Hi All,<br />I'm cuious to know what other boating sites you visit on a regular basis besides this site? Being new to boating I've learned a great deal just reading past postings.
I spend most my time in iboats, but as a Glastron owner I also vist www.classicglastron.com. I think there are a lot of similar brand specific sites out there. A Google search might lead you to forum dedicated to boaters that own the same brand of boat as you. By far the best information comes from iboats.
Iboats is the best boat forum. They keep the site clean and organized. Sure, there are some folks that are not the sharpest tool in the shed, but overall, iboats has the most experienced users. There is a site called something like thehulltruth.com, but this site has a lot of yelling and not as much good advice.
I keep an eye on thehulltruth, but it is too disorderly for my liking. Trailerboats could have been good but sees very little activity. Same for boatingabc. Then there are a few fora in Scandinavia, none of which have impressed me much.<br /><br />Bottom line, you just can't beat iboats as far as getting friendly & factual information from genuine hands-on experts. Plus, it's well organized, well moderated, and very active.
oh, theres other boat fourms out there? i didn't know. . iboats answers all my questions for me and i like the friendly, knowlegable people here too. i have visited a few other sites to be honest. but none even came close to this fourm.....
I've been all over the place and this one is the best - there are an amazing number of helpful and very knowledgable contributors. There is very minimum junk mail, heated arguments, etc.<br /><br />But the thing that always strikes me is that most of the people here are ordinary folks who just happen to love boats - there are very few discussions of 45 foot Hatteras. Most people do their own work and look for value when they buy things.<br /><br />It is so different from the "rich boater" stereotype.<br /><br />I also belong to the Boston Whaler forum which is very useful since that's what I have. But you would swear it was run by the company. Nothing ever critical, and if you do say something negative about a BW you get slammed.<br /><br />However, having said that, if you can find a forum for your particular brand, that has to be at least somewhat useful.
I lurk iboats daily.Prolly has the most action of any.<br />I also frequent themarinedoctor-- fast/helpfull replies<br />and bbc(bassboatcentral) similar content. also has brand specific boat forums.<br />Enjoy
i like boatingabc not for hard technical advice though. Seems to be a large group on there from Northern IL, so I have someone to make fun of!<br />trailerboats page could be good, but it doesn't get the traffic.
Nova Marine Xtreme http://meridian-prime.com/novamarine/default.asp <br />I love iboats so much we started our own site. <br />No sponsors or things for sale. Just a couple of us that loved boats got a little carried away. But iboats is still the standard that all others are judged by.
www.boatered.com is a pretty good forum. Lots of experience over there. But after finding iboats I've been spending all of my time here. I've got a 17ft aluminum fishing boat; most of the regulars over there are operating much larger boats. I always got good information whenever I posted a question, but not too many of topics related where I am right now in boating.
www.boatdesign.net is very good also as they have a group that leans toward the boat, mainly hulls of all types and what improves them. Different part of boating, but just as good.
iboats (*)<br />The Hull Truth (*)<br />BoaterEd (great experience from mid-size to large cruising boat owners)<br />BoatUS (awesome for the consumer, w/r/t recalls, problems, etc)<br />GoBoatingAmerica (owns GBA and Sea Magazines)<br />Bayliner Owners' Club (where I am the forum admin, like Wiley is here. No, Bayliner owners are not all blindly in love with their boats.)<br />IBoatNW (bunch of great guys from the Pacific NW)<br />rec.boats.cruising (but not so much anymore since JAXAshby returned from the dead)<br /><br />The (*) above are forums where Bayliner bashers abound...I participate mostly to ensure facts are offered to balance out the wild guesses and opinions spouted by non-owners and un-informed bashers. Not a troll...there is a big difference.<br /><br />But mostly I just love to read about and talk about boating for those times I can't be on the water.
Well....<br /><br />I like this site the best by far...and I have spent at least some time at most of the others mentioned above.<br /><br />There is another site run by a mechanic in Canada called http://www.themarinedoctor.com/ <br /><br />I've shared some of my trials and tribulations regarding the resto of my 85 Mercury there...<br /><br />You see some of the same nicks that post here...plus some others who seem pretty honest and knowedgable.<br /><br />The "Doctor" also has posted some cool videos that help the neophyte outboard mechanic. I have to admire him for the effort he puts into providing instruction to people.<br /><br />Nowhere near the traffic and diversity of iboats however...<br /><br />I suppose that as the winter progresses...many of us will have more time for reading and posting on the boards. <br /><br />Thanks for reading, Chuck