This site is not alone in its lack of activity due to competition from FB and other social media platforms. I'm on several(too many) other forums, from boats, to 4x4s, to firearms, and fishing. All of them are taking a hit. Several have been bought out by Vertical Scope(Canadian media corporation) and are a shadow of their former self. I point out to people all the time that what makes forums better than groups or pages are the stored content and archives. There is a ton of content on this page. Oddly enough, I haven't seen a post from the V20 Facebook page I'm on lately. One thing we all have to realize, even though we think so much of our boats, the v20s don't have the following SeaCrafts and Mako's do. Our boats are getting old and just not economically feasible for many to justify a restoration. Some of that has to do with how they were built when new. As far as the political forum on this page, its a double edged sword. It keeps the site busy, but it has also run several long time members off this site. I choose not to be involved with it and do not post, or read anything in that forum. This site is about Wellcraft v20s and boating. If I wanted to talk politics or have political discussions, there are several other places I can go where the discussion is far more educated, and the skins a lot thicker. There are several friends of mine that I've met on this site that have an opposing political view point than I do. I still talk to, meet, and interact with these people and i still consider them to be my friends, all from this site. I respect their opinion and we leave politics off the table, only revering in our common affection for boating. Very few of yall(current active members) know my history, and how i came to spend a large amount of time on this site. This place was an escape for me during a very troubled time for my family, and gave me few minutes each day to keep bigger burdens off my mind. I hate to see some many people i interreacted with daily, no longer here. There are so many people that i considered friends that have gone on to other things. There were several other boating sites that I frequented, but didn't have the friendship or comradery this site had. Its been rare anyone here has every been edited, shut down or banned from this site. Its what seems to be a common occurrence on other forums, too many other sites are overrun with this drama. Posters looking for confrontation, arguments, general trolling, etc...More concerned with post counts than helping someone out. I have handed out a fortune in free mechanical advise with no expectation of anything in return over the past 15(?) years. My V20 is sitting at my shop with a rotten transom, and will most likely be hauled to the dump in the near future. During the time I've owned my v20, I've had 2 McKee Crafts, a proline, Sea Hunt, Sea Ray, Bumble Bee, Diamond 17, two Isotope sailing catamarans, 6 kayaks, and now it seems i bought a 22 Grady White. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many boats I've fixed, repaired, helped rebuild, repowered, etc.. in that time frame. I'll still be boating, and I'll still be around here, but it seems my Wellcraft V20 boating days are done.
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