[Rhodes22-list] Political discussion is diluting the value of the Rhodes 22 newsgroup

[Steven Alm]

Paul,

All of the sailing topics you mentioned have indeed been brought up here on
this list.  Yes, even sailing poetry.  Some of the old-timers will remember
"The Night Before Christmas For Sailors."  And these topics will be brought
up again.  And we invite you to bring them up any time.  But among us
old-timers on the list, we have already talked all that stuff over with each
other so we look for current topics for something new to yak about.  Why not
politics?  Whether you're sitting on a bar stool or a barber chair, after
you talk about the weather, politics comes up pretty easily.  If you don't
want to talk politics then don't.  No one is forcing you to do so.  And no
one is stopping you from bringing up anything else that you'd like.
Simple.  I, for one, would love to hear more about your friend's 44 footer.
Got pix?  And as a long-time R22 owner, I'm sure you can contribute plenty.

You're not the first nor will you be the last to complain about this.  We
understand.  I would kindly suggest you hang around a while, have a few cold
ones and you just might find some interesting company.

Also, others have found it helpful to use whatever email features you can to
put all the list messages into a separate folder so they're easier to deal
with and keep out of your regular inbox.  Some even use a separate email
account altogether just for list stuff.

Slim

On Wed, Sep 3, 2008 at 3:48 PM, Paul Krawitz <krawitzmail-rhodes22 at yahoo.com
> wrote:

> Ed K,
>
> First of all, thanks for the invitation to South Carolina. Actually, there
> is terrific sailing here on the north shore of Long Island, where friends
> and I go out three times per week on sailboats ranging in size from 16 to
> 44
> feet. The marina constantly tries to steer me into a larger boat, since
> every winter I'm the runt on the lot. But I like my Rhodes best.
>
> I appreciate your strong feelings that in order to keep the list ongoing,
> that alternative discussions need to take place, or else the group will
> atrophy.
>
> But I'm not a "newbie." I've been a Rhodes owner on and off for the past 12
> years. I may not contribute that frequently, and you may not consider me
> "salty" enough, but recently I made a long post in response to the plethora
> of problems people were having with their Yamaha outboards. So I want to
> contribute.
>
> Yes, there are pen pal friendships (and even in-person friendships) made
> because of the newsgroup discussions.
>
> Terrific.
>
> It would be even better, in my opinion, to make the discussions sailing and
> boating related. And this could be loosely defined...interesting sailing
> venues, how does sailing help you to emotionally cope with stress, photos
> of
> get-togethers with other Rhodies, applauding Stan's magnificent writing and
> outstanding web site (which is what drives his sales after all these
> years),
> best practices to maintain your boat, how to get the Rhodes to point upwind
> better, sailing poetry, and more. In other words, not all the Rhodes
> discussions have to be posted looking for help to solve an emergency
> problem.
>
> To suggest that political commentary is necessary for the success of the
> group, and furthermore to acerbically attack the "newbie" for questioning
> the wisdom of placing political commentary on a sailing newsgroup, is both
> short-sighted and mean spirited. And it's unfortunate to see dispirited
> people leaving the list.
>
> There are several people who emailed me privately, agreeing that the
> group's
> politics have gotten out of hand and hurt rather than help the subscriber
> base. Unfortunately, they were afraid to post their comments and face the
> very public ridicule that I am braving.
>
> Ed, since you seem to be one of the group's most vocal proponents, perhaps
> you could initiate a weekly discussion on pertinent sailing topics and ask
> everyone to respond. That would make the group both more vibrant and on
> target.
>
> Paul K
> "Clarity"
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