# So what do we do here?



## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

I curious...who are the members from L&A here? I'm just wondering what the JV is supposed to be about. They seem like a fun crowd, and definitely know how to throw a party.

So how do we crank this thing up? I can start spinning some Jimmy Cliff if that will get some people out on the floor.


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## irwin325cc (Feb 11, 2009)

Hey Smackdaddy,

I have thought the same thing as I do enjoy the Mag. but why is there a section for L & A or Seafairing Magizine as it goes by now days. 

Maybe if the good ole' Bob *****'in would make a drop in it would take off. I have dropped in a few times to see what was go'in on in there and have yet to find anything.

SD i'm also a TX sailor. Hope to see ya on the water.


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## CalebD (Jan 11, 2008)

I was wondering the same thing as all I hear on this forum is chricketes. JV = Junior Varsity and SD = sailing daily? I don't know what to think.
Ole Bob *****'in could drop in and I wouldn't even know if he did. 
Good on ya' ole Bob.
Crickets...
Yawn.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Alright - we're all confused. So...

*Dear Mr. Bitchin',

We would like to formally request a brief audience. We think this JV is a cool idea, but so far it's been like a Junior High dance where we're all sitting around the dance floor, drinking flat punch, adjusting our bowties, and looking longingly at the ladies as "I Can't Fight This Feelin' Anymore" blares over the PA.

Let's get this party started, dude!

Sincerely,

The above three SN members.*


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Wow - completely stiff-armed by Bob? Ouch.

Maybe this week.


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## irwin325cc (Feb 11, 2009)

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ........................ I was asleep. I,ve been sitting waiting for Bobs reply. Oh no, he could have tryed to post exactly when we did and not gone through. 
If so Bob try another time and we will sit patiently waiting.
Kewl.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Good point Irwin. We should stop posting so his will come through.

Okay - I'll stop posting.......now!

(Go ahead Bob)


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Ahmm....Bob?

Take it Bob!


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## MtnMike (Mar 5, 2007)

Hey, I should keep up on things here. I talked to him at the St. Pete FL boat show a few times. If I had known I could have told him he was being haled. Talked to him at the "Cruisers Party" but he might not have thought I was serious cause I might have dranks a bit.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

If you were completely hammered at a "Crusiers Party" you were definitely legit.

You didn't do anything weird like hug him and mumble "I love you, man" did you?


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## MtnMike (Mar 5, 2007)

uhhh, I don't think so. Haven't seen the pictures yet.:laugher


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## ROSA (Oct 22, 2009)

Smack, Jimmy Cliff might just work. Surely BB will remember. Great Reggae!


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## catamariner (Mar 3, 2010)

I'd like to put in a request for some old Soca, like Byron Lee and the Dragonnaires... ouch!

~Dancing boat girl

:thewave: (couldn't find actual dancing going on with those Smilies, this'll have to do)


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

hey cata - welcome to SN sista! Nice line dance.


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## LandLocked66c (Dec 5, 2009)

I don't know what you guys are talking about? What is Lats and Atts? Was it an old forum or another site? curious...


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

L&A is a cruising magazine. It had/has some kind of forum...but I think it was a pay thing.

As for what this partnership is supposed to be, your guess is as good as ours. It seems like a good idea. Those dudes know how to party.

But it's been very quiet around here. Too quiet. And that's not like Bob Bitchin' from what I understand.


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## LandLocked66c (Dec 5, 2009)

smackdaddy said:


> L&A is a cruising magazine. It had/has some kind of forum...but I think it was a pay thing.
> 
> As for what this partnership is supposed to be, your guess is as good as ours. It seems like a good idea. Those dudes know how to party.
> 
> But it's been very quiet around here. Too quiet. And that's not like Bob Bitchin' from what I understand.


Ah, looks like a cool magazine! You're right, Bob doesn't look like a wall flower at all! :laugher


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## Stillraining (Jan 11, 2008)

Celebrities...what did ya expect?.....real people?


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## Knotaclu (Jan 2, 2010)

I'm having a hard time believng this Bob Bitchin' entity exists. I can see ghosts on several TV programs, but Bob Bitchin' - not so much.


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## SW329xl (Mar 25, 2010)

Knotaclu said:


> I'm having a hard time believng this Bob Bitchin' entity exists. I can see ghosts on several TV programs, but Bob Bitchin' - not so much.


He is definitely a real guy. I met him at a boat show once. Guy is huge, no wonder he had a boat that big.


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## Capttman (Mar 4, 2010)

oh wow


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

You said it Cap. That sums it up...right there.


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## catamariner (Mar 3, 2010)

*Still waiting...*



smackdaddy said:


> hey cata - welcome to SN sista! Nice line dance.


Thx SD, been lurking a little while. We have been closing on this boat for more than a month now, feels like forever. I'll start posting something of greater interest once we actually own it for sure... sigh 

Did Lats&Atts become like so many mags before it, too successful and then more&more glossy and high-endy? And what's with the sort-of name change?

My husband says he wanted to buy a recent issue for plane reading but didn't want to be seen on base with something that had that kind of cover photo  Guess some things haven't changed!

====

Update: July 28, we closed JULY 28!!! Whew that took a while. So maybe in the same manana spirit, Lats & Atts will show up here and do something fun ... some day


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## LakePirate (May 10, 2008)

Seafaring was added to the name due to magazine stands and book stores were placing it in the travel sections instead of boating.
It's been part of their history to have a pic of a woman on a boat on the cover. I think there has only been a few with out. 
I'm currently reading one of Bob Bitchins books, Letters from the Lost Soul. He has a funny way telling stories. Some of the stories aren't that good but he tells them well.


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## SW329xl (Mar 25, 2010)

LakePirate said:


> Seafaring was added to the name due to magazine stands and book stores were placing it in the travel sections instead of boating.
> It's been part of their history to have a pic of a woman on a boat on the cover. I think there has only been a few with out.
> I'm currently reading one of Bob Bitchins books, Letters from the Lost Soul. He has a funny way telling stories. Some of the stories aren't that good but he tells them well.


Bob started out in the publishing industry with biker mags. Most of those mags have women posing on top of bikes for their covers as well. You wouldn't expect a biker turned cruiser to put out something like Cruising World, right?


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## flysci (Apr 10, 2008)

Hi, mostly lurker here.

Since L&A is a west coast mag, how 'bout if this thread is used for discussing uniquely west coast resources, problems, destinations and races?

Just a thought.

Margo


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## SimonV (Jul 6, 2006)

Has it started yet, its going to be big.!!


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Dude, I went over there and said hello. The place is a freakin' graveyard.

I love the L&A attitude, personally. But jeez, if that's party cruising, I'm moving into a convent.


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## CalebD (Jan 11, 2008)

SD Dude,
I thought you were in a convent already? Or was that contempt or incontinent?
All seriousness aside this reminds me of a funny scene from one of the Airplane movies where there is a shot of a Nun on the airplane in uniform reading a copy of 'Boys Life' (glossy photo cover) and right next to her is reading a copy of the magazine 'Nun's Life' (also with a glossy photo cover).

The L&A website occasionally has some interesting articles but I have not checked out if they have a forum or not. Maybe they did not like Smack or maybe it is more like a graveyard as the Smackster alludes. I could also be confusing them with 'Lattitude 38' (?) from SF Bay area.
Latitude 38 - The West's Leading Sailing and Marine Magazine

This thread sure needs a lot of Tabasco sauce to bring it up to worth reading.


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## txbigfoot (Sep 14, 2010)

nurse


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## w1651 (May 2, 2010)

smackdaddy said:


> Dude, I went over there and said hello. The place is a freakin' graveyard.
> 
> I love the L&A attitude, personally. But jeez, if that's party cruising, I'm moving into a convent.


Maybe their sleeping it off...:laugher


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## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

the latsand atts magazine is good. the forum is lame and cliquish. this forum and cf seem to be the good ones, and sbo. jmho. btdt.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Zee - I'm with you. This SN/LA hookup had some promise. I mean the LA people know how to make sailing appealing to the average schmo. Just look at the pics!!!! And SN had a bit of a stick up the old rumpus in the old days. It needed an injection of cool (and I can't carry the load by myself). So CD was on the right track.

But, hell! Where is the LA chutzpah? Where is the "let's fill the dinghy with breasts and see what happens" kind of attitude toward plying the oceans blue? Bob B must be pullin' a Hefner and living in an iron lung!!!

I'm very disappointed in this so-called "partnership". It had so much potential. But the LA people dropped the ball.

If you are a LA _persona grata_ - grow a pair and step up and inject some fun into the world of sailing. Otherwise, you're nothing more than a subscriber.


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## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

smackdaddy said:


> Zee - I'm with you. This SN/LA hookup had some promise. I mean the LA people know how to make sailing appealing to the average schmo. Just look at the pics!!!! And SN had a bit of a stick up the old rumpus in the old days. It needed an injection of cool (and I can't carry the load by myself). So CD was on the right track.
> 
> But, hell! Where is the LA chutzpah? Where is the "let's fill the dinghy with breasts and see what happens" kind of attitude toward plying the oceans blue? Bob B must be pullin' a Hefner and living in an iron lung!!!
> 
> ...


hay smack!-was wonderin' whenye was gonna come out and say something---- i am glad to know i am not the only one not infatuated.


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## badsanta (Oct 16, 2006)

It looks as if LA puts as much interest in this joint effort as there own site. I do love the rag but their Internet effort is showing. What a missed opportunity.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

You know, it's the problem that all "old media" faces. How do you make it work digitally? You don't just port the magazine over. Even Rupert Murdoch gets that - and he's 128 years old.

They tried with their "TV Series" - but that sucked....just as bad as OTWA over at SA. And they tried with the radio - and that _really_ sucked.

They had the "edge" - they just had no direction on the digital translation of that edge and how to monetize it. I thought maybe the partnership with SN was a first step toward that.

Oh well, no HuffPo payoff for LA any time soon.


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## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

latsandatts forum was decent before i was turned over to non cruisers to manage . has become the most cliquish site i have seen on internets other than 300zx.com..... not so much fun-- too many nonsailors in the mix. if you are not a friend of one of the moderators, you dont be there. i was kicked out for calling that moderator's wife inappropriate. she was. very much so.


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## badsanta (Oct 16, 2006)

Bob and his crew are so nice and personable, I do wish them the best. I had assumed they would at least try to drum up some subscriptions. I really enjoyed the first few years of the TV show that I saw on DVD and agree with you about the rest. But it would not take much info or encouragement here to really roll. Come on LA where is the joint effort. I was a member in the LA cruisers club, but got nothing for the money except a nice membership card. I have sense put the money in the cruising kitty. But I was really hoping to be reinvigorated about this.


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## badsanta (Oct 16, 2006)

well life moves on and they may be kicking back and enjoying life. A lot of things change for the worse when the original people step back from operations. The passing of the reins are never easy. If that be the case. But I remember the days that I read the mag cover to cover and dreamed. Now I have the boat and still dream and I guess I will move on. But I still hope. Come on Latts & Atts, this is your link and here are 4 pages of hope, Do something, check your mail! and answer it, please


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

zeehag said:


> latsandatts forum was decent before i was turned over to non cruisers to manage . has become the most cliquish site i have seen on internets other than 300zx.com..... not so much fun-- too many nonsailors in the mix. if you are not a friend of one of the moderators, you dont be there. i was kicked out for calling that moderator's wife inappropriate. she was. very much so.


Yeah - there's another forum that comes to mind that has always been seriously cliquish, lame and hypocritical at almost every level. But I won't go there. Different strokes for different blokes.

I actually logged on over on the L&A forum for the first time in months and saw where Bob was trying to drum up new subscriptions through a "Refer a Friend" program that gives you a store coupon for each referral. He mentioned that subscriptions had fallen off 20% over the past year - and that they needed to get the numbers up to cover printing.

See? That's the problem. He's still focused on printing. Time for a digital approach dude!


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## chall03 (Oct 14, 2002)

Hmm subtle Smack. What forum could you possible be referring to??

Hey Look I agree with all of the above posts. There is two sides to this partnership however, lets admit that as a 'digital medium' Sailnet is somewhat of a dysfunctional family with its only issues.

I hate to say it but the best part of this site was it's heyday and things like the articles........the range of contributors..........and the most recent one of them was like what 9 years ago???? This site is like Grandma and Grandpa's house.......yeah there may be some kids running around down here in the basement having some fun, but guys the house hasn't had a lick of paint in a decade, grandma smells real bad and can't make it down the stairs much anymore and the garage is full of old crap from the good old days.

CD is a visionary, this is one venture in which he tried, as he contiues to try to inject life here, however he is only one guy. If we all, and also the owner of this site won't also inject some life then we may well have something to learn from latts and atts.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

chall03 said:


> Hmm subtle Smack. What forum could you possible be referring to??


Heh-heh. Hey "if the tiller cover fits...". No, I won't name names, but I will say that they've come a long way over the past year or so from what I've heard. I hear they're really nice to newbs now, patient with questions they think are ridiculous, and even go out of their way to greet newcomers. All stuff they used to complain about. So what's not to love? I'm just glad I could be a critical part of their seeing the light. Doing good where ever I go. That's my thing.

Now, back to the dinghy full of boobs...and definitely NOT your stinky grandmother's.

My take is that what's missing here are good, frequent articles and other content. The crap in the garage is gold - but it's old. Combining a thriving forum (like Sailnet) with REALLY GOOD, FREQUENT stories/articles some of which are technical, some of which are fun, some of which are about people out there doing it, and some of which are just salacious and fleshy, is what works. You essentially become the HuffPo and/or Newser of sailing with a combination of great stories pulled from across the media world, stories created by users, a few stories created by the editors, etc.

SA almost has it right - but they can't seem to get past the bitter nature that's part of their DNA. And that gets old after a while. Although they too are getting better.

Truth be told, the LA model (based on the biker mag thing) is pretty worn out - but I'd much rather read/look/watch stuff about scantly clad chicks having fun in the Caribbean, mixed with hard-core sailing chicks like Jeanne Socrates, mixed with casual cruisers like Zanshin who tell a good story and take a great pic, mixed with boat reviews by actual owners, etc. - than bounce around to a million sites to get all that, or go to a store and actually buy a wad of paper.

It's doable.


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## kr3728 (Jul 19, 2011)

Anyone want to clue a newbie in as to where I should look for longer-range planning. Trying to get 2 berths (me, wife) for when we return to UK from Afghanistan.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Crew Wanted - SailNet Community

(looks like you already found it)

Welcome to SN dude.


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## HDChopper (Oct 17, 2010)

NOOoooooo not stanky granny o,0,,,...,,, Just need a lil l33t sall a place n33ds 
At least SN got the ball and playen !

I lurked everywhere for a while but only signed up here , if I'm avg then it a trend lol

I saw no action at Latts & Atts and allways thought it was a corner stone ?( heard of them for years ) 

Smacky theres something bout using the words "Dink" & "Boobs" in the same sentence ....


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

I just got an email from Bob passing the hat (literally) for his new venture: CRUISING OUTPOST. $250 bucks gets you a 5 year subscription and the hat:



> We know, money doesn't grow on trees, but the sooner we raise the cost of printing the sooner we can start the print version.


Print? Again? Oh well, I wish him luck.


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## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

email from bob passsing hat i believe went to everyone on mailing list. lotta dough considering glossy rags dont come into my boat--i opted out. wasnt impressed with the quality of the forum staff either, so --nogo.


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## Mark S. (Jul 11, 2011)

Wishing Bob the best of luck in down times. You've lived a life so many only dream of, yet so few can process. You've touched heros and mix with all. I hope to see you cruising out there soon!


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