All Forums › General News › HTOWOA Association and the website
- This topic has 8 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5th Jul 2008, 5:16 pm by .
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- 13th June 2008 at 10:14 am #11026
This website has been set up for the members of the Heavenly Twins Assocation, and is funded by the membership subscriptions.
It has come to our attention that many contributors have declined the invite to join the Association, and are reaping the benefits without any contribution. As the yearly fees are only £12 for UK membership and £16 for overseas addresses, there seems little reason for declining to join.
A decision has now been made to take steps to ban people from the site if they use it for more than an introductory period, without taking steps to join the Association. It is sad that we should have to take these steps, but we seem to have been left without a choice.
We would welcome anyone who in the light of this would like to join. Either contact me for joining forms, or locate them on the home page. Please be aware that as I am cruising at the moment (June and July 2007) I may not reply with your welcome pack as soon as you may have hoped. However I will send them all out as soon as I return home at the end of July. If anyone needs further information, or simply wishes to let me know they have mailed their forms, please do so on oceanswan@hotmail.com
Thank you for your understanding, and long may the discussions continue…..
Regards
Chrissie : Membership Secretary15th June 2008 at 9:27 am #11710Hey Crissy
Around 25 euros for using a forum? Are those 'the benefits?'
Come on, lets have FUN!! That is what the internet is about.
Maybe you can set up a merchendise-page at your site to cover the cost.
T-shirts, caps, mugs all HT related.
All the best
Juup16th June 2008 at 8:13 am #11711Sorry, Juup, but I fully disapprove. This is not only a forum, its a club. IMHO it's quite different. Chris and Geoff spend a lot of time and money to make this club alive and they need our support.
As a French, and with my boat under complete reconstruction, I can't join the activities for now (I hope in the future 🙂 but it seems fully normal to contribute. When we own even a modest boat, I think it's not a big problem to spend 16 Pounds a year to have a friendly forum.And sorry to say that, in my opinion, it's quite unfair to promote a new concurrent forum, and quite rude to put his adress on this one. No more , no less…
Sorry for my english, but I hope i will be understood.
Yann17th June 2008 at 10:09 am #11712Hi Yann
Thanks for your reaction. I fully agree with you that Geoff and Chris are doing a great job with their club, website, magazine and so on, and it is a great forum too.
To me a club is a place where I can meet people and talk to them. I was a member of the dutch Drascombe owners club for 10 years. We had our annual meetings and rally's and so on. They have a website http://www.drascombe.nl as well. That is what I expect of a club.
And sure I would join if I lived somewhere where I could meet other HT owners and their boats, sail together, have a drink and a dinner.
But this is the internet. This message is typed on a keyboard somewhere, and has nothing to do with my feeling of a club, but it is a forum.I just want to show that a forum can be started anywhere.( and the pictures load better 😉
I feel that an internet-forum should be open to anyone, that is the power of internet. I have tried to contribute to this forum in the best way I know, but it's no club to me, that's another thing.
I don't want to be a member of a club I can't go to, I don't need a magazine. I just want an open forum.
regards
Juup21st June 2008 at 3:24 pm #11713Juup, I think you have missed the point here. This website including this forum is part of the club. While a number of the members give their time freely to ensure the club works some things cost money including this site to run.
20 Euros seems a small amount to me for the benefit you get even if it is only the use of this site.
Prehaps you could start a Dutch branch with annual meetings and rallies?
regards
Robin5th July 2008 at 10:47 am #11714My thought on the whole issue, and I believe I have the support of the committee and many of the existing members is that we need to enrol as many Patterson boat owning members as possible to the Association. There are no new boats being made currently, and the amount of boats can now only decline with age and neglect, never increase. For the association to stay alive, we need to recruit as many boats as we can, and keep them in the fold each time they change hands.
We not only publish newsletters, which document all the modifications ever done to the boats, as well as cruises undertaken, we also go out of our way to meet with other boats worldwide. We have some organised local rallies, but as many impromptu affairs when we are out and about on the water. These have happened from UK to Australia, and back. Boat owners abroad are not immune to us popping up to say hello.
As well as encouraging Patterson boat owners, we do now need to welcome other similarly minded multihull sailors, or people with an interest in the designs. At present these are welcomed as Associate members.
I have owned Patterson boats for almost 20 years, most of the committee have done the same, some more, so our combined experience with the boats must exceed 100 years. We can give a lot of help and support to new and existing members. This is a vital pool of knowledge, and should be encouraged and harnessed.
The very small cost of belonging to the association is not an unreasonable price to pay for the privilege. I regret that people feel they need to shun the Association, just because of the joining cost.
I repeat that I am most willing to welcome any new members to the fold, and look forward to a long and successful life of the Association. May I wish you all a great season in 2008, and in years to come.
Chrissie
5th July 2008 at 3:52 pm #11716I would just like to add my bit bit. As some will know I had something to do with this site and it IS part of the club. It was set up to support Patterson boat owners and to be a place people could look for support and information. It has never been an intension to make money from this although there is some expense associated in running it even without the time involved. We and I mean all club members pay for the site host and domain registration.
We as a club also publish newsletters and arrange AGM and summer rallies witch are open to all members
The committee work many hours per month to keep this CLUB running at no personnel gain and I do not feel that £16 per year is to much for this support and help
I would encourage all to join in as much as possible and you will get even more out of YOUR CLUB
PJ still an honorary member and happy to pay my £165th July 2008 at 4:42 pm #11715Well
I'll also say my piece.
I have a HT, but presently live in Pakistan, have actually lived abroad since I joined the Navy in 68. But I am pleased that I have the company of other people who also like similar things as we do. It may well be that I will never meet any other member face to face. But at least I know I have some friends out there with similar tastes.
Lets face it , 16 quid is only 3 packests of cigs, or 3 beers, Nothing.Steve
5th July 2008 at 5:16 pm #11717I fully agree with Chrissie and Paul..
I just disagree with Steeve on an important point :
Three beers are NOT nothing !!!! :-)) Cheers!! or ” A votre santé”!! - AuthorPosts
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