I think the appropriate word to describe the original layout is basic.
You can see a screenshot of the site from August of 2000, a few weeks after it had gone live and with just 121 members total at
http://www.moderninsider.com/history/scubaboard2000.jpg
By sept of 2001 we were up to 1,750 users, 6,800 in sept of 2002 and 16,700 in sept of 2003. In 2004 [32,000 members] the layout finally got a major update with the launch of a new vBulletin forum version bringing things closer to what you see today. 2005-2006 is when much of the major changes took place and SB started to enter the dive industry as a brand at events and shows [kuddos to NetDoc for giving me a second run on SB] and of course since then things have just grown and grown.
11 years and change since we started warming up the engines... Almost 11 years to the day for you specifically.