Posted by akusinitz (akusinitz@…>)
As one of the folks who, with Al Lorman, have begun work forming this
association I thought I’d provide a summary of events to this point
and current status.
After some discussion on the main FreedomYachts2003 discussion group
there seemed to be enough interested people to take some steps
towards organizing.
Al Lorman generously volunteered to file papers for a not-for-profit
for this association using the name Freedom Yacht Owners Association
which was the consensus from the poll on FreedomYachts2003 group.
I obtained two we domains in the name FreedomOwnersGroup.com and .org
for potential future use.
We each used our own money to do this hoping that if the association
is successful we will be reimbursed at some point. (chicken and egg
problem).
The idea is that an association like this could help all involved in
ways ranging from technical information, relationships with Freedom
Yachts, TPI and vendors of products that might be willing to discount
to groups, as well as other aspects of having a sense of community.
The number of messages regarding this placed on FreedomYachts2003
apparently annoyed some participants and there were attacks ranging
from: this is some sort of money making scheme to we don’t want any
fancy yacht club. As one of the initial people involved I can say
these attacks are way off base and if the association provides the
benefits we hope then perhaps these attacks will stop.
Lance had the idea of setting up this new Yahoo group
FreedomOwnersGroup for discussions about the association by those
interested and I think its a great idea but only if enough of the
interested people actually join.
I don’t have any interest in replacing FreedomYachts2003 as it is an
established group with many members. I see the association and its
potential web site as something additional.
Forming an association takes time and we are doing this in
our “spare” time so processing of suggestions and organization of
volunteers and processes may take a bit longer.
Al has already initiated contact with Freedom Yachts. In addition
several folks have volunteered to take more active roles in taking
the next steps for the association including basic mission and
organization, collation of existing technical information, etc.
If you haven’t already and want to indicate you interest in
participating in the association just send an email to
freedomownersgroup@…
I hope this is helpful.
Alan Kusinitz
1982 F-33 Hull#51 SEAPR