Proposal for a Seagull Owners Association

[John@sos]

Hello folks, I have let this and the Seagull breeding entry run to see what the reaction would be.

I belong to the Morris Minor club. The biggest in the UK. As Morris Minors are no longer made and there is no parent company, a group of 10,000 enthusuiasts have all put money into an organisation, a sizable amount of money per year, and from that the club sorts out the remanufacure of parts and sell them back to members. Many firms also make parts because there is a market.

Seagull is not like that. British Seagull lives and exists in Jackie at Sheridan Marine. They own the name, they paid a lot of money for it..... they have the parts made. I and other sell them on their behalf. No club could come along and make parts that they make and sell them. OK some things they no longer sell or make, thats' where I and the likes of charles UK come in. As enthusiasts we see if we can get alternatives made.

I and other spent 2 years or more getting a transfer for the 102 correct, paying for all the artwork and production. I have sold 6!

Sorry if you have any thoughts of getting £20.00 out of 1,000 members of this Forum to be able to do a similar thing and you are in cloud cukcoo land.

For those who think this is a multimillion pound enterprise read the 'about me' page. Though busy 32 hours aday, as my Darian tells me, it just pays for my mooring fee. I do it because I like it and I meet nice people.

I told Mark to test the water, so far an owners association would maybe have 20 members. What you going to have made then?

We do this for fun, so let it be fun, not political!

Happy Seagulling to all who use them
John

[Buzzook]

Sadly, John, I think you may be right. Well, you did warn me!! LOL!!

Although it is interesting that the numbers in the poll of those 'more' in favour are a dead heat with those 'more' against!

Seems to me that if there is that much division in the ranks, it isn't worth the effort.

But I still think the 'registrar database' question could do with some more thought, and perhaps you might like to instigate that discussion?

[Charles uk]

Mark the other Charles & I have an agreement that we will not travel in the same vehicle, so that the Ninja assassination squads from the dark side will find a similtainious strike on us, logistically more complex, it's worked well so far!

With regard to our knowledge base we have both gone in different directions,
Charlesp because of his location & interests started researching the history of British Seagull & after several years, numerous interviews, many purchases & much work felt it might well be possible to publish a History of Seagull, but this is still work in progress & knowing Charles like I do, there is no way he's going to publish a half finished history, so you will just have to wait until he decides that's it.

Whereas my area of interest is Seagull racing, & when your restricted to using Seagull parts only, you have to know what parts every model of seagull contains, in case there is an advantage in using a 1949 conrod as it's 10% stronger.
I think I've owned, stripped, worked on, studied or restored every model produced from 1932 to 1994. I too have spoken to many of the developers/designers, production managers over the last 10 years to glean as much technical info as possible, so that my race motors are possibly faster than the rest.

There is no way I'm going to give out recipes on how to make your Century suitable for water skiing as the result would just be 6 identical Seagulls.

What we do need, is "An Idiots Guide to British Seagulls" a flyer that could be downloaded & printed & explain to the guy who finds his grandad's Seagull in the garage, exactly what he has to do to get it running again.

Every week we get several people who need this info, this might work well as bait to attract members to your owners association.

[Buzzook]

Charles uk - now there's a b*****y good idea!

You know I offered to help CharlesP with his book, and maybe I trod on his toes in my enthusiasm to offer assistance - but I am a qualified writer and journalist, and I do have serious skills in layout design software - I have the latest Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and QuarkXpress on my PC, so I am well qualified to assist, but alas, I am a mechanical ignoramous, and know NOTHING about the innards of Seagulls.

So if a bunch of people can contribute the words, pics, diagrams - whatever - I could certainly 'polish it up', lay it up nicely and 'professionally' - and John could sell it!

(Either in print form or as a Download or both).

Best of all, my services would be free!

There is literally a 'mine' of information out there among the owners - and we could certainly get pics of every single motor and part without too much trouble - and as it's not something Seagull have ever done, it would not upset Jackie.

Ball's in your court, mate!

[John@sos]

Hello Mark,

All my information is offered for free, that's how this site has done so well, knowing I share freely, many have volenteered information, so if you end up with a document worthy of publication, I will do so willingly on the site and it would be in your name....

worth a thought.

good luck.

John

[Buzzook]

John
Couldn't care less whether it has my name on it or not - provided it's well written, well produced, and provides useful information.

But, like I said, I don't have 'the knowledge' so would not be able to do much more than edit, layout and production.

We'll see whether Charles L comes back with any response.....

[charlesp]

After 32 years working in IT I am happy that my competence with the products you mention will stand scrutiny. No the small number of records regarding Marston and SD motors is not written in Cuneiform or Kanji, yes it resides on my PC, and my MacBook and in fact my iPod Touch as well, and yes if I felt like it I could probably shift it anywhere I like.

But it still only contains serial numbers and their matching magneto numbers. It doesn't have whether a motor is running, what sort of carburettor it has, whether it's painted green or anything else. I have published here more than once the statistics - how many of what sort exist - and that sort of thing.

And that's it.

I shall treat with silent contempt suggestions that I may have abused my position here to gather data. My research has been honest, diligent, and my own work. You simply have no right to insist that I share it. And I will not.

[Horsley-Anarak]

I shall treat with silent contempt suggestions that I may have abused my position here to gather data. My research has been honest, diligent, and my own work. You simply have no right to insist that I share it. And I will not.

I agree, Magneto numbers must have limited interest globally.

On a serious note, please don't let this forum reduce itself to petty bickering.

In my limited time of posting I have tried to share experiences and processes, and have tried to raise an occasional smile.

The general tone over the last couple of days has left a bad taste.

From what ever continent the post come Seagulling should be fun, not agro.

Just polish them and use them. Take your pent up aggression out on the corroded bits that won't budge.

Then when the corroded bits break gain solace from the other people on the forum.

People are easily put off by confrontational posts, and it would be a great shame if the remaining users have to be thick skinned to continue using this forum.


H-A

[Rex NZ]

All

Have to agree with H-A

Too much political noise here. The seeds of destruction

I think the focus need to shift back to basics. Having fun. Enjoying some boating on nice rivers & lakes. Getting kids off the couch. Sharing some knowledge & experience. Learn some new skills.

I like the idea of CharlesUK for a 'Dummies Guide', because we all need to a basic level of understanding from which we can then build upon. Having said that, the SOS site is really comprehensive.

Rex

[Charles uk]

But it's difficult to find Rex.

What we need is a few printable pages explaining

How to clean & set the points to the right gap,
Spark plug numbers & gap,
How to check & replace the HT lead,
How to clean the fuel system & check for the correct fuel mix,
How to remedy cooling water problems,
How to change the gear oil & refill with the right lube,
Torque settings where available,
Which motor to suit hull size.

All this information is on here it's just a matter of someone with the time locating it & editing it into a format where any new Seagull owner can understand & use it.

This is where I hoped you would take ownership of this Mark, Buzzook, if a tecky like me or HA did this we would make it too complicated for the first timer to be comfortable with it, & they're the people it's for,

[Hugz]

90% of the info is on FAQ's on the main site.

http://www.saving-old-seagulls.co.uk/faq/faq.htm

I think many ask basic question as their way of introducing themselves and I'm happy to answer from time to time as are most of us.

[Rex NZ]

CharlesUK

Hmmm. Yes, let's make it easy to understand

What about a series of 'cartoon sketches'. I've noticed Honda are using this method more often in their service specs

Each of us understand things differently. Some like wording, others like audios. I know I need a combination of mathematics & drawings. I find written word explanations difficult

However, the likes of Homer Simpson would probably still struggle with sketches. For him I'd suggest the use of hand puppets. LOL.

Rex

[Buzzook]

CharlesP - no offence intended or implied, but if you aren't going to publish the information, and share it with the world, what was the point of collecting it?
If, as I suspect, you're only 'witholding' until such times as your manuscript is completed, then yes, as a writer myself I completely understand your reluctance. And if as you say you're up to speed with publishing software..........do we dare ask how it's going????

And while I note your comment that "various bits have been published here before", in truth, they are not accessible to the average punter. There is no thread titled "Seagull stats". And maybe there should be? I'm only asking - politely - so go easy on the flame thrower...

I know I was looking for the weight of a particular one recently and couldn't find the figures anywhere......not for the specific one I was after, anyway - others were available in various places...and, no, I can't remember which one it was now....doh.

As to the "Seagulls for Dummies" guide, I guess having now opened my big mouth (so to speak), I'd better look at what can be done. But will definitely need help with the technical stuff......and photos....and maybe diagrams......

CharlesL I'll PM you..

[SAE140]

Just thought I'd poke my oar in ...

Being of a 'certain age' my thoughts sometimes dwell on what will happen to the ENORMOUS quantity of charts and navigational software I've accumulated over the years ... when I die. Morbid perhaps, but it's a reality check - after years of meticulous work (otherwise known as scrounging), will my executors simply bin the lot out of ignorance or expediency ?

So, to anyone out there who is collecting 'stuff' - whether this be data, parts, or Seagulls themselves ... do give some thought as to what will happen to your collection when you eventually snuff it. And you will, one day - no-one's exempt ... afaik

"Idjut's Guide to Seagulls" - what a brilliant idea. A quid for every time I've heard someone say that they've found a Seagull in the basement, or just inherited one from late Uncle Harry, and would like to get the thing going after 20 years of collecting cobwebs. I know that all the information is out there (or rather 'in here'), but imho what's needed is some kind of broad sheet outlining just the basics to check for - could be in cartoon form or serious - could be a .PDF file, or even a graphic similar to :

which I've reduced from 1 Mb in order to upload it here.

Something along the lines of "So you've just acquired a Seagull ..." which the novice can then use to get a head's start. Something which any site related to Seagulls, small boats or vintage machinery can then host on page one, or in their FAQs.

[Keith.P]

This is only my point of view, but technical data on seagulls would only be useful to a small amount of users and not to the first time user/buyer.
Most of the time you get someone new with their first Seagull restoration job, do they just want to sit and read fact pages, or ask questions on the forum, I do think it's the latter.

Most are over the moon that they have a Gull, ok you do end up answering the same question time after time and you will get that on most sites anyway.
Some people are not mechanically minded and it's sometimes hard work, but they want to talk about their new toy and that keeps the forum moving and that's how it should be.
You can revamp the fact pages, but over doing the data you will end up with a very dry forum and have to talk about Anzani's and Ausi outboards.
The amount of people that have come to the forum and don't even know about John's fact pages and that he even sells the parts, is a bit silly.