RANT ALERT: Technical Help, It’s Needed For All.
We need the facts
I was on the phone yesterday with Bill Basler for about an hr, and we were reminiscing about when and why Woody Boater started and the way it worked WITH the CCABC. You may be surprised by our family connection.
We had some fun
Originally the Boat Buzz was an email chain. A question would be asked and then there would be an answer from some experts. No facebook opinions from all sorts of sources. The email was to and for Club members. I will add, I kinda stepped into it from time to time with Jokes. WHHHHHHAAAAATTTTT? Me? Well, that’s how Woody Boater started. A place for humor and lifestyle and the Boat Buzz was created for technical support, along with the Archives and so on. It was a partnership that completed a much needed loop.
What?
Woody Boater is like the original People Section in TIME Magazine, which blossomed into PEOPLE MAGAZINE BTW. This is why Woody Boater is more Lifestyle and sillyness. Sillieness? WTH? Anyway.
mmmmm, if that my watch I see down there?
Fast forward to 2020 and The CCABC has moved into a bizarre area. Its lost its reason for living, and the technical digital side was never updated. The archive is kinda dead, and the boat buzz.. well, a sad shell of what it was designed to be. Even the the Brass Bell has lost its luster. Its a sad shell of what it was. Sorry to all of you reading this that care. As a designer of 40 years experience, I see small things that kill me. PRESS CHECKS PLEASE!!!!!! Trust me I care more. The Brass Bell, and Boat Buzz are…were part of Woody Boaters family. And we need each other to keep the passion going. Trust me this is killing me to write this.
UNO JOB!
To all at the CCABC, YOU HAVE ONE JOB! ONE! UNO, etc. Factual information about Chris Craft boats. Period. If you loose that, you will loose it all. As in membership, and a reason to be. PLEASE! Fix the crap, focus on the technical stuff. Be focused. Any money you have should be spent on that. NOTHING ELSE. The design wrappings of it all were a bonus extra given to all by the design eye of Basler. But without the technical part. Its just a beautifully wrapped gift of air.
Ahhhhhh, that felt good
Okay, now that I have pissed off all my friends. WAKE UP. I CARE, I AM NOT SHEEP. MORE LIKE AN MULE.. Or ASS if you are so inclined.
Technical issues aside the culture has gone weird on the Buzz. If someone responds then the lurkers PM the OP with alternate opinions.
Not worth helping posters any more.
YES! Its not monitored. The technical support of the techinal side is one thing, its the info and life that needs to be there. Great comment Mark.
I don’t read The Buzz or the Brass Bell. I can say one thing Matt. Do not change a thing with WB. And remember it’s better to be pissed off than pissed on.👍
I met so many friends back in the best days of the CCABC. All of us, them, were mere volunteers doing the best they could in a changing cyber world. It was precisely 20 years ago last month that I hosted the Boat Buzz Unplugged event at the Mariners Museum…many of you old timers were there…Matt was there. We bonded around CC boats and there were more boats and people interested in them back then so I won’t bemoan the fact that like the boats we grew old and drifted away. I am a devoted Woodyboater poster now though I was a top ten poster on the Buzz but I will always cherish the friends made and knowledge gained and shared on the old format. I can’ figure out how to post on the Buzz anymore..and don’t care to learn (I still have a flip phone).
Isn’t this just one of those treasured “those were the days” moments? Thanks to Wilson Wright, the godfather, and Bill Basler (yeah I recall the messy parts…let it go). Al Benton, Don Ayers, Jim Evans, Don Ploetner, Jim Staib, Susan Miller, Clif Ames, Matt and Jimmy, Troy and Dr. Larry et. al. What a great bunch of friends brought together by CCABC and yes, ACBS too. True, the Buzz has fallen off but the Bell is a much improved mag in my view. Hell guys, the only CC I own now is a bicycle…things change and we don’t. What a rant John Boy….Go Boating!
Thanks john, good points. The Issue I am having and bringing up is far more than the Bell, or the Buzz, its the need for qualified technical information, and a trusted source for that. That is the club. Everything else is packaging. Where as WB is 100% packaging. Ya, I know my place
I think removing boat buzz from woody boater was unfortunate, for whatever reason. this exposure helped facilitate more answers to technical questions. The current award practice of acbs, where everyone is a winner, also lessens the interest in restorations that are technically correct, imho.
After being a faithful member of CCABC from Wilson Wright days and a black/white Brass Bell, I lost interest in the club and dropped out when they stopped having the meetings at Mt.Dora, It was always fun to meet new people and catch up with old friends there. Per Johns comments the Basler era has some good memories and lots of bad memories.
Hi Ronald:
Interesting observation. Being President the year that the meeting stopped I want you to know that it was not the choice of the CCABC. Since Irma had taken away the docks Sunnyland needed the space under the tent and could not offer us the space to have the our public meet and greet. This was 2018, 2019 still no docks, 2020 & 2021 events were canceled.
I am no longer involved with club management, but has anyone suggested to them that they bring back the club meeting?
I did not renew my subscription to CCABC for sometime as I felt that the articles only dealt with people who had CC boats that were worth $100 – $200,000 and more. I spent 4 years restoring my 1955 Continental and most of the articles were about people who had someone do the work for them, that’s ok but not all of us have a bag of cash to have the work done. I am back but I feel like Matt, don’t ruin something that was a good thing when I first got into my restoration in 2004.
Matt I love you like a brother, but all a story like this does is open old wounds and cause division amongst our hobby.
If you really do CARE about The CCABC get ahold of the current leadership and help them, don’t just criticize a great group of volunteers.
Here is something just to add some fun to the day.
Back in the day before social media, we knew who the experts were. Now, with social media, everyone’s an expert (or a victim). As much as I encouraged those with questions to turn to Boat Buzz for answers when it was “a thing” because these were boat owners with experience, I felt like I was pissing into the wind. With the lack of social contact in the last couple of years, one might think that “new” experts would step up to fill the void. But, I understand why they wouldn’t with the prevalence of “Karen’s”, “Horace’s”, or grammar Nazi’s, etc. Who would blame them for not sticking their reputation out there to answer a question or provide assistance. Its a sign this country has lost its sense of common courtesy evidenced by bizarre acts most recently demonstrated here by a drive thru customer who came inside to throw her coffee on employees because she was told she had to come in for her Splenda. This crap goes on everyday. Hate to be the Debbie downer but I’m not sure society can overcome the lack of social graces now lost from non personal contact and the keyboard warrior crowd combined with the media’s encouragement of playing the victim card. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.
Well said!
Common courtesy, like common sense is not so common today. Truly sad.
Agreed. The million dollar question is what’s the solution. We’ve become so polarized the so called “Be Kind to Everyone” is not working.
and now back to boating.
As a more recent member of CCABC [2015] and faithful follower of Woodyboater I will continue to support both as life is too short as it is. I have gotten good advice from Boat Buzz and I also felt it was very unfortunate that it is no longer included in this forum.
My feeling is that our hobby/sport is little enough and the problems of the world are so big that we don’t need to introduce any more drama.
Thank you T. Parsons. I agree with you. Perspective and kindness. It’s just a hobby no more no less than tiddlywinks.
Matt Smith telling the boat club what to do. What a HOOT! This is THE Matt who has been ranting for years that boat clubs are not relevant anymore but now they should go back to the way they were. Next thing, he’ll tell them to go Digital.
Not a problaem Gotta Love a Lyman
Guilty as charged, and I am sad that my rants are viewed as being difficult. The ACBS has picked up and changed the their game. This is not easy these days. Platforms and usage change monthly. WB is so out of date it makes me cringe. If we here at Woody Boater are the loose cannon pointing out how to fix things. Well. Sorry. I really am. Just trying to help
Matt should keep his powder dry and keep firing away!
If you dont like his advice, maybe you should ask for a refund…. Oh wait..
“Dont Give Up the Ship!”
I don’t appreciate all the history and I’m sure it’s complex and painful somewhat. I’m Retired and reading, researching and owning a classic Chris Craft for the past 5 years, I have to say I enjoy WB and ACBS and the Magazines. Ive learned a lot and enjoy it all. I am disappointed in the Boat Buzz and Dannenberg sites and how they are not supported by the experts out there or managed properly and frequently. That is the main source to find solutions to our current problems and things we are not smart enough to ask. What is the solution to rebuilding the resource for technical support and on Boat Buzz or the Dannenberg site or the creation of a new venue or site. Maybe that is the first step. What can I/we do to help. Respectfully, Tom