12 Years Of Woody Boater Joy.
Three Smith’s at Lake Dora. We made 25 Yellow Shirts!
Today marks the official 12th year of Woody Boater being in the world. Of course this should come to no surprise of many, since its clear that many of us are still 12. For some reason, my sense of humor and general observation of the world is through the brain of a 12 year old. A good fart joke still cracks me up and getting to drive a classic boat is still a privilege. Every time I get behind the wheel its the same rush of excitiement that it was the first time. And I love it that way.
Oreo was just a pup
As I was looking back over 12 years of doing this, I thought it might be fun to share some kinda cool stats.
One of the first headers. Stayed up for about 6 months. We didnt start changing headers daily until 2011.
The first header I think
When we changed over to the newer format. Woody Gal on the left and Ruby as a pup!
The first name was Woodboats.com then several other changes. 
The first story was just a welcome. Man oh man was the spelling bad. And we got 2 clicks.
It took over a year to get 1000 readers in total for the entire year. Now we reach over 200,000 unique visitors a year!
Just Swell was our first boat.
Since becoming WoodyBoater about 1/2 year into it, we have not missed one day! NOT ONE! Including Christmas morning, being sick, even reporting from the ER and during hurricanes. The stories may have been horrible, but there we were. I am oddly proud of that.
We officially started countdowns to shows in 2008 . this one is from 2014.
There have been 4,870 stories and of those 4,207 are written by me, the others are from others. Mostly Texx, who is still around, and crazy busy and helps behind the scenes.
The comment section is where the fun is
69,281 Comments. Yes! that many. We have seen each one and made sure all is okay in the comment section daily
1,220,061 SPAM comments have been filtered. YES! Its insane, and we invest in plugins that keep the lanes clear.
The Sons Of Varnish is a thing now!
During any day there are around 2000 of you here. You click on an average of 2 things so around 4,000 hits a day, some more, some less. Our record day is 20,000 visitors in one day.
I think we have had 10? maybe 11 Virtual holiday parties. I suppose if I could remeber, they would not have been fun
We have around 18,000 followers on Facebook now and 10,000 followers on Instagram. Making us an official Social Media Inferencer. And yet my ass has yet to get larger, or has Taylor Swift started a fight with me. So I suppose classic boats have little influence over the planet. This dumb video got over 40,000 veiws in two days? Crazy
View this post on Instagram
Boring to watch but very exciting to do! #woodenboat #chriscraft #classicboat #boatramp #nervous
The App, has a bunch of folks on it, but to be honest. Egh. Not really used alot. I think.
About due for a redoooo with better more features you may actually use
We got a reader in Wyoming a while back. Old joke, but we have now reached all 50 states and most of the countries on the planet. And possibly the largest website in the UNIVERSE! Black holes and all.
Babes and Bacon are always favorites
Headers change daily. And try and reflect the stories of the day or the mood of the day
So thats it. Our little community has been through a lot, and so have many of us. We have lost many great ones, and found new ones. It’s been a true joy to be a small part of peoples lives. And I deeply appreciate you all having fun with it all. And you know what we say. This story aint over until someone gets towed in!
Yup!
Old school rules
We have all been there
Just a couple weeks ago
It happens in Florida
Yup!
Florida and the Harrisons
Gotta laugh
The tow of shame
Any day is a good day on the water
Hold on
Party tow
Open hatch tow
The Boatress like a tow
3 carb tow
Plastic tow
Boat show parade tow
Sunset show boat tow
The long arm of the red line
This goes on and on and on! But you need to pee now. So see you tomorrow
Matt, it is clear you have become the king of the digital WoodyBoater universe. Congrats from that Michigan gang on 12 great years. We have all enjoyed the ride and are looking forward to many more years together. Come back to visit soon!
Oh crap. I have been looking at woodybaoter that long. I better check my drivers licence for my correct age. Thank you Matt for a universe to hide in.
Much to be proud of! Seeing the numbers and knowing you haven’t missed s day is absolutely amazing. Remembering Woody Boater’s anniversary helps me remember my own, which is also today. Thanks WB!!
It doesn’t seem that long ago that I could comment at any time in the morning and still be the first one. Every morning I look forward to bad jokes, horrible spelling and great stories (even your bad days are better than reading the newspaper). Even though Panther didn’t splash this year reading WoodyBoater keeps me up on the happenings. Don’t stop.
Matt…..congratulations on 12 great years!
You make my day.
Thanks for all the entertainment, news updates, and smoking chimps over the years!
I just landed in Baltimore, off to get some breakfast crab cakes with bacon!
Congratulations Matt. I am a daily reader and, living in Taiwan (which is 12 hours ahead of you), get my daily dose at the end of my day rather than the beginning . You really do a great job and are clearly the “center” of our classic boating universe. Looking forward to the next 12 years .
I have been around since about day one…..which Matt spelled “un” back then I think. To put out fun for us EVERY day for all these years is a huge accomplishment…if not a huge contribution to American literature. Over this same timespan WoodenBoat mag has vastly improved too….but been eclipsed by Woodyboater.com in some respects. Matt Smith truly is the Jon Wilson of the digital age. Thanks for starting may day..every day.
John in Va.
Always a pleasure!
We even have the Tow Boat Tow!
The gang says hello from Dora!
2014
Thank you woody boater!!!
Your a great friend that I have never met!
Mike
The itch to get on the water every day gets worse with the morning dose of Woody Boater. I guess that’s a good thing to say?? And BTW, thanks for putting the picture of Larry in. I miss that guy!
Hi George,
I miss seeing you at Lake Dora. Yeah, boating without Larry isn’t as much fun…
Thanks for coffee readings and all the insight into the world of Woodyboating!
Congratulations, Matt! Thank you for 12 wonderful years of classic boating fun. And I enjoy the new header for each new day, glad you started that.
Thanks Matt for your faithfulness posting every day. I look forward to enjoying Woody Boater daily during my quiet time as I watch the sunrise over the lake. You motivate me to pursue my Florida lifestyle hobby and use my boats.
Wow! 12 years and going strong. Great job Matt! Love seeing it everyday. Congratulations!
Congratulations Matt!
Wow. What an absolute amazing run. Twelve years and never missed a beat. Cheers to you and your crew.
Sorry but I just have to say…we’ve towed in seven over the years, not once for us. Knock on the deck…..
Thank you Matt for your daily thoughts about life, love, and boats,….usually all tied together in a creative, and entertaining thread…..In all your “spare time” 🙂 , you should write a book!
What makes this special are the comments and reactions to your early morning thoughts. While there seems to be the regular group of WB’ers that comment , I can only imagine the number who just read this daily and dont reply..
Great work! and dont stop !
Thank you
Frank Eggert
Well here’s “Just Swell” your old ‘49 CC !!
She’s doin great on Lake Chetek Wisconsin.
Fresh motor rebuild, bottom, and varnish!
Love that boat.
More pictures
Having issues posting.
Oh god! Amazing!!!
All I can say is Congratulations! and Thank You Matt! You have brightened many of my mornings. Beautiful pictures, Great stories, and humorous (sometimes helpful) comments. I feel like I know the regular commenters. Hope to see you in Hessel some day.
“Here, here oh yea, oh yea!!!” Congratulations and to be continued…
In this era of Youtube millionaires (yes, this is a thing and its unbelievable what people follow) I can’t believe WoodyBoater isn’t more popular but I’m just happy your here everyday. Your juxtaposition compared to inane interweb nonsense amazes me that you don’t have a larger following, not from a boating perspective but from your stream of consciousness writing about life. Many times, your perspective makes us feel like we wished we wrote that piece ourselves. Congratulations on your success and for 12 more years if you can continue this amazing effort. All seriousness aside, the hilarious comments are greatly appreciated as well as the anticipation of Troy’s contribution, lol. Its a community that cares.
Bravo !!!
Congratulations Matt…..!
(Did the dots so you know it was really me….).
Ho Jim! I recall pissing Wendy off 12 years ago. I suppose she is still mad!
Water under the transom…..
Congratulations!
Great Job Matt!
We all look forward to WoodyBoater news every morning.
Congratulations Matt on 12 wonderful years!
12 Years! A boat load of stories, a boat load of travel, a boat load of photos, a boat load of fun, a boat load of friends, and a boat load of memories.
Thanks Matt.
Hi Texx. It’s great to hear from you!
Congrads Matt! Hope its still fun for you!
Look forward to it every single morning here in the north.
Helps us hang on, when our boating season in Canada is so short. Temperature here today will be -15C or 5F. With snow.
Thanks for helping us deal with that.
Richard