We have lots of new people on the forum recently, and lots of long-time forum users, too, who do not tell where they are and what waters they sail on. It is hard to help people with your questions when we don't have a clue where in the world you are.

All you have to do is go to "My Home" and scroll down to "Personal Information." Click on "Edit." That will open up a new window, and scroll down until you see "Geographic Location." Just put in as much or as little as you want, but something that will give us an idea about where you are and what kind of waters you sail on. If you are not in the United States, at least give your country.

Whatever you put in "Geographic Location," only the first part of it will show under your name when you make posts, so make sure you put the most important thing at the beginning. And then when someone clicks on your post name, it will take them to your profile, which will include the ENTIRE explanation of where you sail and the kind of water, weather conditions, etc. or however much you want to include.

After you edit your "Geographic Information" and/or other personal information, scroll on down all the way to the bottom and click on "Submit."

The more information you give, the fewer questions people will have to ask you in order to answer YOUR questions.

You can see what is under my name at the left of this post for "Location," and if you click on my name, you can see the rest of what I put into "Location," just to give you an idea.

FUNGOWAI, N.Y. !!!! (LOL) <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Mary: I think a lot of people are just to lazy to fill out their information properly.
Maybe its possible to make the Location field compulsory when signing up?

Forums vary. I've been on another boating forum where everyone uses their real names. No handles. There was a thread where members posted photos of themselves and their spouses. Maybe members here don't feel that close to each other.

Nope. Some people just don't want anybody to know where they are. For the people who DO, it's a very simple thing. And I don't think it has anything to do with being "lazy."

I think in today’s world with the serious threat of identity theft many are just reluctant to divulge too much information on the web. Although identity theft may be of little concern with the information given on this site, it is always in the back of their mind. Also, people have a great deal of anonymity by hiding behind the computer screen when involved in heated debates, “trolling” or even spewing out hateful opinions. Of course that happens very little on this forum, but many forums are not so lucky. Of the few forums that I visit, this has to be one of the best with many people only willing to do what they can to help out a fellow cat sailor. Just my $0.02 worth.

Wally,
Simply stating a body of water or region is a reasonable disclosure and will enable the forum members to offer the best informed advice. There is zero risk in this.

There does appear to be a limit on verbage in the location box, I was just told that I exceeded it. Was a bit wordy....

Dave

I thought mine was pretty wordy, but it all fit. Today I started adding more stuff to see how far I could go, and I could not go far beyond what I already have on there. Seems like that should be way more than adequate for most people.

To help people it is important to know whether you sail on inland lakes or big water (do you launch through surf?), and freshwater or saltwater. If you give your state or country, we know whether you can sail all year round or only in the summer.

And if you give your country, other than the U.S., when you talk about some boat we have never heard of, we will know, "Okay, they have that boat in that part of the world but not in ours."

That kind of general information just saves a lot of repetitive questions back and forth every time somebody asks for information about something. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Like, "West side of Lake Michigan, launch off beach," answers pretty much all of the above questions.

Or "Upper Midwest United States, inland lakes" also answers a lot of those questions.

Or, like, "Southwest U.S., inland lakes and/or Sea of Cortez"

Anyway, it's not like anybody needs your town and your zip code.

Well I moved off the coast now and will have to find some lake to sail in. Going to hook up with Wally when it gets warmer and maybe go Lake Palestine and sail with old friend. I am thinking of joining Fleet 23 in Dallas. Also trying too make my dream move to the Tampa area and joining GYC. That is my goal.

But I will sail where I have, 29 years in the sport I am not quiting soon!!!!!

Doug

I totally agree, but I don't think everyone sees it that way. At any rate I am going to add more to my profile, cause I need all the help I can get! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />