The Hull Truth is a free interactive forum. It is the first largest boating, sailing, fishing, all things marine life forum on the web. The forum cuts across everything there is to know about life on the sea, including buying and selling boats, fishing, marine electronics, and a host of other related topics. The hull truth website began on the 21st of February 2001 as a substitute to Saltwater Sportsman magazine internet forums. Most members of The Hull Truth originally were from Saltwater Sportsman.

The need for a substitute forum emerged when most forums on Saltwater Sportsman were getting withheld as the advertisers in the magazine did not like the effects of an open forum as they discussed issues affecting their boats or products. As a result, Wet & Wiley founded the hull truth website. Although the website has been sold to Internet Brands Inc., Wiley owns a few other sites, one of which is reelboating.com.

Wet & Wiley released a statement on the website when Internet Brands Inc. acquired it.

A Statement The Hull Truth

“My Fellow THT’ers,

Since founding “The Hull Truth Boating & Fishing Forum” in 2001, I have always made certain that whenever changes were made to the website, it was always for the betterment of the community. As the Hull Truth has grown to such astronomical levels over the past years, I have come to realize that the forum may not be operating to its full potential with only the resources of me and my wife at the helm. What began as a part-time commitment has grown to over 70 plus hours per week, with no relief in sight. Therefore, after 6 years, I feel what is now best for the forum is the professional assistance from a larger, fully staffed company.

Today I am announcing that THT has been acquired by Internet Brands, Inc., which operates a host of leading travel websites such as Cruisemates.com, Vamoose.com, and Wikitravel.org.

With this acquisition, THT should be much better staffed to provide the services a large online community requires, from marketing and accounting to very capable technical and development teams….”

The opinions and comments expressed on the forum are for those who enjoy boating, fishing, and not compulsorily that of sponsors and advertisers or the Forum Director. On this forum, if you are a newbie researching for a new boat — or have been a captain for many years, you will find a plethora of direct information from boat owners across the world.

The Hull Truth Policies

The forum has a strict policy of guideline adherence. Here are a few guidelines advised to follow when on the forum. The guidelines are said to be incomplete, a work in progress, and may be updated or changed without notice.

Firstly, posting as a new member on the forum. It is advisable to introduce yourself in your initial post, detailing your current boating situation or the type of boating information you are looking for.

Also, members of the forum are only allowed to post their boating and fishing items for sale in the Trading-Dock forum. Posting any sales items outside of the Trading-Dock forum is highly prohibited, and any of such posts seen will be deleted. Dealers/Brokers may not sell their items on the Trading-Dock unless they are paid sponsors of The Hull Truth.

Secondly, as a new member posting offsite web links is not a good practice. If you may post a link to another site apart from The Hull truth, the link has to answer a question. It must not promote or advertise any website. Any post containing links posted for the sole purpose of advertising or promoting a website will be removed. However, if you wish to advertise a personal boating-related website link, contact The Hull Truth Webmaster for instructions.

Lastly, The Hull Truth does not endorse advertisers. Organizations or individuals are only at liberty to do so, providing that they pay. The forum is a private bulletin board; hence, It reserves the right to refuse advertisement for any purpose. THT also especially encourages its users to form their verdict regarding any products or advertisement stated.

You have to have a registered account on the forum in order to post messages. You enter your preferred username, email address, and required fields list on the signup page. Your username could be a nickname, as it will be visible on the forum. It is worthy to note that usernames will contain alphanumeric keys only, no special characters or punctuations. You will have a permanent username; it will be unchangeable. You can subscribe to a forum to keep track of different threads and forums that you are interested in.

You are at liberty to join any forum of your choice, provided that you follow the current guidelines stated above and the future ones that may follow when you visit the website.

Subforums

There is the Boating Forum, where topics ranging from boats, engines, and other marine-related items are talked about.

The Trucks & Trailers; Where boaters discuss trucks and trailers.

Industry News; which talks about what’s new in the boating world with a host of other advertisements.

Marine Electronics Forum; here, boaters discuss Radar, GPS, etc. The rest of the forums include SportFishing and Charters Forum, Boating How-To’s: The Kerno Memorial Forum, Boating and Boat Show Photos, lastly, the Dockside Chat.

There is a Trading Dock platform that allows you to browse, buy or sell. But to sell, you have to be a registered member of the Captain’s club or Admiral’s club. The Trading Dock section also has forums that sell different commodities. This includes Boats, Trucks & Trailers, Parts– Marine parts, Fishing, and Miscellaneous Items, etc.

Regional boating and fishing group that connects American boat lovers from different regions in the States. The forums are divided into regions in the United States. Including Northeast, Great Lakes, West Coast, Gulf Coast, etc.

The website also has a Products and Services section with forums of different manufacturers of Marine Products. There is an electronics section divided into four forums discussing the different types of marine electronics available and a section for insurance brokers.

Finally, a bonus section with four forums that include the Sports Forum; talking about the different sports popular in American culture. The Food and Beverage forum; discussing and sharing favorite recipes. SCUBA, Snorkel & Spearfishing Forum; Activities related to diving which fishermen and boat owners on the website enjoy. Kayaking, Skiing & Surfing; More water sport activities boards find interesting.

Reviews go a long way when it comes to publicizing a product. Bad or good reviews affect how certain products fair in the market. So, if you are looking for reviews of any and every kind of boat or any sea life activity available, it is listed on this website. The website helps new boat owners make informed decisions on what to get and look out for in the marine market. The hull truth website boasts of over three hundred and fifty-nine thousand (359,000) members as of 2021. The members grow by the day. The website is known to be apolitical, and discussions on politics are banned from it.

Next time you are looking out for a specific boat, spare parts, or water sporting activity you need more insight on, The Hull Truth is of the best websites loaded with information concerning marine topics to check out.