I'm a new member (and total patzer, I must confess), but I play my correspondence chess here:
Chessworld.net: Play Free Online Chess
The people are always friendly (I've not played any abusive ones yet anyways) and opponents range from the total woodpushers like me to the very strong players.
You can play a number of games at once on a free account, and if you want to upgrade to full membership, it's only US$28 a year, or £15. I've been playing there on and off for five years and more now.
Now I'm off to see if it's worth introducing myself in the purpose-built forum...