SeriousOffshore.com RULES & GUIDELINES

Forum Rules and Guidelines

Be polite, be respectful. Treat fellow board members as you would your own friends, acquaintances or co-workers, and as if you’re in their presence.

If you’re new... Welcome to the group! But remember, this is a very close community. Many of the members of this board are also personal friends and acquaintances - in some cases for many years. Please take your time and ease into these circles with positive participation.

If you choose to disagree with someone in a thread, please do so factually and tactfully.

This is a PG forum focused towards the interests of adults. The forum is not intended to be child-friendly, but it is intended to be workplace-friendly. There are several segments where adult images and topics are permitted and they are clearly marked. Material of this sort outside of these uncensored areas is strictly forbidden. Do not post mean-spirited, badgering, threatening, racial, derogatory or defamatory content, in any form. Repeat offenders are not welcome on the board.

Members of special designation - We have special groups of members on this board. One of them is made up of notables and in some cases, legends. We call these people ICON. The other group is made up of known industry professionals. We call these people SO Tech Expert. They are recognizable by their designation in their profile or signature, found in each of their posts. These people are recognized for their knowledge and contribution to this sport. They are not required to earn anyone’s respect - they already have it. We are thankful to be graced with their participation and the knowledge (and sometimes the great stories) they’re willing to share. While rudeness is always frowned upon on this site, it absolutely will not be tolerated if directed at these people.

Moderation - This is a busy site with thousands of daily posts and it takes a lot of effort by the our staff of volunteers to keep things running smoothly. We have a very solid group of administrators and moderators, who are all dedicated VOLUNTEERS. They are donating their time to make this place run as well as it possibly can. Occasionally a thread or post will be edited or removed if deemed to be in violation of our rules or is patently against the spirit of our community - If this happens it’s probably because the topic had no place on this board and most likely because it was offensive, attacking, threatening, a potentially-damaging rumor, slanderous, or something along those lines. This group will make every effort to inform the poster if and when some moderator action was required, but please understand that it is not always practical. PLEASE DO NOT post repeat threads asking why something was removed or edited; in most instances it should be obvious. The work of admins/moderators is challenging enough. If you have any questions, disagreements or constructive criticism of moderation or the site please use the private messages or the "contact us" link at the bottom.

Group Moderation - All members, and especially founders and Charter members, are all afforded the right and responsibility to point out inappropriate activity in any forum. If you notice activity contrary to the site rules or the spirit of our community standards, feel free to make a friendly suggestion to the poster to remove or modify the offending post or material. Every post had a report feature, please use this if you need to notify our moderation team of an offending post or thread. If we as a group keep our own house clean, the moderators can focus their efforts towards helping members and making this a better place for all.


The Showroom

This section is dedicated to our valued commercial Sponsors and Advertisers such that they may share with us their latest deals, sales and new product offerings. The section is available to Sponsors only for new threads, but everyone is welcome to interact with questions and comments in subsequent posts.


Swap Shop

This section is intended to be a convenient clearing house for your unwanted or unused small-ticket items that you're looking to get rid of.

This section is open to Individual, private sellers only.

The maximum value of any single item or the total value of all items in a post is $500.00.
You must post a price and a contact method. If you don’t know what your item is worth, ask someone or auction it on Ebay. No price ads will be deleted.

Photos are strongly recommended. You’ll be asked for them anyway so do it in advance.

TTT’s or bumps no more than once a week.

No unnecessary posts and comments - these are not discussion threads. If you have a valid question, ask it. Don't post benign comments like “that's cool” or “wish I had the money,” etc....Unless you want to buy the item there’s nothing to add. Comments like “that’s a ripoff” or “the seller’s a tool” are strictly forbidden.

NO POACHING. If you have a similar item, please start your own thread.

If you have large-ticket items (over $500.00) like boats, engines, drives, exhaust, cars, etc., please visit our formal Classifieds.


Forum For-Sale Listings

The discussion forums are not the appropriate place to sell your items or services. Threads containing any for-sale advertisements not in the appropriate sections will be removed.

Items or services that you have for sale or offer, but do not fit into one of the above categories (swap, showroom) must be placed in the Classifieds.

Value discussions are permitted, however if we find it turning into a for-sale thread, the discussion will be removed.

New threads pointing to a boat for sale in the classifieds section are permissible in the brand forums. Links only to OUR classifieds. One pic. No laundry lists. A brief narrative on the sale is OK- something like a story about moving up/out/whatever. Discussion, commentary and Q&A related to an existing classified ad are permissible, but you must have a classified ad.


Your Member Profile

Your avatar and your signature are intended to be a place to creatively and uniquely identify yourself. Please refrain from posting offensive images, slogans or objectionable material.

Signatures and Avatars are not meant to be used for commercial purposes. The only exception to this rule applies to those who have chosen to become Patron level members.