Have you ever wondered what modern dinghy cruisers do when not sailing? Like all sailors they need to plan future voyages, buy new boats and equipment, schedule future maintenance, and tell stories of their exploits. They don’t race, so there are no cosy clubhouse bars to chat in. They are an economical group so they trail or car-top to launch, and there the chances of meeting an owner of a similar boat is small. They often cruise remote areas and rejoice in meeting very few people. Many dinghy cruisers are coming to realise that there is a new way out of their dilemma. Like other minorities they are becoming a cyber-community on the World Wide Web. One name for that cyber-community for dinghy cruisers is openboat.

If you approach computers as you would approach a winter dinghy crossing of the North Atlantic please just suspend judgement for a few minutes and look at the people, boats, and activities of the openboat community. To give you a flavour I have looked over the last six months of 1999 during which I have been a member.

How many people are involved? At Christmas there were 146 members registered of which 95 had exchanged messages in previous 6 months. Not bad when you think of the proportion of active members in a normal club. Like any club some people are more vocal than others, 39 have sent in more than 4 messages and 11 people sent half the 772 messages. I belong with the quiet crowd at 3 messages!

Bet they are all young trendies! Not all cyber-cruisers reveal their age but of the more than half who did we find their ages range from 20 to 72 with an average of 45 so ‘young’ may not be the adjective. At 60 I’ve still got 5 ahead of me. A few more members reveal their gender but unfortunately only 3% are female. Whether this is an internet thing or a dinghy cruising thing I do not know. What do they chat about? What do you talk about with your sailing friends? A bit of this and a bit of that? I classified the 772 messages and are you surprised to find 26% of messages were about boats; boats we own, boats we have sailed and boats we desire? I classified another 13% as ‘chat’ the equivalent of an ‘uh-ha’, ‘what’s that?’ or ‘tell me more’ in a group conversation.

In any well run friendly club some time is spent on introductions of new members and about 3% of messages were from new members describing themselves. They often describe their boat and their cruising area. A significant number of the chat messages were of the ‘welcome aboard’ type. Housekeeping took up over 7% of the messages, subscription/unsubscription (necessary but free!), ‘how do I?’, ‘can I?’, ‘Your/my e-mail program is doing funny things!’

Because the community exists in cyber-space 3% of messages were telling people wonderful web locations (URL’s) for pictures of boats, boat specifications, builders, designers, and suppliers etc. We all like to promote our own cruising area and 9% of messages were discussing the attributes of cruising areas in the UK and USA and some mention of exotic areas like Australia, Canada, Continental Europe, and Mexico.

What sort of boats do they cruise in? An international group can discuss a huge range of boats. Do you want to talk to someone who cruises in a Caledonia Yawl, Capri, Chamberlain dory, Chebacco, Crawford dory, Davidson, Dovekie, Drascombe Longboat, Enterprise, Falmouth Bass Boat, Fancyfree, Featherwind, Fireball, GP14, Ilur, Jollyboat, Laser, Martha Jane, Melonseed, Miracle, Mirror, Ness Yawl, Oldshoe, Presto, Roamer, Seabright Skiff, Seapearl, Shearwater, Skipjack, Solo, Springbank, Swampscott Dory, Tideway, Wanderer, Wayfarer, or a Weekender? They have all been discussed, good points and bad, with Ness Yawls, Mirrors and Wayfarers getting most attention.

Not only do they discuss particular types, they also devote attention to boats in general, the selection of boats, the benefits of canoes and kayaks, compromise boats for rowing and sailing, the virtues and vices of traditional and historical boats, and boats that can be carried. Have you ever thought of cruising on a sailboard, one member has even done that!

We rapidly find that English is not as precise as we thought. Considerable discussion ensued on the definition of ‘punt’ and ‘sharpie’ and we found the terms mean different things in the UK and the US and that in Germany sharpie means something else again.

What about general topics? Would you like to modify your centreboard? There were 12 contributions on centreboard modifications and a similar number on hull topics (stability, buoyancy, auto bailers, and false floors. Sails, boom tents, tools and safety gear each generated similar numbers of messages. Considerable attention was given to masts, materials, safety gear, and a remarkable 3.6% of messages were on oils and varnishes!

As one would expect there was a little lavatory humour on heads, as well as a few people trying to be risqué while discussing some nautical terms. One can see national traits in humour, bodily functions and the Goons on one side of the pond and Clinton on the other. The UK seems to foster philosophical ruminations, the US encourages the practical. In the UK launching fees were a cause for concern but apparently are not a problem in the USA, Canada or Australia.

Any good logs? It was fascinating to find that we are not good at writing about cruises. I classed only 1.4% of messages as descriptions of cruising in both poetry and prose. With a membership scattered across the globe it is obvious that courses, buoys, and landmarks near Stradbroke Island (Queensland) will be of little interest, but there must be a way. Some members put excellent colour photos into the shared space (called Files in openboat). If they were accompanied by sketch maps and some generalised story they would get everyone in. Perhaps all dinghy cruisers (real and cyber-) should develop more ways of describing our small scale pleasures, the joy of pottering in shallow water away from the madding crowd, the awe in watching native fauna from silent sailboats, or the majesty of cloudless starry skies arching above a campfire. These, coupled with the adrenaline rushes from dashing across busy waterways or coping with difficult tide, wind or weather, are what make dinghy cruising stories live. If more of us cannot express it then it is no wonder that there are so few books on dinghy cruising or novels based on it. As a consequence very few people ever discover its joys.

How do I join? To join you need access to a computer connected to the internet. It can be at the local library, a cyber café, a school, work or home. Next you need an e-mail account. These can be acquired from free sites like hotmail.com, freeserve.co.uk, or free-online.co.uk. Once you are on e-mail then point your internet browser to http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/openboat. Once you get to onelist.com registering is free and easy. DCA members can just hit the openboat button on the DCA home page.

Welcome aboard; it’s nice to meet you here in the Bulletin and in cyber-space.