Rick, How about a forum for West of the Rocky Mountains. I can moderate if need be.


GARY

On Saturday June 4th, I'll be sailing to Catalina Island for my fifth
trip this year. This will be a two day trip on a Saturday and Sunday.

This trip has 5 catamarans scheduled to make the trip, so far. If you
plan to make this trip with us, please contact me and I will connect
you to the group.

It has been a spectacular season in Southern California, ever since
the trip that we took on February 26th. (Buzz, Gary Stern, Terry, and
I) The annual spring trip was better than usual too; we had a
Northern California contingency from Hobie Fleet 2.

Life is so sweet on a So. CA desert island when the rainfall is at
record levels. Sring is *really* springing!!

If anyone has a seaworthy vessel and needs crew, an experienced
Catalina Channel crosser, I can hook you up!

Los Angeles has much to offer in terms of genuine ocean and beach
experiences. As an experienced beach cat sailor, you have the best
opportunities in all of Southern California, right here.

GARY

Rick is on the road right now with the Tybee 500 and he won't be landing up in Ohio until next week -- so he probably won't be responding to your suggestion until then.

However, I am curious why you think that topic needs a separate forum. We are ALL interested in knowing what goes on west of the Rockies, both cruising and racing.

Do you think more people would be interested in posting, for some reason, if there were a separate forum? Seems like we sailors are already separated enough, east and west, by the Continental Divide, so why divide us by forums, as well?

Hawaii has one,it becomes more of a meeting place since many people are already on the site anyway.

Thanks Mary. I don't suggest any rush or urgency. Just throwing out a suggestion.


And I am curious why you ask me this.
I guess it is because there are some 23 different forums of various subject matter on the board and that I did not want to shove a bunch of local, West Coast stuff down everyone's throat. New CatSailor Forums
Mary, when you say "we are ALL," I can certainly say that you don't speak for us all. In this case, you don't speak for me.

I couldn't care less about many things that I have seen on some of these forums. I find some forums interesting. I expect that many others feel the same. And by the way that this board is set up, with two dozen forums, I thought that I was suggesting a proper notion.





Separatin happens. We here are separated from mono hull sailors and that is acceptable by all. The Continental divide separates us and that is economical. I am not willing to tow my boat and trailer over it and most of us are also not willing to do so, also.

I really don't care whether or not there is a separate forum for us Manifest-Destinarians of the West, but I just wanted to offer to share our news with the rest of you all, and to do it without flooding your usual channel.

Greetings from the Western Continental Shelf!
GARY

FWIW, I think having a "separate" forum makes good sense. But I don't see it at all as something that separates sailors from one another. I'm not out west, but I'm sufficiently obsessed with this stuff that I'll read about anything that's going on on the planet (always enjoy reading BAGEA reports). To me, having separate forums just provides a convenient way to categorize posts so I know the general subject area of a subset of stuff I'm reading. And in this case it would probably also give the folks out west a little sense of local community they wouldn't get from the main forum.

The alternative is that someone goes and starts a separate forum or email list someplace else. I'm already regularly following forums on at least two different web sites and four different yahoo groups, just for cat sailing, and it's really a bit of a hassle. I think having different forums but having them right here on catsailor is a great idea. It lets people with narrow interests see just what they want to see, and lets those with broader interests organize and prioritize how they read stuff, but lets them do it all here on one site.

Mark.

Gary,
Hey, I think a separate forum is a fine idea if it will get more western sailors participating and letting us know what is going on out there.

I was just asking because I haven't seen many posts on the main forum by the westerners (except for you and Caleb Tarleton). Maybe there are more but they don't give their location, so we don't know it.

So, I was wondering whether it is because:
1. The sailors out there don't frequent this website and forum at all.
2. The western sailors think most of the sailors on our open forum are from the East and, therefore, don't feel as welcome.
3. OR, there is nothing going on out West.

It has always been difficult for me to get any reports from the West for Catamaran Sailor Magazine. The Arizona Multihull Fleet is the only one that sends me information. And sometimes Roger Jenkins will send me a story about a California event in which he participates. I am always extremely grateful for any news from the West and I always print it.

I used to try to get MHRA to send me information about their events and activities, but no luck.

If a separate forum will help to get information flowing across the Rockies, I am all for it. And if you and Caleb and the Marshacks and others out there could spread the word and get people to use that area-specific forum, that would be terrific!

Hey Gary:

For years I've always fantasized about making that trip to Catalina Island. Can you do us a favor and write a report on it when you get back? Where do you put in? What kind of boats? Could a Hobie 18 Magnum do it? All kinds of questions.

Thanks,

Wyatt

Paul and I have been posting reports on western event on the F16 forum off and on. The MHRA is going through some evolution right now due to the infamous hobie edict. A new person volunteered to re-energize the MHRA web site and he would likely be able to give Mary reports and schedule info.

Hey, what about my posts on southern CA events like CatFight, Area J Alter Cup, Milt Ingram, Newport to Ensenada, Afterburner, etc. etc.??

Am I chopped liver?
just kidding Mary! You & Rick run the best site for us Cats in the world!

Now, about that TORNADO Forum I think you should add... :-)

Mike.

My apologies to Mike and E.J. and every other westerner I didn't mention.

I haven't had a chance to tell Rick yet about the forum idea. He just landed in Ohio and I'm still in Florida. We are having the usual problems getting communications going again up at the island.

Well, I started out at 1.5K bandwidth, but may be up to at least dial-up speed. Geez, 1.5 was worse than I had in Hatteras on a phone line. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

At any rate, I can see that your idea may be OK, but what would you like to name it? West Coast, West of Rockies, etc?
Let me know your ideas and I will work with you on the idea.
Rick

One thing I would recommend...keep the regional part out of the name...simply because it entrenches a misconception that the main forum is for East-coasters...when in reality we've got users from around the world. Before you know it you'll need a separate forum for each different location. That would really suck. I like the fact that you've got forums for specific boats or boat types (TORNADO TORNADO TORNADO?!?!?).

Maybe a "Cruisers" or "Recreational Sailing" section would fulfill Gary's request? Posts about such type of sailing can be of interest to people from many locations, not just West coast USA.

My 2 Cents...

There are lots of area specific clubs represented and they have their names or initials in the name...

Dan

Not including Hawaii, I think we have five very area-specific forums, Long Island, Delray Beach, Biscayne Bay, Indian River and Tampa Bay.

These are all forums for specific fleets or clubs to provide them with, as Gary said, a "gathering place" for information specific to their own fleets.

However, a forum for West of the Rockies would include many different fleets and clubs, many of which do not intercommunicate and do not participate in each other's events because it is obviously a very large and diverse area. So no way to have name-specific fleet or initials.

I think "West of the Rockies" would cover it. And I don't see any reason to include "Recreational Sailing Forum," because nobody really knows what "recreational" means, unless Gary's intent in making his suggestion was that it only include cruising events west of the Rockies. But in that case, we would also need a forum for cruising east of the Rockies.

And, as somebody else said, if we have a forum for West of the Rockies, it implies that the whole forum is not for everybody in the United States even though we have participation from all over the world.

You see the dilemma here.

Personally, I would like to see the forum started just to see what happens, because maybe there actually is a perception on the part of the West Coast people that this is an East Coast forum.

So what do you think? "West of the Rockies" for the name?

I think Gary was looking for a place for the local SoCal sailors to set up meetings without taking up everyone's time on the main forum. They do a lot of trips out to Catalina Island. I think it's a good idea to keep the "let's meet at noon at the pier" type messages off of the main forum but I would hope that they will post the more interesting posts in the general forum or at least link to it. I have read many of their adventures on the Beachcats Yahoo forum and in the old On The Wire ezine and it has been some great reading. If I ever get back out to Cali I would love to make a trip to Catalina with them.

We had eight cats in the 19-20 foot range and we had a roaring good time. 50 nautical mile round trip/two days.

Eight boats with spinnakers: Three Tornados; two of which were solo-sailed (with Solo~Rights), two Inter 20's, two Nacra 5.8NA's, and a Mystere 6.0. Sharks, ocean sunfish (mola mola), sea lions, freighters, Buffalo Milk, "June Gloom," dolphin, man overboard, kelp, and sleeping on anchored cats.

The Southern California Beachcat Sailors have a unique place in the world of cat sailing.

25 nautical miles, each way. A weekend of fast sailing, good surroundings, and great camaraderie.

Details to follow.

GARY

Picture of the track.

We intend to do a November Catalina Island trip. The cabins were all sold out for the Nov. 11th weekend due to a dive group having them saved.

The Catalina trip is Friday, Nov. 18th through Sunday the 20th. If you intend to go, make sure you get your room now!

There are camping cabins with either twin bunks or a single full bed. Tell them that you want bedding included. The entire price for the two nights with bedding and towels is $90.50.

http://www.visitcatalinaisland.com/twoHarbors/lodg_catalinaCabins.php

GARY