The "best" boating site on the Internet!

For quite a few months now I've been wanting to extoll the virtues of "Trawler Forum." I'm a guy who is a real addict when it comes to boating and I can't recall ever seeing an ugly boat. When I'm not on my boat, in the boat yard or just walking the docks, I read everything I can get my hands on. At the end of the day I sometimes feel exhausted and just want to cool it. My addiction kicks in, however, and I turn on the computer to cruise the numerous boat sites. I always save "Trawler Forum" for my last read before retiring for the night. You know....like dessert! The subjects, contributors, the simplicity of navigating the site, speed, interaction by the founders, ability to easily post photos and blow them up, etc, etc, etc,. This is a great site that I really enjoy and I hope it lasts forever.

Walt

I agree and second the "here here". The people are great, moderators are almost like real people ( ) and the subjects are those that real boat people are interested in. Even if we don't agree, things don't seem to get out of hand.

Ken Buck

"Even if we don't agree, things don't seem to get out of hand"

Great observation, Ken. I'm also impressed with the civil discourse here. There are lots of strongly held (and opposing) views here but nobody is getting zapped(or is it flamed these days).

I don't agree with that... <snicker>

This site is great , no board NAZI , however for #1 my interests are more into design , so I would suggest

http://boatdesign.net/

as a place more into design , than ownership , repair or operation.

For all things diesel, boatdiesel.com is great. All sizes and all brands have a topic or twenty. That website works too!

Would you go to Boatdiesel and look up the specs on a Lehman 120 please. Could you quote me the height, weight, maybe the length? How about some service recommendations?

I subscribed to Boatdiesel for a year and found that the Lehman 120 virtually does not exist on that site. Twas a real disappointing site for me.

Ken

I would venture to say that one of the best sites for information regarding the Ford Lehman 120 is the Grand Banks Owners site ( http://www.grandbanksowners.com/index.php ) The "Manuals" section has PDF files of the operator, service, and parts manuals for this engine. The GB Owners Board forum will have dozens if not hundreds of posts in the searchable archives about this engine.

I believe you have to join the GBO in order to access the manuals section but membership so far is free. It is a very active site with a lot of experienced participants including Ken Buck. Many of the members have older GBs including a lot of woodie owners, and most of these boats are powered with the FL120 so there are many posts and discussions about operating, maintaining, and repairing this engine.

First off, I want to say thank you very much for contirbuting to the site. Our motivation for starting this was pure....just to allow people to express themselves without anybody trying to tell them how to act. Obviously, we have to be civil but we can still disagree. ANyway, thank you very much for making this site what it is.

Secondly, the reason why the Lehman is not well represented on boatdiesel.com is because it rarely breaks down so there aren't tons of people out there looking for answers to what is wrong with their Lehman......Volvos....on the other hand..........j/k.

Thanks y'all,
Baker

I'll have to look into MTOA, it sounds like it might be right down my alley if they have no shill articles and no advertising. Reading almost every other boating magazine one finds article after article shilling for whoever sent the editor a free something for his boat. (growl)

I find that the GB site is extremely helpful. As I might have stated previously I was set to buy a GB but didn't for a variety of reasons. However, in the several years I was doing research on trawler style boats it was far and above the most informative.

I even tried to join the local GB club (PSGBOA) to gain more information, but was rebuffed by their website which required a hull number to join. When I complained to the webmistress about their exclusivity she denied that a hull number was required. I sent her the screen shot of the page and mysteriously it disappeared a week later with no further contact from her. That soured me from ever wanting to join that group. Yes, contact with one person tainted the entire group. Many people who belong to that group are friendly aquaintances, but those are individual contacts.

I had a similar experience with RBAW, the WA state recreational boaters association. My yacht club belongs as a group member. One year, after their marketing campaign I joined also as an individual member. I think it was $90 to join. They had a symposium on some issue that I thought was interesting and I made plans to attend. I sent in to reserve a place and was told that only recognized groups were invited to attend meetings and provide input. If I had something to say, I should send it thru a group representative and they would bring it up "if it was appropriate". Needless to say, they never received another dollar.

So, with groups like this and others, it is how well the group receives new members and how they respond to them that makes the difference. In my opinion, Boatdiesel does not serve the Lehman 120 owners. While many espouse how wonderful it is, it does not provide information to the section of the boating community I belong. They are not responsive to requests to include that information. So, for a Lehman owner it is a waste of money, IMHO.

Ken