Thread: wooden boat rescue website / register

John,

It's a great idea, perhaps the easiest way to do it would be to simply set up a blog on blogger. The post can easily be updated when the sale/rescue has happened, and it wouldn't be too much work to cut and copy an index say on the first of every month.

You could then have more than one person administering it if you choose.

Blogger is free and you choose the name- say AustralianWoodenBoatRescue.blogspot.com

If you want a hand to set it up I'll gladly do what I can, but can't get involved actively. (send me a PM)

Here's one that needs rescuing on the Sunshine Coast right now!
(more on this thread)

Cheers,

P

What about running it here? Simply by labelling the threads in one of the existing subforums.

It means that everyone can contribute and it gets a life of its own - more posts with less pressure on the people who instigate it.

If the effort is consistent and there are people coming to read then the powers that be might be quite happy for it to have its own subforum.

Problem with blogs is that things wind out of sight after some time and that it is only practical to have a few people authorised to post - what if someone has a burning issue - they have to contact one of the people who can post.

Websites have more of the same weakness.

Newsgroups have the same problems as blogs.

Like with the storer forum there is really about 3 years of activity but you can see all the threads with two mouse clicks.

Forums are possibly the best way to go - yes?

Michael

MIK

Also the Australian Maritime Museum is putting together a historical vessel register for boats in all sorts of condition.

Maybe we can work in.

Michael.

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Forums are possibly the best way to go - yes?

No.

Not discounting the live nature of the discussion, in this case boats in need of rescue is a dynamic thing, it's easy to add any number of people to a blog, but it's still best for one or two people to administer it, (so the photos all end up in the same format )

The forum threads need a moderator to amend them anyway, so that when a boat is sold/moved on it needs to be noted as such, perhaps with some comment as to its new owner.

The forum thread doesn't provide an easy way of updating a catalogue, so a boat that was notified six months ago could be five pages and a hundred posts back.

Blogger can do that easily, but post dating a first post to ensure it is stuck at the top of the page and editing it as an index post. Of course it could all be done with flash database software, but I think there's a way round it easily in the absence of a guru!

cheers,

P

I hear what you are saying Midge ... but my feeling is if anyone can stroll in and contribute it might just grow like topsy, but if it restricts that spontaneous writing then it becomes a slog for the admins.

It is a happier situation to have to delete or move posts compared to having to write everything yourself/ourselves.

Wonder if there are any new apps on the net? you could almost use flickr? But wonder if something new is out there.

MIK

What's to write?

The info comes from somewhere, cut and paste?

P

I keep a running tab on about 100 different vessels, each of some special historical, designer, builder, previous owner or racing career significance, plus a few that I just think are damn nice, but of no particular special circumstance.

This requires a least two trips a year up and down the coast of Florida and southern Georgia and many phone calls to owners, relatives of owners, marina managers, etc. I started this thing many years ago, basically looking for a deal on a restoration, but ended up falling in love with many I couldn't save or own.

As a result of my and many others efforts, like mine, a data base of boats in need started to develop several years ago. It was little more then compiled faxes from different people around the country, with lists of boats, general dimensions and some specifics. An example would be something like "late 1930's Trumpy, motor yacht, 50' LOD, flush fore deck, needs full up resto, broken frames, planks above LWL good, below shot, 5 years on hard in Miami, owner in ill health . . .".

These lead someone (which I have no affiliation with) to get the bright idea of placing them all in one place on line. I've contributed a few and gotten a few saved off the Wooden Boat Rescue site and passed on my lists. I still keep tabs on my favorites, now having made friends with several owners and their families, with a few swearing they give me the boat before it's to late to save it.

My point is, a web site is a wonderful idea and a helpful tool. This can't replace the leg work of finding and documenting the craft in danger of being placed under the business end of a chainsaw or foundering at her berth, from years of neglect. Only those that love these old vessels can see that they get a new lease on life. So, the next time you have a few minutes to bend the hear of a marina foreman, get the word on the near derelict, leaning up against the fence out back. It might just be an old Fife, waiting for someone to recognize her lines and take her home, for her storage fee bill. Or better yet, meeting an owner, who for some reason or another can't keep up and then convinces you that you must save her, not taking no for an answer.

I was given a fine old cruiser by a man I'd known for 20 years. He refused my every attempt to give him money for the yacht (a 1940's Alden sloop) and on his death bed (literally) he told be he'd willed the boat to me, because he thought I was the only one deserving of the boat and that would see her sail again, which he made me promise it would. It did.

Pics PAR?

Yeah PAR. Pic's of the Alden!
Coogs

Mori Flapan's website is a good spot to visit for a registry of boats and related info
http://www.boatregister.net

With a bit of quick reaserch i found out about the cray boat hull i have just purchased. She was called Adria.
Here are some other links as well:
"http://groups.yahoo.com/group/maritime_history_downunder/"

http://www.boatregister.net/RANZS_References.htm