. Who bothers with rec.boats, rec.boats.building etc these days?

Jeff, IMO you are right to remain firm on this one and I urge you to stay the course. I've seen what can happen. Even a special forum won't work; another forum I use for metalworking has one sub-forum where the moderator is very biased and the amount of crap that gets posted is astonishing. I drop in there to throw rocks, a temptation better resisted (or removed from possibility).

PDW

 

Oh, okay then.

Ox on.

-Tom

 

Ox off. Goodnight.

 

After much consideration, the bottom line is that just as Wynard has chosen to maintain his site "to inform visitors about steel boatbuilding covering all disciplines thereof" and not included politics or religion sections on his own site, the purpose of boatdesign.net is to provide a place where everyone can enjoy coming to learn and share information on boat design, boatbuilding, and all things boats and boating, regardless of their diverse backgrounds.

Maintaining an unrestricted section where threads on politics or religion are not closed no matter if they offend other boat designers or boatbuilders has more disadvantages for the site than the advantages. As consideration was given to separating and hiding an unrestricted section, the advantages of boatdesign.net hosting it are not there.

It makes the most sense for those wishing to take part in political and religious discussions and have them remain open without regard to whether they are offensive to other boat design people to take those discussions to one of the many active political or religious forums already in existence and which exist specifically to host religious and political debates and argument.

This subforum for "All Things Boats and Boating" will remain an interesting place where the majority of topics which don't create frequent complaints and offense, relating to boats and boating, science, technology, engineering, boating industry trends, ports, dockage, trailers and transport, boat houses, trips, destinations, gear, living cooking and pets onboard, noteworthy ships, nautical history, boat races and record attempts, sea stories, etc., etc. that do not generate 90% of the complaints can be enjoyed by all.

For arguments on religion and politics, people can easily create their name and take advantage of numerous political and religious forums:
https://www.google.com/search?q=politics forum
https://www.google.com/search?q=religion forum

 

He's right. I was offended over some 9/11 stuff (since I was there and got to see and smell it myself) and it did affect my contributions to the on topic section.

 

Ox on,

ox off,

the oxer!

Ah, so much fun.

Boat!

-Tom

 

My apologies cat but we're all going to have our differing opinions on things. My cousin was also in the complex at the time so its not like any one of us has a monopoly on personal experience. We're just going to have to disagree peacefully on stuff from time to time and thats just all there is to it.

Ok so some subjects don't have much place on a boating forum but if they do come up it should be reasonable for each to express his/her beliefs without fear of retribution or rebuke. OK I'm guilty I tend to laugh at religion but really, Zeul did it ?

Its a simple mater of tolerance and respect of the opinions of one another.

After that its just keeping it boat related, but no mater how you try, things drift and when they do the more controversial issues might come up.

at which point its time to act like reasonable people

Cheers and best of luck
B

 

At my job, I was previously given a responsibility no one else wanted due to all of the grief you got when you could not please everyone.

If I were forced to try to moderate here, I would probably be less tolerant. This is probably more of a personal problem on my part. However, remember that this forum can be a great place for kids to poke around in when they are interested is trying their hand at a first build of some kind.

I have enjoyed this site tremendously due to both the contributors and due to how it is run.

Here is a big Thanks Jeff. (Moderating is probably pretty thankless most of the time)

I support his calls.

I also request that we try to stay reasonably civil and try not to push things to the point where we know he has to step in. Good debates on tough subjects can be very interesting and rewarding to participate in, but a few over-emotional or manipulative posts can quickly ruin any chance for further real discussions.