Paul Rainbow

[Buck Turgidson]

I didn't even notice the link to his business until today. He's a first class asset to this site and I've only every seen advice and free sharing of knowledge. Never once thought he was touting.

Keep up the great contributions Paul!

 

[Caladh]

There some great people on here given there knowledge for free.
But there one guy I like to mention,
over the years Paul have alway found time to help me went I've got into a muddle with electrics ,
His advise as always been spot on , his knowledge his in his head and not from Google.
Once again today Paul had time to work out a electronic problem ,
what taken all day for me to try and fix ,
one phone and within mins Paul had the wiring sorted .
If anyone is in and Round the Suffolk area and need professional work done ,
this is the guy to call he really know his stuff and is reliable.
Again Paul , I cant thank you enough .

Excellent post Vic - and yes thank you Paul !

 

[PaulRainbow]

He should be cannonised. (sic) Erect a statue? Have a saints day? A flag day? What about all the other helpful folk on here?

Plenty of those. A few people in the trade, lots of knowledgeable amateurs and hundreds of fellow boat owners who all freely share their knowledge, that's what makes the forum the valuable resource that it is.

 

[Irish Rover]

Might I throw a bucket of cold water on all of this.

If I called myself LewmarMagic or NorthSpeed and constantly posted and referred to items in my portfolio and underpinned my comment, to show my knowledge, with references to regattas won or races round the world completed - you might rightly complain.

Of course Paul is an expert he runs a company called Rainbow Marine - which I assume has a strength in marine electrical systems. What better form of marketing than delivering my knowledge on a UK based forum (where a number of members are local).

How about I buy a share in Knox Anchors and instead of posting as Neeves I called myself 'Jon of Knox' - but provided the self same posts I do now. I'd have the word Knox repeated once, twice a day - I wonder how Google would rate that.....???

Mull it over.

I respect the knowledge, I respect the advice freely given - it might be deemed - very generous or excellent marketing.

Many people give their advise freely (and if they are in the industry - it is not obvious). Many give their advise freely and certainly are not in the industry

But will you be so accepting of Lewmar Magic or Jon of Knox, or Beverly Bav........where are you going to draw the line.

No - I'm not going to duck behind the parapet. I'll take the flak

Jonathan

It's a pity to see this form of begrudgery on the forum and, all the more so, from a poster who is otherwise a valuable contributor.

 

[Elessar]

Might I throw a bucket of cold water on all of this.

If I called myself LewmarMagic or NorthSpeed and constantly posted and referred to items in my portfolio and underpinned my comment, to show my knowledge, with references to regattas won or races round the world completed - you might rightly complain.

Of course Paul is an expert he runs a company called Rainbow Marine - which I assume has a strength in marine electrical systems. What better form of marketing than delivering my knowledge on a UK based forum (where a number of members are local).

How about I buy a share in Knox Anchors and instead of posting as Neeves I called myself 'Jon of Knox' - but provided the self same posts I do now. I'd have the word Knox repeated once, twice a day - I wonder how Google would rate that.....???

Mull it over.

I respect the knowledge, I respect the advice freely given - it might be deemed - very generous or excellent marketing.

Many people give their advise freely (and if they are in the industry - it is not obvious). Many give their advise freely and certainly are not in the industry

But will you be so accepting of Lewmar Magic or Jon of Knox, or Beverly Bav........where are you going to draw the line.

No - I'm not going to duck behind the parapet. I'll take the flak

Jonathan

He’s quite entitled under the forum rules to link to his business in his signature. He doesn’t.

Coppercoat post as Coppercoat. Other businesses post. There is nothing wrong with that. Indeed surely the transparency is better.

If you are banging on about using a bath plug chain to anchor your boat and you sell bath plug chains probably it is better that is clear?

Call yourself whatever you like. I think people value and enjoy Paul’s posts so a name change may not necessarily work for everyone……….

 

[C08]

That's one view.

We had the same sort of criticism of Simon Keeling and @Javelin, and their departure has made it a poorer place. Among others @Halcyon Yachts has had much the same but happily is still entertaining us. Moderators probably recognise that they're never likely to advertise here - or do much damage to those who do and so (rightly) condone it.

If I were running the place I'd welcome LewmarMagic and NorthSpeed if they stuck to repair or tuning tips. BeverlyBav, maybe, I'd have to see pictures; Jon of Knox wouldn't want to join - there'd be no anchoring threads.

I did not realise Javlin had departed as I found his features as a boat builder very informative, a pity we do not have this terrific resource now.. Similarly PaulRainbow has an informed view on electrical matters, similarly valuable to us all.
Boat enthusiast who are also in the industry clearly have a difficulty; do they keep quiet and become totally passive or risk being accused of promoting their business. I think some of those mentioned have it about right, Volvo Paul, PaulRainbow and Javlin. If they get a bit of business via the forum from personal recommendations or by being seen to be knowledgable and competent then that can only be a good thing as there are too many "tradesmen "around who lack competence, diligence and financial scruples.
Neeves comment is a valid point of view in this time of media influencers but as long as there is transparency there is not really a problem on here.

 

[sailaboutvic]

It's only when someone passed away do we recognise their contbution to us all on this forum .
It's the one time we all stand together, at which point it too late the guy will never know .

So I'm happy Paul is still with us and( for many many many more years to come ) that we recognise the time and knowledge he shares with us.
Offcause most of us share are knowledge here to help other ,

Jonathan is known for his anchoring thread and when I had my accident not long ago nearly losing a eye when a snubber snap in a heck of a storm,
it was him direct i ask regarding making my next snubber better.
I didn't want conflicting info from people who just Google stuff, I can do that my self .
I also didn't want to read posting against snubbers from weekend sailors.

So when I needed 100:% info on how I needed to wire some thing that if wired incorrectly could damage the 3K equipment I just fitted ,
a phone call to Paul was all that's needed ,
Paul knows I'm I full time long distance cruiser and the likelihood he ever going to get a paid job out of me is very low but he still find time to talk to me and give his knowledge for free in private,
If Paul gets any business from his posting here good luck to him and no one should regrudge him that or anyone else who may have a business connected to boats who contributed to these forum with free information to help others .

Without us sharing info there be no forum, no fourm no revenue from advertising and Times need to remember that .

Although as I said Paul many not get any business from me , I have over there years recommend friend who still have their boats in Shotley and SYH to him and I will continue to do so .

 

[Wansworth]

Advice from recognized proffesional can only add support to the advice given

 

[Mister E]

I knew Paul was in the boat electric trade. But it didn't know the name of the company until this thread.
So not such a good advert for his company before.

 

[pvb]

Might I throw a bucket of cold water on all of this.

If I called myself LewmarMagic or NorthSpeed and constantly posted and referred to items in my portfolio and underpinned my comment, to show my knowledge, with references to regattas won or races round the world completed - you might rightly complain.

Of course Paul is an expert he runs a company called Rainbow Marine - which I assume has a strength in marine electrical systems. What better form of marketing than delivering my knowledge on a UK based forum (where a number of members are local).

How about I buy a share in Knox Anchors and instead of posting as Neeves I called myself 'Jon of Knox' - but provided the self same posts I do now. I'd have the word Knox repeated once, twice a day - I wonder how Google would rate that.....???

Mull it over.

I respect the knowledge, I respect the advice freely given - it might be deemed - very generous or excellent marketing.

Many people give their advise freely (and if they are in the industry - it is not obvious). Many give their advise freely and certainly are not in the industry

But will you be so accepting of Lewmar Magic or Jon of Knox, or Beverly Bav........where are you going to draw the line.

No - I'm not going to duck behind the parapet. I'll take the flak

Jonathan

A predictably sour reply from a friend of Roger Shaw, who fell out with PaulRainbow and left the forum in a huff.

 

[PCUK]

Plenty of those. A few people in the trade, lots of knowledgeable amateurs and hundreds of fellow boat owners who all freely share their knowledge, that's what makes the forum the valuable resource that it is.

They love you man!

 

[Kelpie]

Can I add Ian from Nestaway boats to the list? Very open about his business and conducts himself professionally, offering sound advice without stepping over the line.

Also Vyv Cox who had never been less than exceptionally helpful to me either by email or on the forum.

Contrast with a certain Mr Smith who used to inhabit this forum, and who would have you believe that if you used a product other than his, you would surely lose your boat if not your life. I actually bought his product, twice, but this was despite him, not because of him.

 

[dolabriform]

Another massive thank you to Paul. A true gent who excels in problem solving and gives his time freely without any expectations.
I can never say it enough, thanks Paul

 

[PaulRainbow]

Another massive thank you to Paul. A true gent who excels in problem solving and gives his time freely without any expectations.
I can never say it enough, thanks Paul

Thanks, always a pleasure Dave.

 

[stranded]

No - I'm not going to duck behind the parapet. I'll take the flak

Jonathan

Good, because you deserve all the flak you get - you thrust yourself in verbose pompous detail into every thread on a subject on which you are a self proclaimed expert, and quite a few where you are not, yet you are so resentful of someone for whom even if there is a marketing element - and most of the grateful recipients are never for reasons of geography likely to be able to avail themselves of Paul’s professional services - yet he offers straightforward non self serving advice. You’d do well to watch and learn rather than dissing someone who commands a deal more respect than you do. Shame on you.

 

[Boater Sam]

Good, because you deserve all the flak you get - you thrust yourself in verbose pompous detail into every thread on a subject on which you are a self proclaimed expert, and quite a few where you are not, yet you are so resentful of someone for whom even if there is a marketing element - and most of the grateful recipients are never for reasons of geography likely to be able to avail themselves of Paul’s professional services - yet he offers straightforward non self serving advice. You’d do well to watch and learn rather than dissing someone who commands a deal more respect than you do. Shame on you.

Ooooo! Is it handbags ladies?
Calm down, its only a forum not a battle field.

 

[stranded]

Ooooo! Is it handbags ladies?
Calm down, its only a forum not a battle field.

Thank you, that is very helpful - happy to discuss when you dip a tentative toe in the 21st century.

 

[Malabarista]

I have received outstanding help and advice from both amateur and professional fora members. I have only met two. Both of whom remained as helpful and informative as they are online. So a big thanks to all of you who have taken such a large role in getting both Border Collie and us this far along in our
( endless) refit.
Cheers Paul

 

[MOBY2]

+1 from me as well, Paul has pointed me in the right direction on more than one occasion ?

 

[Moodysailor]

The quality of the knowledge in this forum is quite unique, I think. Yes, there are a bunch of varying views, opinions and levels of expertise, but for the vast majority of threads, there are genuinely useful suggestions and answers.

Me, I'm happy having "professional" posters - it helps keep the standard high, helps avoid confirmation bias and avoids trial by internet. I also am in agreement that transparency and honesty about their credentials adds to the trust level. For one of my other sports I'm on an American forum that doesn't hold itself to such high moral standards, and as a result is a very different atmosphere and threads that spiral out of control, with no real trust or knowledge of the agenda behind a post. It's hard on that one to glean the fact and information from the chatter.

For full disclosure, I'm also an industry professional, but I have no business concerns as the company I work for now is in the tanker/cruise/container ship sector. I come here to learn from, and share my hard-earned experience with others. I don't know, nor have never met @PaulRainbow, but his knowledge and consistent approach tells me all I need to know about him. I'd buy him a beer too