Board Status

just need to reassign a moderator or two, that's all...

I know this platform is old (probably outdated, too), but I do like how the threads are organized to make topics easier to search and keep together.

Yeah, but who is doing that transition??????????????

I think we need to show some kind patience (considering the circumstances)and muddle along in the short-term.

You'r probably right.

But my own mother passed away two weeks ago and as a executor- testamentair I'm used now to make a lot of short-term decisions for her legacy.

The fact that there was no official announcement of Rick's death or any other words from his relatives on this forum, worries me.

I'm happy to be patient

as am I (happy to be patient), and I feel assured that the more technologically inclined folks on this board will figure out the best solution...

A good friend spoke with Dave White (Rick's son) about this and related things recently and learned that Dave has zero interest. I would bet big money the same would be true for Mary. So if anyone is waiting for an interested person to show up, organize, and maintain the forum through a planned intervention, prepare to be disappointed.

I also have inside info as I have friends at UKSC. It's over.

What does it take to operate this forum? Both equipment and time?

That's just what I already suspected from the first moment I heard of Ricks death via Facebook.
I've warned this forum two times for this.

Refering to Rick's financial problems and his struggle to solve them, I expect that the Catsailor shop will also be shut down.

So I assume that the only way to save this forum is somebody and/or group offering the White family a sack of money and buy this forum.

The site is currently hosted by a company called Bayshore solutions in Tampa. Details here: http://www.catsailor.co m" target="_blank">http://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report?url=http://www.catsailor.com

If we keep it as is, then its probably negligible amount of work to just manage the forum portion. But... someone has to assume responsibility to pay the bills. No idea what they are at the moment. One of the White family would probably need to contact them to find out and then discuss options.

If it is decided that its a good idea to transfer to a new host, I'd guess it would be a week or two of effort if someone was motivated. These would be the estimated costs:

Assuming we want to retain all the current users and historical posts,
The UBB license is $139 (http://www.ubbcentral.com/purchase.php)
Professional transfer service to new host is $150.

Hosting varies - a good estimate is probably around $120/yr

Remaining items/content can be managed via free software (joomla, wordpress, etc.).

Andrew (MN3) can't log in any more (no moderator to let him in). He asked me to suggest that we all contact Damon at TheBeachCats.com and ask him to purchase or take over this board. Otherwise it's going to die and all the old data/posts will be lost.

TheBeachCats website

On a similar note, wrt Rick's DVD and the OnLineMarineStore I got this from Stan at Murrays.

We have been in contact with Rick's x-wife, but it looks like the courts are involved in the estate and it may be a while before any shipments can be made.

There may be nobody who can make executive decisions for Rick's estate (including this forum) until probate clears. Perhaps the Tampa hosting company could orchestrate a non-hostile takeover by a willing money source. It's not like the forum part has any real monetary value. However, the Online Store being under the masthead name may make it a lot more difficult.

The forum is only one part of the entire Catsailor website. Could it's legacy postings be carved out into a single entity without all the old stuff being lost?

Just an update to let everyone know there is someone working on this.

I've spoken to Mary, and I'm in the process of tracking down everything needed to at least admin the site until something is figured out. unfortunately right now, as far as I've been able to find out, no one has access to the admin of this site and no one is reading email sent to @catsailor.com email addresses.

The one thing I don't want to happen is for the site to just disappear one day and all content lost, which is what will happen if nothing is done.

I'll keep everyone updated if I make progress.

I think the archives to the

sailing related

forums are priceless in the information they contain for the multi-hull community. I'm willing to donate to a cause to keep this thing going in the interest of preservation, at least for the time needed to sort out the estate, pay host, get permissions, admin access, etc.

Damon has already done a great job archiving the old

on the wire

BB within TheBeachcats. (great stuff in there btw)

Oh, there's a $$$ bonus to ban rstuvw798643 & hobie1616. <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />

You must be one of them tea bagger traitors.

Sounds mostly positive, I'll stump up some money to help with the transfer as for admin we could just nominate some old hands as moderators to approve any new members, not too hard to ask some questions of aspiring new members.

like where to find cheap NFL jerseys? <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />

Hello everyone, hope some of you are watching this topic for updates.

It's taken a combination of detective work and persistence but I'm making progress and am in touch with the right people to make sure this website doesn't just disappear.

If you have interest in helping out, whether with time or money, please contact me directly via email. I don't want to share details yet since not much is settled. But what I have accomplished so far is that the site will not vanish at the stroke of midnight tonight.

Please email me at
-------------------
damon

at

thebeachcats.com
---------------

Hello Damon,

We have spoken before a few years ago.
First thanks for all your trouble you have taken so far in order saving this forum.

I detected that technically not everything is still working 100%. Viewing member profiles is impossible.

Ofcourse I'm willing to help financially, but I rather do these things in the open air, instead off the closed doors of email.

I think it should be a joint action off all the members.

thanks for stepping up Damon, I'll email you

I agree and will make a public statement and request for help soon. There have been a lot of moving parts to this and I want to make sure I am 100% on firm ground before I make any statements. Hope you understand.

Once I can

go public

I'll be as transparent as possible.

Damon,

Thanks for stepping up... I can shove scheckels your way to keep this going..

Let us know.

John

Hey everyone reading,
I just sent Damon a check to help pay his expenses to get control of this forum. I e-mailed him as he suggested to learn what is happening and to get his address to send the check. I have directly benefitted from using this website and The Beachcats website (the one Damon already hosts) so I let him know that it was payback rather than charity. He let me know that the website is currently 4 months in arrears so that is the first payment to make and once he pays that the current host will be pretty easy to deal with for Damon to get control. He will know how much more is needed soon and when that is settled he can go public but why wait for him to put all the cash up front? Please join me in contributing if you can. Damon will appreciate it and this forum will soon be much more usable. He specifically told me that the first he would do is get rid of the spam but he will also archive all of the useful info shared here over the years just as he has done on his website with the

On The Wire

magazine. Again, If you want more details and an address, send Damon an e-mail.
Thanks to anyone else who contributes!

Thanks Mike,

I now have full access to this forum, you might notice already a lack of NFL Jerseys for sale. 😉 Hope you all got your bargains while you could.

Basically, for anyone interested, I've received permission from Mary Wells and Rick's son Dave White to take over the Catsailor.com and related domains and content.

I was able to negotiate with the hosting company where Rick was paying for a virtual server, and some other services, to reduce the outstanding balance from $820 down to $432 which I paid them today.

Of course that's just the start, but that's what I'm out of pocket right now.

Since I've only had access for a few hours I don't know everything that can be done, but figured the first priority was to clean up the spam that was choking the forums.

If anyone has input on what they would like done or wants to help, or needs my address to send a check, please email me directly at:

damon
at
thebeachcats
dot
com

This email address works for PayPal too, just put in the payment

Support for Catsailor.com

.

If you need to talk to me by phone, please call my voip voicemail at 901-310-9092 and leave a message with your name, (and username here if it's not obvious), number, and best time to call back on US Central Time.

Wow, that was fast! Thanks, Damon! Literally, my check is in the mail.

There are probably a lot of members that haven't been visiting lately because of the spam and other issues, please everyone that is here spread the word that Catsailor.com is back online.

great job!!! thanks

Damon, thank you.