{{unreferenced, date=December 2016 A messabout is an event where a group of people get together to discuss and "mess about" in boats. The concept is not new but the name is. The term originated in April 1990 when Joe Tribulato organized the first such event with this name. This was the beginning of the Southern California Small Boat Messabout Society, SCSBMS. The term is derived from the children's book "

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets ...

", by

Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is most famous for ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908), a classic of children's literature, as well as ''The Reluctant Dragon (short story), T ...

. In the story, Mole and Rat are rowing up the river in Rat's boat. They are discussing

nautical Seamanship is the art, knowledge and competence of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, or practice of handling a ship or boat at sea." It involves topics a ...

things and life in general when Rat is heard to utter,

Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing... about in boats — or with boats. In or out of ’em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not.

Messabouts are usually attended by a group of people who have taken up

boat building Boat building is the design and construction of boats and their systems. This includes at a minimum a hull, with propulsion, mechanical, navigation, safety and other systems as a craft requires. Construction materials and methods Wood W ...

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether Motorboat, powerboats, Sailing, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sp ...

and all things boat-related as their primary hobby. While many people have been at this hobby for quite some time, the advent of the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

has allowed them to network on a level not seen before. They come from all over to get together for camaraderie. "Messabouts" is replaced in UK especially on canals by "banter" and the emphasis will be more on talk and camaraderie than actually doing anything constructive.

External links

''Duckworks''
magazine, with information on scheduled messabouts.
''The Traditional Small Craft Association''
with 24 chapters around the USA hosting messabouts to celebrate the virtues of traditional rowing and sailing craft. Boats Social events