Is it me or are there a lot of first time boaters on CSR?

[PlayDate]

I can't recall a season where so many first time boaters appeared on CSR. I think it's great but it seems to run counter intuitive to the theory of people losing interest in boating. Perhaps Jim can weigh in with numbers of new users.

 

[techmitch]

Yeah, I think it's a Look it up on the Interwebs thing era.

 

[Golfman25]

I don't know about the loosing interest part. A lot of the used boats in my are have been snapped up. It's kind of weird.

 

[NorCal Boater]

I can't recall a season where so many first time boaters appeared on CSR. I think it's great but it seems to run counter intuitive to the theory of people losing interest in boating. Perhaps Jim can weigh in with numbers of new users.

No, I think you're right. And with the first time boaters comes all of the frustrating situations they ask for help with. Like....
Noob:"Hi, this is my first time posting. I just bought my first boat and I can't seem to get it to plane. Any suggestions"
CSR: "Can you tell us more about the boat?"
Noob: "Oh yeah, its a 1995 270 Sundancer with a 5.0 motor."
CSR: "That is a very small motor for that boat. Did you take the boat for a sea trial (test ride) before you bought it and did you have it surveyed (inspected) prior to purchasing.
Noob: "No, didn't do that. The boat was really pretty and the guy I bought it from said it was perfect condition and he was a friend of my ex-wife's second cousin Larry and he is a really good guy so I knew the deal was good."
CSR: "Uuuhhh, OK. When you tried to get the boat on plane how many people were on board?"
Noob: "Well, let's see.... There was my wife and her mother, her sister and her husband, all of our kids, 8, I think. Oh, and our 2 St. Bernards. I thought getting some weight forward might help so I had all the kids get up on the bow.
CSR: "You may have had the boat over loaded."
Noob: "Never thought of that. Well we just decided to go back to a cove near the land fill and put the anchor out and spend the night. The in-laws went home and it was just me, the wife and 3 kids....and the dogs. The kids wanted to watch TV so I put the Honda generator on the swim platform and fired it up. Those little generators are so quiet. We all fell asleep with it running and we forgot to turn it off. We sure did sleep good on the boat though. I have to admit I was a bit groggy in the morning and I practically had to revive the wife to wake her up."
CSR: It can be very dangerous to use a portable generator like that."
Noob: "Naw, we use it camping all the time and it works fine. So how can I get more horsepower out of this motor?"

OMG....where's the whiskey! And most of us like to help the newbies. We were all newbies once. Right?

 

[JimT]

I have no problem with new boaters asking the same old questions. That's what this site is for in part. What I find frustrating are the questions that lack sufficient information to respond in a meaningful way then the OP never comes back to elaborate or even acknowledge the attempts to help.

 

[Nick70]

Every time I post something, I feel like a noob

 

[330DA]

The economy is heating up. People are more confident in their jobs being stable and rising salaries. I think more people are getting into boating who held off.

 

[Boater420]

I have no problem with new boaters asking the same old questions. That's what this site is for in part. What I find frustrating are the questions that lack sufficient information to respond in a meaningful way then the OP never comes back to elaborate or even acknowledge the attempts to help.

Exactly, I often wondered about those people.

My best explanation is that they're sitting in the boat, googling answers, find this site, join and post a question, and then go back to working on their boat. They either get it figured out on their own, or give up and hire a mechanic.

 

[NotHerDecision]

It seems to me the boat market is doing fairly well. At least around here the good boats are selling fast.

Our dock space is full. It’s the first time in 2 years that has happened. And there is a brand new carver on our dock as well. I love it. Glad people are enjoying the fruits of their labor and I want more used boats in the future!