In the "olden days", up until about 3 years ago :-), to research boats and boat plans you probably went to the local library, hung out near the shore and found some old-timers, wrote letters, made phone calls and ordered books (from the local bookstore, not Amazon).
Today, the Internet has brought such a wealth of resources in nearly any field imaginable, and the boating world is well represented. One of my goals for this site was to try to bring a few specific "places" and "communities" together, to point out some of the similarities between them, and to maybe let some of the ideas cross-pollinate a bit. There are several groups (some with overlapping membership and some not) that to me have some very similar ideas and that you (the boater and boat builder) can really learn from. Sometimes the ideas are diametrically opposed, and in that case, you can also learn... both groups will have (usually) well reasoned arguments for their points of view, and whichever (or both or neither) you decide to follow, you will have learned and found some thought provoking commentary.
On the flip side, there is SOOOOO much out there, you can rapidly reach information overload, have too many options and never be able to make a decision. Every boat is a (large) set of compromises... none of them are perfect. You can find accurate and not so accurate information and opinions on every side of every question. Be careful... don't believe it just because you read it.
So far, I've made some postings with some links, but haven't really done as much in this regard as I wanted. I'm going to take this "book" type entry and try to expand on some of this area. Follow along the navigation links at the bottom to get to some of the various sections.
Drop me a note with recommendations of on-line resources that you have found and I'll see about adding them.
Today Google made available a new feature in their collection of search tools. It allows you to define what they call a "Custom Search Engine" that lets you provide a list of links which they either search exclusively, or give preference to. The idea is that you can search for things about your area of interest and get much more targeted results since somebody has already "vetted" the links that will be pulled from, and hopefully eliminated a lot of the "extras" we always find.
Leaving aside some people's dislike of Google (if you don't like them, don't use it... fine by me) and the fact that it has some ads, it looks to work fairly well. I have made up a "Boat Building and Cruising Search Engine" and started loading it up with a bunch of links that I use.
Another advantage is the ability to "tag" a link with related terms. You see these terms at the top of the page and can click on them to narrow your search
Feel free to check it out and see if it helps.
I currently have it configured to "prefer" links on pages/sites that I entered, but other sites will still be found. If the database of links grows enough, I might change it to be more limited.
To search the Boat Building and Cruising Search Engine provided by Google, use the following form:
This will allow you to search in a limited subset of boating and industry specific links.
If you have links that you think would fit in this search configuration, please consider volunteering and submitting them. Otherwise feel free to email them to me and I'll add them.
Lets see if we can make this a useful boat building and cruising specific search engine.
I have included a search box at the upper right on this web instead of having to come back to this node, or you can go to the search's Google home page at here.
Thanks!
If you aren't familiar with the old world of Usenet News (back mostly in the days of the text based internet before web browsers brought us graphics and pictures), then you may not realize that mailing lists are an outgrowth of that communication form. Newsgroups as they were known as, were publically accessible discussion groups. Anybody could read. Anybody could post. After a while, this free-for-all grouping began to be overrun by the spammers and people who could stay reasonably on-topic. There is still a huge world of Usenet, but its not something that I follow any longer. Google Groups is the current worldwide archive of all the old Usenet News postings that still exist (most of them... we're talking millions upon millions of postings back to 1994 or so). You can also read current postings there too. Since I don't follow the newsgroups much anymore (they are good for quick reference lookups, to this day), I won't get into recommending which groups to follow.
After the signal to noise ratio got too bad in the wild-west of Usenet, people began moving to mailing lists. Mailing lists are and address that you send email to and it resends it back out to everyone who is subscribed. This structure allows various limits to be placed, as needed. The mail will only be sent to people who are subscribed. Subscriptions can be open to anyone, or can require approval by a moderator or group owner. Postings can be open to be made by members or non-members, as desired. A mailing list that requires a person to be a member, and that the first few posts are checked for content, can be kept reasonably under control, especially when there is a good community of users who work together to "ban" problem postings if needed. The groups I list here are usually well managed, fairly spam free, and have an incredible amount of information.
Just remember... these are private individuals posting because they want to (or even have some motive to). Don't believe everything you read... cross check. You will soon learn who are skilled and that you should really pay attention to, and who you can skip over (just like in "real life" :-)). Also, I highly recommend that you "lurk" for a while. Jump in, introduce yourself and your background and interests, then be quiet and read... and read... for a WHILE. Don't try to become the local expert right off the bat.
Most mailing lists maintain archives that are searchable and/or readable for members. Its a good idea to check the archives FIRST, before you ask a question... it seems that usually the answer was given the day before you subscribed :-)
Lastly, consider where your answer goes... some questions should be answered "off list" with a direct note to the original poster. Other messages appropriately go back to the main list so that everyone can learn from the conversation. A little reading of a particular group will give you a good idea of the dynamics of that "community".
Yahoo makes many boating mailing lists available... search at http://groups.yahoo.com to see what is out there. Here's a listing of what I find valuable. Yahoo also makes online archives available, so you can actually read the postings on their web pages without receiving them as email. This can be especially valuable if you are on a low-bandwidth connection (on your boat?), or just want to check out a group to "see what you think". Most (all?) of the Yahoo groups also have archives for the storage of files and pictures that members often make use of to provide pictures and illustrations to follow up their discussions.
Atkin Boats - From the time William Atkin left a budding career in civil engineering to take up boatbuilding and designing in 1906, until his son John's death in 1999, the Atkin drawing boards spawned over 900 designs. This group is for the discussion of those designs and the boats built from them.
BackyardBoatbuilding2 - Backyard Boatbuilding is for the sharing of information about building or repairing a boat yourself. Mr. George Buehler – a boat designer of some renown, is the philosophical inspiration for this group.
BartenderBoats - An active group geared around the Bartenders designed by George Calkins. Share information and experiences about owning and building Bartenders, ask and answer questions, offer boats or parts for sale, share photos, etc.
Bolger - Discussing, building, using Phil Bolger's boat designs and similar. There are several other groups with pictures and files (look on Yahoo). Of note is the Bolger Cartoon group (which also lists all the others).
ElectricBoating - The Electric Boating group is a forum dedicated to the promoting, sharing and discussing the experiences, design and performance of boats driven by electric-motors. Key initial focus will be on boat conversions to electric and experiences and tradeoffs associated with "going electric". Climb aboard and share your experiences and dreams of silent electric-powered water propulsion.
ElectricBoats - A forum for the discussion of everything about electric boating.
Mundoo Cruisers - A list for the discussion of building and cruising the Mundoo river cruiser
John Welsford Builders - Ask questions, tell us about your project, or just listen in. John is usually around and there are a lot of other knowledgeable folks here too.
LowCostVoyaging - "Low Cost Voyaging" is intended as both a resource for the cruising minimalist - for those who want to set sail for the minimum expenditure, and to keep sailing affordably - and a meeting place for wannabees, boat-builders, and those who are, or have been, out there 'living the dream'.
OrigamiBoats - Origamiboats forum has been created to explore all aspects of a unique and revolutionary method of building frameless steel sailboats. The technique is known as "folded steel" boatbuilding, or "origami steel" boatbuilding. Many of the steel boats of this type on the BC coast have been designed by Brent Swain.
Flapdoodle Dinghy - a neat folding dinghy design with some interesting discussion
Jim Michalak - discussions of designs and construction of Jim Michalak designs
This organization hosts several good lists that you might want to check out.
Great Loop - Cruising America's Great Loop and other inland routes
The print media world is both similar and different than the online world. Beyond the obvious physical differences (longevity, storage space required, convenience, etc.) there is the perceived or actual "value" and "authenticity". Most print media is advertising driven. Nothing inherently wrong with that (I have ads on this web site, after all :-)), but I know I've seen some magazines whose "reviews" tend to be either heavily influenced by their ad revenue, or else their reviews are just press releases. I certainly don't mind seeing the press releases... can learn about lots of new products that way, but please don't pass them off as a "review".
Anyhow, I take very few print magazines these days, so I'm not going to do much commentary and with only a couple of exceptions no recommendations, but wanted to list these as some you may want to check out.
Passagemaker Magazine - This is one I've taken for years. Geared toward higher end craft in general, but some good boat "walkthroughs", some medium level technical articles, and generally I enjoy reading it and getting some good ideas.
WoodenBoat Magazine - The quintessential magazine for the boat builder and renovator. I've read a few newsstand issues and been impressed. Geared around smaller craft or sailing craft, with some incredible craftsmanship. They offer an online version of a recent issue to check out and see what you think.
For smaller craft (mostly), check out the informal Messing About in Boats here or here . Also available electronically.
Now for some I'm not real familiar with, but have ran across and that might be worth a check:
Boating on the Hudson & Beyond
DIY Boat Owner - The Marine Maintenance Magazine
Voyaging - includes an online and print magazine
Practical Boatowner - Britian's Biggest Selling Yachting Magazine
If you are managing to read this, you know what a web page is... if you don't... well, I would like to meet you :-)
A blog (weB LOG) is just a somewhat specialized web page that is geared around shorter, frequent postings in a chronological order. Often used for "diary" or "captain's log" type entries, with the most recent being first.
The home page of this site is set up in this style. Other pages are set up in a more "static" format, or some combination. I'll list a selection here, anyhow.
amateurboatbuilding.com - interesting looking site that had a "slow" spell (I know how that goes) but has been picking up steam recently... not to mention has linked to CaC here, so I've got to return the favor :-)
Boating Blogs - an article with several interesting links on to various blogs
BoatTales.com - a service which allows you to create (for a fee) an online presence. Caters to the sailboat crowd.
Panbo - The Marine Electronics Blog
Classic Yacht Magazine - an online magazine format site
Mad Mariner™ magazine - a new online magazine/web site with detailed articles, forums, etc. Note that I am a contributing author to this site.
Scuttlebutt - a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk... with a North American focus.
Forums are another outgrowth of the free-wheeling Usenet world... a slightly different solution to the same problem. A forum gives a user the ability to read postings on a web page. Postings are not mailed to you, but rather you read them online. Some are open to be read by anyone, others require you to log on before reading. Nearly all require a logon to post. This again gives the ability for moderation of the content.
More graphical interfaces are available, without relying on the software loaded on your local machine. You can check out a forum from home, from work, from a library, whereever and have the same experience. When you log on, your same settings will appear. Forums usually allow posting of graphics and pictures, which give the ability for people to illustrate much more directly what they are talking about than the lower bandwidth geared mailing lists.
In no particular order:
Ducktalk.net - Anything and everything about Diesel Ducks.
Canal World Discussion Forums - A virtual waterways community
WoodenBoat Forum - from the magazine by the same name - great forum
Metal Boat Society - free registration required
BoatDesign.net - the granddaddy of the design and building discussion groups
PassageMaker Chat Deck - from the same folks who publish the magazine
Glen-L.com - the Boatbuilder Connection - Glen-L sells plans and supplies and now has a pretty active forum - worth checking for homebuilding issues even if not from Glen-L designs/plans
The Big Sailboat Forum - A forum that the ladies at The Big Sailboat Project have put online. If you haven't checked their blog, do so immediately.
BoaterEd - A very active, diverse forum that covers the gamut of boating, fishing, maintenance, clubs and activities.
Aluminum Alloy Boats - Discussion of aluminum/alloy boats and boatbuilding.