It’s that time of year when you think back on the year and the plans and dreams you had and take stock of where you are. I just realized I started visiting here in about 1999 ( is that possible?). I grew up paddling canoes but had no experience in kayaks and was looking to find the best way to get started paddling on the ocean with my sons. I met lots of people that seemed to have a wealth of knowledge and experience and who were taking interesting trips and sharing their experiences. Some people were industry insiders and others BCU coaches, boat builders, etc. That led to a long adventure that started with SOTs, seakayaks, whitewater kayaks, surf kayaks, waveskis … , I think I have paddled with about two dozen people I met through Paddling net, most here when they visited in San Diego or California, but a few in far off corners of the world. Tsunami Chuck seems to be the only one still posting here, all the others have moved on ( some of us are still connected on facebook.) The thing that really hit me is how many of the regular posters here have now really passed on to the gray havens over the years. The recent website software changes seem to have culled the herd quite a bit too. it’s a different world now. Oh well SYOTW.
Glad you stuck around SeaDart. I started here around 2006, so I missed a lot of the early folks. People come and go, but it’s still a great group - lot’s of diverse interests. Paddle on!
Well, yes, it is that time of year again. The wind’s howling outside and the temps here may make it into the teens. But many of the old friends here on Pnet are still around. There’s a bit of warmth in that. There’s just not that much that’s left unsaid after all these years.
Many are putting their trip reports on blogs now, rather that here. Probably now there is more personal communication between many of the old-timers on Facebook or other media, though I don’t use those avenues myself and so can’t be sure of that or who those folks might be.
But many of the old Pnet personalities are still here - all of the above posters, for example. There are quite a few who I miss but, who knows, some might reappear at any time.
Like others here I don’t miss the Googly goop either, but I was coming to think of that as only the internet equivalent of snow on the TV or radio static back in the old days. Meaning can sneak through in spite of it and we all adapted to worse when we were kids.
I, for one, prefer the new format. I find it much easier to navigate to new topics and updated posts. The old format took me too much time to sort through a list of responses to find the new ones. Drove me nuts and kept me from signing on at times to look for updates.
I really like that we can mark favorite topics.
I like that I can personalize it so that I only see the categories that interest me.
The enhanced ability to use images in posts is a great improvement and will serve to move the the site out of the realm of old-school “message boards” . The old format did everything it could to discourage the use of images. The ease of adding images to posts makes the site much more vibrant and relevant in today’s social media environment.
I’m not wild about all of the changes yet and, honestly, didn’t like any of them at first, but as I have lived with them a bit I find myself liking Pcom more than Pnet and spending more time on the site.
I still check in once in awhile. When there is surf, I get out but don’t bother taking pics or posting much about it. Seems more and more like effort to post. Rather just get out, experience and enjoy. Time is rolling along.
Yup, many of the Pnet ole timers have literally paddled into the beyond.
@sing said:
I still check in once in awhile. When there is surf, I get out but don’t bother taking pics or posting much about it. Seems more and more like effort to post. Rather just get out, experience and enjoy. Time is rolling along.
Yup, many of the Pnet ole timers have literally paddled into the beyond.
sing
Hey Sing! Happy New Year…
We had quite a big run of surf in Oct, Nov and early Dec and then lately flat and lake like. I’ve been trying to learn how to surf an SUP shortboard, kind of hooked on the challenge.
Happy New Year to you too, Val. Glad you are still at it. We got some surf the remainder of this week from the storms that passed your way earlier. Will get some at a godly hour, for a change, this weekend.
Saturday’s forecast is for 25 foot surf with 30 kt winds and steady rains. We are finally getting rain, but it comes all at once lately. Good weekend to stay in bed here. I unfortunately need to do some work .
Andy above said:
“2001 for me, still come by, but not as often as before.”
I don’t come by as often as in the years past. My idle curiosity got me to check my posts. I made a couple of posts in about 2005. I think I bought my canoe when I was about 63. In my “4th quarter of a century” I am not as active and can’t read as much as in the past years.
