Site going to close.......

[oldie moldy]

Alright, if you've been sailing along in blissful ignorance, you might want to read the post about "Donations". It sounds very much as if Robin's had it with trying to keep the site up for all of us. I've tried to support the site and Robin all along and if he decides to pull the plug I still support his decision to do it. He could bring it down any time and would never owe us anything, if fact we can never re-pay him for all he's done for all of us.

Having been through a site closure (solo tripping), while this site is still up I'm going to try to get the e-mail address for some folks I'd like to keep in touch with. You might want to do the same.

Rob

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

It would be a real shame if the site were to close down, especially given the long and tortured history of it, and all the efforts put in by so many to make an interesting site.

For those who don't know, many of the members here were avid members of Solotripping.com before it got repeatedly hacked and was finally shut down by the owner, Harlan of Red Lake Outfitters. Willis Brown started this site as an alternative during one of the STC shutdowns. Then one morning Willis killed himself and his wife and left a cryptic message here saying so. A long and confused period ensued where the members sought to keep the site alive, and Robin finally stepped up to be the new administrator. He had to engage in all sorts of legal, financial and paperwork tedium to do so.

If this site closes down, it's not only all of Robin's efforts that will have been lost, but also all the efforts of those posters who have contributed words, wisdom, humor, photos, videos, DIY projects, and many trip reports. It's the loss of a community. It's finally the loss of all those threads containing all that accumulated information wisdom, just as all of STC's threads were lost.

I guess the "ideal" administrator would be someone who loves canoe tripping, has money to lose on a hobby, and has enough programming savvy to make all the technical updates and changes himself or herself without hiring an IT person. Not many people fit that bill, probably. Let's hope this site can struggle along somehow.

 

[Guest]

Somewhere off in the distance a kayaker is letting out a loud, malicious laugh barely to be heard over the splashing of his double bladed stick...

Nice account of the site history Glenn. Pretty sad actually. Had no idea about some of those tidbits.

This is a recurring topic that comes up far too often. That is transfer or close of this site... I've thought it over a couple times, but I'm afraid I'm about as IT savvy as the rest of you.

It's seems a bit unfair to Robin, he's been wrestling with this greasy pig for as long as I've been here... and it's never been easy. Luckily this site doesn't get too many trolling aholes - which I find a major plus. I'm not sure if that's from administration or just that most of those type of people prefer kayaks.

Maybe it would be better if the site was managed by a couple different people? Perhaps recruit some moderators; not that we need them but more or less people to help manage the site. There are a number of faithful contributors that might be up to that task.

 

[Guest]

I would be something approaching devastated to lose CanoeTripping. This is one of my tribes, one of my communities of common ground and the place where I go to read and ruminate among friends.

 

[DuctTape]

Having been here from the beginning, I would hate to see it disappear. However I respect the decisions people must make for themselves. Hopefully enough people will donate and/or it will be possible for someone (or a few) to administer the site at a loss.

I do have contact info for a few members here, but would surely miss the voices of the others whom I read regularly. I am DuctTape on quite a few forums so I should be easy to find.

 

[snapper]

I didn't realize things were that bad so when I saw OM's post yesterday I got onto PayPal and sent my donation. I'm sorry it took so long. Hopefully others will follow suit.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...Be well.

snapper

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Glad you waved the flag OM! I sometimes am absent for a while, but I'd really miss this place if it wasn't here when I get back!