Sadler and Starlight Owners Association

[eddystone]

I used to be a member but allowed it to lapse. I'm wondering if there is any benefit in rejoining as all the forums seem to have migrated to Facebook which I choose not to use ? I should say I have long since extracted everything I'm likely to need from the technical articles. I'm in the South West BTW

 

[johnalison]

It is a long time since I was a member, which was pre-internet for me. I don’t know the current association, but if I were you I would discard my prejudices about Facebook and join, if you want the advantages of belonging. I now belong to the HR association and the FB pages are in regular use and add a lot to the association’s usefulness, other than the yearly magazine. I am not a fan of what FB does, but I am content to use it in a manner of my choice. Our HR pages contain a mixture of cruising news, meet-ups, boasting and chit-chat and are popular with (most) members.

 

[Praxinoscope]

I am still a member and accept that my total dislike of Facebook (which means I Won't Use It' may restrict me at times, but I still find what I can access useful.
By all means call me a 'Luddite', but don't have a 'smart phone' either, my old mobile does all I want of a phone, and I still use charts and DR, and use the GPS to see how far out I am.

 

[cueball]

Join up, its well worth being a member, very active pages and lots of good info.

 

[Poey50]

I used to be a member but allowed it to lapse. I'm wondering if there is any benefit in rejoining as all the forums seem to have migrated to Facebook which I choose not to use ? I should say I have long since extracted everything I'm likely to need from the technical articles. I'm in the South West BTW

The original forum is still used but minimally, the vast majority of activity is now on the Facebook Group which is very good. I hate Facebook, have no profile, maximum security settings, I generally avoid linking to anyone and use it only as a skeleton key to access some excellent groups.

 

[Amlov]

The original forum is still used but minimally, the vast majority of activity is now on the Facebook Group which is very good. I hate Facebook, have no profile, maximum security settings, I generally avoid linking to anyone and use it only as a skeleton key to access some excellent groups.

I have been a member since 1992 and was an active participant on the original forum. However, after a few revisions of the forum, activity on it waned and the security increased so as to make logging in a real faff. Eventually I bit the bullet and joined Facebook purely so that I could follow the forum again.
As reported by others, the forum is very active and it continues to be a useful source of information and comment, though I remain a luddite at heart.

 

[Scomber]

The original forum is still used but minimally, the vast majority of activity is now on the Facebook Group which is very good. I hate Facebook, have no profile, maximum security settings, I generally avoid linking to anyone and use it only as a skeleton key to access some excellent groups.

Hi, we're sadler owners and used to use sadler forum. Im very anti facebook and never used it, do you have to use your real name / some pt of contact etc to get on it or can you remain anonymous? Sorry to ask such a numb question , Id ask the offspring but they can be so dismissive!

 

[Poey50]

Hi, we're sadler owners and used to use sadler forum. Im very anti facebook and never used it, do you have to use your real name / some pt of contact etc to get on it or can you remain anonymous? Sorry to ask such a numb question , Id ask the offspring but they can be so dismissive!

Your real name but little else. One approach would be for the scoffing sprogs to help set you up a minimal account and try it for a month. If you don't like it then it's easy to delete your account.

 

[Matador]

We have been members for a number of years. Liked the forum a lot for info about Sadlers, but as been mentioned it fizzled out due to the dreaded FB. We have missed events because were not on FB. So probably also going to try the minimalist approach you mention.

 

[Praxinoscope]

I am reconsidering renewing my membership next year simply because of the reliance upon Facebook, I do not want a Facebook account, and have no intention of getting one so am perhaps missing some things from the association, in which case maybe there is no point in belonging.

 

[Amlov]

It sort of speaks volumes, I went onto the Sadler and Starlight Owners website as I wanted to bring this thread to the attention of the committee. Guess what, no way of contacting someone other than logging in as a member and life is too short to try and dig out my password.
But, on the website there is a link to their Facebook site…

 

[xhurleyman]

I used to be a member but allowed it to lapse. I'm wondering if there is any benefit in rejoining as all the forums seem to have migrated to Facebook which I choose not to use ? I should say I have long since extracted everything I'm likely to need from the technical articles. I'm in the South West BTW

 

[johnalison]

The HR Association runs forums as well as FB. The advantage of the forums is that information, especially of a technical nature, remains available more or less indefinitely. The FB pages are more useful for making contacts and sometimes for hot information, such as a port's lock being out of action.

I don't have any privacy problems with FB. I have one or two friends who are incontinent posters, and I just 'unfollow' them, when I can contact them if I wish and vice versa. Most of my other posts, amounting to a few per year, are simply left as private to my friends only. The only problems I have are FB's habit of removing posts from my news page after a short while, and their liking for showing me adverts for incontinence supplies and funeral plans.

 

[Supine Being]

I took the plunge and was a member for two or three years before I sold my Sadler 26 a year ago. I didn't find it an awful lot of use, to be honest. There is a members-only forum but not a great deal of life in it, and nothing in the way of events on the East Coast. I was unaware of any Facebook activity and wouldn't have made use of it anyway as I'm not on there. I can't recommend it, I'm afraid.

 

[vyv_cox]

I was a prolific poster of technical information on Sadlers on the old SSOA forum, which at that time was open to anyone, member or not. I was not a member, as by keeping my boat in Greece I derived no benefit from membership. The forum was lively and active. It then was hit by spammers and management took the decision that it would henceforth be available to members only. Unfortunately this effectively killed it off.

 

[StephenW]

Membership of the Sadler and Starlight Owners Association carries a number of benefits. Membership is minimal cost.

The existence of an association indirectly enhances the value of Sadler and Starlight boats by providing technical manuals, supporting information and forum advice to members, from members with similar boats. This is prticularly useful when it comes to the nitty gritty of engines, rigs and keel configuration queries.

Have been a member for many years and on balance, used with other sources of advice and information, membership is a benefit worth having.

 

[doug748]

I used to be a member but allowed it to lapse. I'm wondering if there is any benefit in rejoining as all the forums seem to have migrated to Facebook which I choose not to use ? I should say I have long since extracted everything I'm likely to need from the technical articles. I'm in the South West BTW

Same thing happened with me. I am not interested in joining Facebook with all the tripe that comes with it but I have continued my club membership, though doubt if I will carry on much longer.

The old website is still there but little new is added. Any good stuff, posted on Facebook, just seems to wither away to electron dust, rather than being a permanent resource.

.

 

[Poey50]

The old website is still there but little new is added. Any good stuff, posted on Facebook, just seems to wither away to electron dust, rather than being a permanent resource.

Facebook groups are completely searchable. You can also save particular threads for later reference. I hate Facebook in general and simply use it as a passkey to gain entry to some of the best free information available.

 

[doug748]

Indeed, everything on the webnet can be searched if you look close enough, it's a question of convenience. Facebook seems fine if you have other uses for it

 

[Praxinoscope]

I am a member of the association but do not use the ‘spawn of the Devil’ otherwise known as Facebook, so I rely upon the balance of the associations website which seems to meet most of my requirements.
The same goes for my sailing club, I rely upon the website and the general email messaging and avoid Facebook like the plague.