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    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

Annual Fundraising Time

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Sean's annual fundraising message, with contribution link:

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/content.php?137-Donation-Policy

[The Paypal link works now. It's in the URL above]

For newcomers: This site is free and has no advertisements. It hosts user photographs, meaning no dead links. It is the searchable source of Ericson information dating back 20 years. There is no repair job or refit or total restoration that some member has not done, and left a record of.

The site is owned by Sean Engle. Owning and operating such a site is a responsibility, burden and time sink. He gets no salary or compensation.

The site is moderated by Senior Moderator Loren Beach, the deepest memory pocket and co-founder, with Sean. He is assisted by about 10 other moderators whose job it is to try to contribute sources, direct inquiries, and hang out. The old hands created a culture of nonviolence unique in forum-world. Decorum and helpfulness obtains. It perpetuates itself. No person has been banned in at least five years.
 
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JPS27

Member III
Merry Xmas and happy holidays. I tried to contribute via paypal before running off to wrap presents. I could not find Sean's paypal handle. I think we need an email, or I need simpler instructions. Thanks.

Jay
 

tenders

Innocent Bystander
I think that link should be more prominently placed, and clickable, in Sean's letter.

I recently picked up another DIY-maintenance hobby not as cool as sailing, but still pretty cool. After three months I removed myself from a prime message board forum behind it, in favor of Reddit, another social network that is far inferior to this "forum" format but not quite as bad as FB. This has given me a new-found appreciation for why this forum works so well, and in keeping with the holiday season would like to express thanks to our sponsor and fellow members for creating such a helpful and interesting destination. Here is why I think this place works so well:

- Sean's interest and sponsorship puts a single person clearly in charge. This seems like a simple thing, but forum management by committee, or by a federation of otherwise unrelated users, or by nobody, turns everything to rust. Also, the low but constant degree of maintenance that has been applied here over time really shows when you have other things to compare it against: links, embedded graphics, search, etc. virtually always work.

- Up-front user screening. We don't see a lot of whacko/spam posts, but my God are there a lot of them out there. Kudos again to our moderators for what is surely a high degree of thankless, faceless, constant filtering.

- No per-post feedback option. It is tempting to think a "thumbs-up"/"thumbs-down" option would be helpful on chatboards to keep people in line (not that this has ever been needed here, in all seriousness), and maybe track users' net thumbs-ups and thumbs-down to gather public "karma" scores - nosiree, this is not a good thing. It stirs constant confusion, misunderstanding, and discontent. Useful posts speak for themselves.

- Absence of pointless discussion of polarizing topics like politics, religion, and guns.

- Peerless expertise. Thousands of posts especially from a few dozen high-quality, high-involvement, high-EQ individuals, this is a definitive, searchable repository of incredible depth of Ericson operation and maintenance expertise.

So: let it be known how thankful I am that this forum exists and how much I appreciate its design and execution. My first years with my boat (and Atomic Four) from 1991 through about 1995 were pre-internet, and those were dark and confusing times indeed with Ericson fresh out of business, me tool-less and knowing nothing of salt water, epoxy, or stainless steel, and anti-A4 sentiment at a peak and not without basis. I would never have been able to keep this fine and almost unthinkably old craft running so nicely without the internet connecting me, ultimately, to the old email listserv and ultimately this group of sage and supporting experts. Happy holidays.
 

Roger Janeway

Member II
I’ve only owned a boat for three months and can’t imagine how I’d handle it without this forum. So I guess I’m stuck with Ericsons going forward. A nice problem to have. Thank you, everyone!
 

Geoff W.

Makes Up For It With Enthusiasm
Blogs Author
This site is a gem, both as a boating resource and as an example of supportive community on the internet. Chipped in a few bucks as well.
 

mfield

Member III
An invaluable site. I cannot imagine how I would keep an old boat running without the assistance of the members.

Working on the boat is so much more satisfying than working on the house.
 
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Teranodon

Member III
It must of been nearly 40 years ago, that I was active on something called rec.boats. It was the early days of such fora, and all attempts at flaming, spamming, bad language, etc., were firmly put down. Today's Ericson forum has the same feeling of gentlemanly camaraderie.

The small size of the rec.boats community led to some surprising situations. I remember one posting by a person who had just witnessed a dramatic dismasting of a boat coming in under the Golden Gate Bridge with spinnaker and blooper flying, heading for the finish line in front of the St. Francis YC. As the fellow who had had the spinnaker sheet in his hand, I was able to provide details of what happened on the unhappy Beneteau 42 "Rocinante". Good days, good memories.

Here's wishing everyone fair winds and great sailing adventures in 2019.
 

Sean Engle

Your Friendly Administrator
Administrator
Founder
...

So: let it be known how thankful I am that this forum exists and how much I appreciate its design and execution. My first years with my boat (and Atomic Four) from 1991 through about 1995 were pre-internet, and those were dark and confusing times indeed with Ericson fresh out of business, me tool-less and knowing nothing of salt water, epoxy, or stainless steel, and anti-A4 sentiment at a peak and not without basis. I would never have been able to keep this fine and almost unthinkably old craft running so nicely without the internet connecting me, ultimately, to the old email listserv and ultimately this group of sage and supporting experts. Happy holidays.


Thanks so much for the kind complements - providing a home for the documentation, posts, ideas and most of all: support for owners of Ericson hulls is why this site was created in the first place. I so enjoyed owning my Ericson that having this site allows me to maintain one foot in your world - allbeit vicariously - while trying to move forward on all the other things I have to do (chief among them: my arch license). So, I'm happy to provide the assistance and support - and look forward to eventually moving us to the new platform...eventually...(much work to be done on that front).

Happy Holidays! :egrin:

//sse
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
...maintain one foot in your world - allbeit vicariously ...

I keep forgetting that you're "up here". If you ever want to move that foot a little bit past "vicariously" - whether for a day-sail, or a ride to the PNW rendezvous, or a beer at the marina, or whatever - I hope you know you have a standing invitation. Probably more than one.

Bruce
 

nquigley

Sustaining Member
- sent a contribution to Sean by VISA (via the link provided above).
Thanks for everyone's efforts to make this such an enjoyable and incredibly useful forum!
 

Kevin A Wright

Member III
Happy New Year Sean! Link worked fine so I sent a few bucks your way. As usual you are always welcome to drop in if you are in the area and see what's become of your old boat.

Kevin Wright
-Present Owner-
s/v "O Barquinho'
1986 E35-3 #224
Port Townsend, WA
 
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