From the Archives: Scuttlebutt 1000

As Scuttlebutt approaches the publication of its 5000th newsletter, here’s a flashback from Scuttlebutt 1000 on February 5, 2002:

As near as I can tell, ‘Butt #1 went out to some 40 of my Southern California sailing friends on September 27, 1997. In those days ‘Butt was not a daily – it came out ‘whenever.’ And when I went to Catalina Island for a couple of days, it stopped until I got back.

The topics we covered were certainly less global than the subjects we deal with today, and there were few restrictions on anything. Rumors, lies and gossip were all a part of ‘Butt’s regular makeup – sort of a Southern California racing free-for-all.

However, as Scuttlebutt grew and the distribution spread geographically, it seemed appropriate to take a more responsible role. These days we let others do the mudslinging as we try to constructively use this medium to help improve the sport and provide a communications channel to enhance the enjoyment of the players.

As most readers probably know, Scuttlebutt began as a hobby . . . and it’s still just a hobby. Happily, boats.com came along at exactly the right time to free me from the growing administrative chores so I could focus on content. Without their help and technical expertise, and without the excellent pinch-hitting I get from David McCreary when I’m ‘outta here,’ I’m sure I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago.

Let me thank all of you who have supported this effort and endured the typos and hurried editing. Although ‘Butt now takes up far more time than I’d prefer, it’s still fun. And as long as it stays fun, I’ll probably keep on doing it. – Tom Leweck.