Newbie Request

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blair's picture
blair
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Newbie Request

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all having a happy holiday.

I haven't posted in a couple of months, but thought I would make a small request.

I am a new owner, and asked a lot of questions right before and after I purchased my boat. I appreciate all the constructive advice that I have received.
The information I have gained from this forum has saved me lots of time, effort, and money in trying to figure stuff out on my own.

I was a little taken back by some of the responses on forum and private messages I received telling me to use the search function first.

I always use the search function first, and if not able to find the information I am looking for, I post up a thread.

I am also a paid member of the C36ia.

I moderate a couple of websites and have a slightly different approach to newbie questions.
When a new member posts up a question that I have seen many times, I don't immediately tell this person to go use the search or archive function. I generally don't even respond. Even though the question has been asked many times, I know that some member will probably not mind answering the question. If the newbie does not get an answer, and they post up the same request again, I usually respond and tell them that this topic has been covered many times, and this is probably why they didn't get a response. I then politely suggest they try the search/archive function for their request.

Again, I am very thankful for all the assistance I have received, but I respectfully request the next time I ask a newbie question, that has maybe been asked before, but I am not able to find the answer to in the search function, please don't tell me on forum or through private message to go use the search function.

Maybe someday I will be able to pass on some of the advice that you all have shared with me to another newbie.

Thanks again.

Blair White
2004 C36 MKII # 2169 "Dash"
Pacific Beach, CA

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Allan R
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Posts: 177

Well said Blair

Allan Rex
# 2216

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deising
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Blair, thanks for having the courage to speak your piece. I agree that we should all be very respectful of those on this forum. I can also agree with you that newbies should be 'cut some slack,' but in a polite way they need to be educated to search first, then ask.

What I try do when posting a question is to start with: 'Couldn't find anything in my search, so...'

It is great to read how much value you have received from our forum and that you elected to become a paid member. I wish you the best with your new boat and a great 2013!

Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/

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LCBrandt
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Blair, glad to see you back.

My apologies for urging too strongly that the search function be - in many instances - used first. That was my fault to appear to be so brusque, and I could better have explained that my advice was intended for all users of the forum. I wasn't trying to discourage newbie postings, but rather to make the point about how much time could be saved if a member, newbie or not, could quickly find the answer to a pressing question via a search. I am sorry for having used you as the 'fulcrum' for making the point. Anyway, I am glad you're back.

I've missed your posts especially because they were a well-written, frank, and interesting narrative describing the 'evolution' that a new boat owners goes through. We're all better off for your contributions.

Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
 

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I pulled a few "Larrys" on our board. What I learned, to expand on Blair's idea, was to provide LINKS. If I wrote something or know where it is, I simply post the URL.

Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)

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plaineolde
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I'd like to suggest having a sticky, or at least a topic in the FAQ, detailing how to best search the forum. I spend time on several forums other than this one and find the search functions to be of marginal use at best. Recently, someone posted detailed instructions on how to search a particular forum using google (wish I'd saved that), which works far better in many cases.

My point is that this forum services sailors, not necessarily experts on using internet resources or searching forums. I was an IT pro for > 30 years, and find searching forums frustrating at best, so providing some direction would probably help quite a few folks.

Gary and Cathy Price
1997 C36 Mk II Tall Rig/Wing Keel Imagine...
Hull # 1617
Worton Creek, Md.
Northern Chesapeake Bay

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LCBrandt
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One of the most important attributes of a forum moderator/tech guru is the ability to write clear organized sentences that say exactly what you want to say. Every word counts. Of course, you need to know something about the technicalities of a sailboat, but making clear what you are saying is non-negotiable.

This is why I think that Steve Frost is so good at what he does for the C36IA's MK I series. His aircraft maintenance management background has given him a mechanical and systems expertise that is obvious to anyone participating in our forum, but he also has the gift of clearly stating the technicalities in a way that the layman can grasp.

For me, it takes time to 'work on' what I write. Sounds silly for something as simple as a sailboat forum, but if you weren't born with a gift for writing, as in my case, it is more demanding of one's time that you might realize. And if for one reason or another outside pressures gang up on you, it allows less time to *think* about ideas before they are typed into a posting, and the ensuing result can be less than helpful.

Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
 

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stu jackson c34
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[QUOTE=plaineolde;15944]I'd like to suggest having a sticky, or at least a topic in the FAQ, detailing how to best search the forum. I spend time on several forums other than this one and find the search functions to be of marginal use at best. Recently, someone posted detailed instructions on how to search a particular forum using google (wish I'd saved that), which works far better in many cases. [/QUOTE]

Larry's last post about not everyone being able to author posts without having to "work on it" should be very illuminating to everyone. Not all the shorter and helpful posts are not just a few minutes of someone's time. We have a similar kind of situation, where one of our longest contributors, who has written "well before their time" [I]Mainsheet [/I]articles since 1987 (!), and eventually innumerable posts on our C34 board is a one fingered typist!!!

Gary, I think, is right about a sticky for searching. I also suggest that if you find something of importance, make a bookmark on your computer of the subject, and then you can more easily provide the LINK. Like this one: [url]http://www.c36ia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2036[/url]

Blair, are you there? :)

Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)

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That was the thread I was looking for Stu. This one from Jason -

Another thing some people don't know - you can google search specific sites. For instance, if i want to search for 'compass' on all parts of this site, I put into google:

site:c36ia.com compass

Gary and Cathy Price
1997 C36 Mk II Tall Rig/Wing Keel Imagine...
Hull # 1617
Worton Creek, Md.
Northern Chesapeake Bay

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TomSoko
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Posts: 978

Gary et al,
One thing that everyone, including myself, has to remember, is that there are TWO places to search for things. This forum is one, and our website is another. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think a search on one will give you any hits on the other. They are two separate places. This forum grows every day, whereas the website only grows when someone takes the time to create an article for it. But......there are LOTS of articles on the website, going back many years. About a month ago I posted an explanation about the two:
[URL]http://www.c36ia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2036[/URL]

Tom Sokoloski
C36/375IA Past Commodore
Noank, CT

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catalyst
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Blair and the rest of the forum

Well written and poignant post.

We are also new (to us) C36 owners and have enjoyed the first summer with a learning curve steeper than anticipated but very enjoyable.

Having the brotherhood (and sisters too) as a support network to a new owner is invaluable, the tutelage is appreciated and though it may seem misdirected or lacking research to the old hand.... remember the first year you had your boat, thanks to all for the support.

Wishing everyone a healthy happy 2013 with fair winds and following seas.

2000 Catalina 36
Hull #1915
M35B
TR Fin Keel

"I can teach a man to sail, but I can never teach him why."
Timothy E. Thatcher

BudStreet
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Posts: 1127

I won't attempt to defend the search on this forum because I've been bitten by it myself many times. Hopefully we can fix that with the next round of website upgrades. But it's not a problem that is unique to this site. The amount of text that is being indexed and made searchable is the problem as is the commercialization of search results. I've noticed lately that google results are more and more useless almost by the day.

A short while ago I wondered why we would have 27 guests and 1 user on our forum. So I started monitoring, and I found that most of the guests are bots crawling for Google, MSN, a pile of private SEO companies and, interestingly, always several from some Chinese "scientific" organization. I guess the Chinese want to know more about our boats? I think 90% of our web traffic is bots crawling forum posts.

I sort of know where Blair is coming from on this, I had a kind of a rocky introduction to this association myself, but the association and its members quickly proved to be well worth whatever negatives there are. For sure I do remember that first year with this diamond in the rough (very rough) boat and the security blanket the association provided. Priceless.

But we can and will do better.

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plaineolde
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A musicians forum I frequent (harmony central) is hit by so much spam and bot traffic that it's frequently inaccessible; like a denial of service attack. Hopefully the bots and spammers won't find enough traffic here for that to become a problem.:)

I didn't mean to imply that searching this forum is any worse than any other, because it's not, it just seems to be the nature of forum search 'engines'. It really just searches for occurrences of words in threads or titles. I was searching a woodworking forum for threads on tablesaw outfeed table. I got hundreds of hits, none of which contained [I]anything[/I] to do with an outfeed table. Today I was searching here for anything on the type of anchor chain (eg. BBB, proof coil, high test). Many hits on 'anchor' and 'chain', but not what I was looking for. A google search for 'what type of anchor chain' included Practical Sailor and Boat US articles on choosing anchor chain. An intelligent search engine, though you do have to filter the paid sites that sort to the top.

I know of no way to do an 'intelligent' search of any forum. If anyone does, I'd be happy to hear about it as it would save me time for all sorts of things. Meanwhile, at least this forum has a relatively small audience compared to the others I frequent, so finding something useful is much easier. And someone will always chime in with a reply, even if it has been asked before. A great group and a great resource.

Gary and Cathy Price
1997 C36 Mk II Tall Rig/Wing Keel Imagine...
Hull # 1617
Worton Creek, Md.
Northern Chesapeake Bay

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blair
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Posts: 250

Larry,

No apology necessary. A lot of the great information I received from this site came from you.

For me that fingernails on the the blackboard feeling came when you would start each response you gave to me with: "Again,,,,"

This was exactly how my ex wife addressed me on the last conversation we ever had.

"Again, if you buy this sailboat, I'm leaving you."

I miss her, a little, but love my new boat.

Blair White
2004 C36 MKII # 2169 "Dash"
Pacific Beach, CA

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LCBrandt
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Blair, LOL!

Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
 

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TomSoko
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"I miss her, a little, but love my new boat."

Blair, a second LOL!!! No, I take that back.....it was a huge belly laugh!!!!! :)

Tom Sokoloski
C36/375IA Past Commodore
Noank, CT

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dejavu
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[QUOTE=blair;15998 I miss her, a little, but love my new boat.[/QUOTE]

Ha Ha. My EX wife made me sell my first 36. We can see how that worked out.:D

Mike

Deja Vu
1991 MK I # 1106
Marina del Rey, CA

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