So true Pete.

I think I was member #80......

I didn't pay to be a charter member but I've been here since it was just a classified board with crappy basic graphics Cheng created to sell his used boats (no offense Jeffrey). I remember the announcement for charter members and the sticker with your member # and I think shirt that you got if I'm not mistaken.

When Jeff fist started OSO It was mostly west coast / S.C.O.P.E. guys in the very beginning but as social media etc started blowing up, and the boating world (world in general) got smaller people started to connect more over their passion for this hobby / sport. Information on various events were more readily available and as people visited other areas for events and made friends OSO was kind've their meeting ground. When Steve bought it he did a phenomenal job of promoting it going to a ton of events with the OSO cigarettes and really promoting the OSO brand. When he sold it to IB coupled with the economy crashing, that was pretty much the death of the era. But man, those early days of OSO was a lot of fun. I've made life long friends from all over the world via this website. I hear many people say often it was the best boating times they've ever had and some of the best times in their lives. I'd agree, there was something magical about it all.

I was a charter member and then something happened with my user I.D & password and had to rejoin the site and lost my charter status. ed

I'm still here and I check the board at least once a day M-F while at work...other then that i try to stay off the computer all together as i do way too much of it for work!

Didn't it crash once and everything was lost? Would have been around 2000 which is why so many of us have the 2000 join date. Maybe that's why the server or whatever it was needed to be upgraded.

I think that is when they required users to register.

Not a "Charter" in the true sense But I have been here since 2002 and can't imagine where I'd be without the people and experiences being a member has brought to my life. Still here multiple times a day and trying to spread the brand as I travel to events every year.

I know I was on here in the early days under a different user name (BAJAHA if memory serves) and then was gone for a bit and returned and the site was totally different and my old user name wasn't valid anymore. Been back steady since '05. Site was very,, very crude back in the day. So many people gone from way back when. Good to see some OG's still around.

Still get on here.