Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 12:33:41 -0400
Message-Id: <l03110700b1c9219f78a9@[205.216.99.47]>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SV4.3.91.980708113814.23988R-100000@baidarka>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
From: "Craig O'Donnell" <dadadata@friend.ly.net>
Subject: Re: [baidarka] WoodenBoat
>On Wed, 8 Jul 1998, Stefano Moretti wrote:
>
>> After all they cater to a public of over 50 yrs WB addicts (theri
>> statistics), a bit like feeding the dinosaurs...
>>
>> sad to say, they're probably shutting doors to the future (wooden of
>> course..)
>
>I wouldn't count on that. The person who sent me a copy of the
>article is 35 with at least 2 wooden boats - a 1912 Alden and a
>1924 R-Boat (a race sailboat). He's got a fair number of friends
>with wooden boats. His R-Boat is in the middle of a 2 year complete
>rebuild. The Alden is the oldest known surviving boat by the designer.
>Oh, yeah their also that duck skiff in the barn with a sculling oar that
>is articulated and waves like a fish tail.
>
>I've got several wooden boat makers in the area who are all doing okay.
>I can't imagine many boat makers doing well.
>
>Maybe it's just it takes people until they're 50 to appreciate wood over
>composite ;-). I'm not there yet but I'm warming up to add a wood/canvas
>canoe to my fleet.
Perhaps Stephan's point was that there seems to be an overabundance of
brightwork, "antique" boats. And for those who like non-motorized boats,
unfortunately, we're going to see a lot more shiny 1930s-50s runabouts.
But there is a counterbalancing tendency in things like the Baidarka
article, the recent thing on the Chesapeake Crab Skiff, etc. The balance
swings back and forth a little. In the "good old days" there was definitely
a lot more down-and-dirty wooden boat stuff in woodenboat.
You could also accuse them - probably with cause - of bias toward New
England. We could use more on Chesapeake boats and also those further
south, but if you look in their index you do see such stuff - for example
the thing a while back on North Carolina sharpies.
There's a huge hole in the boat mag market and I think that's where a lot
of web people fit in. (At least I hope that's where the Cheap Pages fit
in). BOATBUILDER and MESSING ABOUT... both try in different ways to fill
this hole, too, but the economics of print magazines is very touchy.
But my original point is simply that WB's web page is not as hip,
contentwise, as it could very easily be. It's more of an online catalog and
advertisement and I find it disappointing. I probably check its Forum page
once every four or six months.
Editorially, it's obvious they don't have any interest in printing web
addresses or even a short article about finding boat resources on the Web
(I'd gladly sacrifice an installment of Kasanof's "humor" or one of Dr
Jaegels Wood Essays every six months for a resource page or two). The
obvious place to do this is of course on the Web page they have, with a
simple pointer in print to a Web Resource List, but for whatever reason...
(a big part is likely no one to do it).
Something of a Catch-22 they're in, I suppose. Having talked with a couple
editors recently, they don't seem to feel they are equipped to deal with
"those of us" who are already publishing on the Web, or [ublishing in the
sense of maintaining mailing lists like this one.
Craig O'Donnell
The Proa FAQ <http://www.cyber-dyne.com/~jkohnen/proafaq.html>
The Cheap Pages <http://www.friend.ly.net/user-homepages/d/dadadata/>
Sailing Canoes, Polytarp Sails, Bamboo, Chinese Junks,
American Proas, the Bolger Boat Honor Roll,
Plywood Boats, Bamboo Rafts, &c.
_________________________________
-- Professor of Boatology
-- Junkomologist
-- Macintosh kinda guy
Friend of Wanda the Wonder Cat, 1991-1997.
_________________________________