Invitation from the C34IA for New Forum / Message Board Registrants

[Stu Jackson]

Hi

We've noticed a great deal of new activity on the Message Board and welcome all of those of you who are new to our Message Board.  We hope we've already helped you out and please know that we will do everything we can to point you in the right direction and answer your questions, old or new, as they come up.

!!!NEW  PayPal Option for payment as of February 2009!!!

For those of you new to the Message Board, we'd like to make you aware of the Catalina 34 International Association, since being a registrant on this Forum is not a membership in IA.  We're pleased to present and support this website for everyone.

Please note that purchasers of BRAND NEW boats will become C34IA members for free for one year, courtesy of Catalina Yachts.

The following is a letter that we prepared to send to all prospective members, folks who we've heard that have bought a C34.  If there's anyone you know, or even yourselves (!), please consider joining our Association.  The following describes the advantages and features that we offer.

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I am writing to acquaint you with the Catalina 34 National Association, and to invite you to join one of the most active owners groups around.  The Catalina 34 National Association is a volunteer organization of approximately 720 C-34 owners who are dedicated to increasing the enjoyment of owning their Catalina C34s.  The benefits to you of belonging to the Catalina 34 National Association include:

  *   Subscription to the quarterly Mainsheet magazine, which includes articles and Technical Tips for Catalina 34s and all other Catalina Yachts
  *   Access to the website collection of all past issues of Tech Notes Online from Mainsheet
  *   Participation in our chartered local fleets, and affiliation with all-Catalina Associations   
  *   Eligibility to participate in the annual National Regatta with activities for both cruisers and racers
  *   Affiliation with BOAT/US; C-34 Association members may receive 1/2 price membership
*   Participation in the Catalina 34 website: www.c34.org
  *   Access to the complete Technical Notes Online free of charge to all C34IA members
*   Maintaining a high resale value of your C-34 through a strong class association

The local Fleets are comprised of regional groups of owners who often organize cruises, week-end raft-ups, races and social activities.  They provide an excellent opportunity to meet people with similar interests.

Our fleets are:

Fleet 1 - San Francisco
Fleet 12 - Chesapeake Bay
Fleet 13 - Lake Lanier GA
NEW Fleet 14 East Coast Florida

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You can easily join the C34IA by going to this link: http://www.c34.org/join_top.html  Just fill out the form and SNAIL MAIL it with your check. 

!!!NEW  PayPal Option for payment as of February 2009!!!

Please note that dues are $25/$45 two years.

Thanks, and welcome to the C34 Community.

Please note that signups via PayPal do not instigate an automatic reply to your membership.  We still manually enter your information in our membership database and then send you a welcome email with the user name and password for the TNOs.   We will respond to your PayPal input within a few business days, not immediately, and the process is not automatically generated by computers.  We're still in the Golden Age of Sail - yup, you betcha!

[Stu Jackson]

In some cases, folks join because they think that most of their membership dues go to the C34IA distributing the quarterly Mainsheet magazines.

Mainsheet provides great information, with a special pull-out "Tech Notes" section.  We encourage you all to read not only the C34 section of the magazine, but the entire publication.  There are so many features and equipment that are common to the boats in our size range that there are many good ideas to be shared and absorbed.  Interesting and applicable solutions to common problems and solutions are not unique to the size of our boats.

That's where most of the dues go.  Much of the rest of it goes for maintaining this website.

We're glad that you're all a part of our community.