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Had a thought today about how neat it would be to get all/most Classic Whaler owners together for a two or three day convention. The convention could be scheduled out about a year to allow planning time for owners. It could be held in the most centrally located area where facilities and entertainment would be most suitable for all. We could have presentations made by SMEs in the areas suggested by attendees, followed by nuts & bolts discussions of the same. Imagine the opportunity to talk with people who have the experience, knowledge, and technical expertise relative to most Classic Whalers. Also imagine having the opportunity to talk face to face with other owners about the things we love most, our Classic Whalers. Each attendee could donate a small fee to fund the administrative costs associated with planning the event, booking the facility, and putting the convention agenda together. Presentations could be categorized similar to discussion areas on this site. I was just curious if there are others who would like to attend such a convention. I retired at the end of May this year after a lengthy career with AT&T/BellSouth. I would gladly assist with the planning and/or facilitation of such a meeting. Maybe this is a little too ambitious, especially for those who are not retired, but I would be interested in other owner's thoughts. Thanks!

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JLH,

I have often thought about the same thing... It is a great idea but I am not sure how many people could make it...

I just retired last month so I have the time but not sure if I want to travel to a "Central" location...
A good "Central" location for me is when everyone comes to my 44 acre ranch to visit... B)

A large lake with plenty of Hotel/Motel accommodations in close vicinity would be great....
Something to think about....
I just hate to give a party and no one shows up..... Ouch...

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Not a bad idea.
But like Joe said about central location.
Like JLH I live on the east coast and it would be costly to go to a central location.
But given a year to plan.....maybe.
Or I would love to see Joes 44 acre ranch in N Cali.
That would probally make me go.

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So its on at Joe's place? :D:D:D:D lol

Count me in!

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That idea sounds GREAT, I unfortunately am an idiot, and can't re-tire yet, a good central location would be "New York City" (just kidding). It would be great if we could get a pic of a group "Hole Shot" of all of our whaler's taking off at once (like those water skiing pic's from the 1950's, 200 hundred boats taking off with 10 skiier's each on the back and just foam behind the boats).

mw

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Sounds like a great idea to me. Count me in too.

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Thanks for the quick responses. Joe, I had the same thoughts before posting this idea; "Who would show up, and where is a good central location?" It would be a commitment in time and money. I was thinking maybe "Texas," would be somewhat central, but maybe not. Hey, I was born in Altadena, but my parents moved to Georgia when I was 3 years old. If you hosted the convention Joe, I would have an excuse to visit the location of my "Roots." Just kidding. My first thought was to post the idea and see what the responses were. If the responses were good enough, we could then explore potential meeting dates and locations. I have all kind of ideas about such a meeting, as I know other Classic Whaler owners do to. Let's see where this takes us!

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Guys, I would love to do something along these lines however, I believe you would be seeing something coming soon about a 50th birthday party in Florida early next year. I would imagine that is going the first of these meetings. After that I would love to see it move from region to region every year. Sure there are some areas are difficult for some trailer their boat all the way there. However, if you wanted to go to one of these meets and could not bring the boat there would be a ride share program.

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I've often thought about this too....the main hurdle is getting a specific number of participants willing to commit to attending and to helping plan it.

When I first started frequenting Continuouswave there was an impromtu gathering in Port Huron, Mi on a July 4th Holiday, as I recall there were 8 Boats, Jimh, Whale Lure, Gambler, Backlash, Outre, Whitewater, Jim Gibson, and Home Aside. Initially everyone met at a local hotel lot near the ramp, it was pretty cool seeing all eight boats on the trailers, everyone walking around looking over each others boats, talking, exchanging ideas etc. It was the first time I met most of the attendees, prior to this I had only met Buckda.

I'll never forget first meeting LHG, he walked up bucket, spray bottle, and rag in hand, introduced himself, and proceeded to wipe down my hull and tell me what product to use and how to use it to remove some of the yellowing stains around the water line of my Montauk. I was really impressed by the friendly atmoshpere.

Anyway we then went boating out of the Black River, to the St. Clair River, and out into Lake Huron, afterward some of us stayed in slips and others stayed at the hotel and then did some more boating the next day.

Obviously, the most suitable venue would be a centralized place with accomodations in & out of water, slips for those who would stay aboard their boats, on a sizeable body of water, maybe one we could contract ahead of time for use by our group exclusively. Actually, I think this would probably work better with 2 year lead time for planning....

Pat

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Here's a start, anybody know any large lakes around here?

http://ask.yahoo.com/20010122.html10122.html

Pat

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Hey, i like the Texas idea!! :D Seriously, i'm in and have a pretty good trailoring range considering i picked RA up on the east coast! B)

Duf

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Texas? Now that's a central location.....and a convention here sure would be fun.

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Canada would be better up here you guys get a discount on your buck and get the taxes back at the border....

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I think it should be held in Branson. Plenty of facilities and entertainment, and if you can't bring your boat, you can always ride the Ducks!
http://www.bransonducks.com/

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The boat could make it...not sure about the trailer....:|

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If there is going to be a 50th birthday party in my own state, guess we need to consider 2009, or later. Anyone have any information on the Florida event?

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Florida never sucks in February. But that's just an opinion from Philadelphia, where it usually does suck in February!

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JLH49,

You are probably already familiar with the Whaler "continuous wave" website. They have a section committed to rendezvous. It's easier to get hooked up with folks in your area of the country. You may want to check it out.

Brian

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Thanks Brian. I am familiar with ContinuousWave.com and used it as an information source before discovering this site. My initial intent with this posting was aimed at a nationwide meeting, rather than regional. I will take a look! Thanks again!

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Our "Regional" section is for regional discussions and for people in that particular area to make plans for a get together or "Rendezvous"...

We also have a "Members Location Map" on our site so people can see who is in their immediate area or state and get to know each other if they so desire.
Members Location Map