It had been a couple of weeks since Steve Schuble had sold his Web site Offshoreonly.com and he still sounded exhausted. For more than 6 1/2 years, Schuble had nurtured the site into the dominant online forum in the performance-boating industry.

After "eating, breathing and living" the Web site, the announcement by Schuble that it had been sold to the corporation Internet Brands seemed to come out of nowhere. But talking with Schuble, he sees the sale as an evolution of the Web site.

"The decision to sell was the only way I saw to see it grow and go to the next level," Schuble said. "That means cross-promoting and expanding it into different markets."

Under Schuble's leadership, the site had seen phenomenal growth going from just 3,500 members in October 2001 to more than 53,000 members today. But the problem he faced—like most online forums—was bringing in more money to expand the site and pay for day-to-day costs such as new software and bandwidth.

Getting money from the members was a challenge considering that less than 10 percent of them paid for a membership. Advertisers were reluctant to pay rates comparable for a Web site that draws as many eyeballs as it does.

"The best way I saw it was a diminishing return," Schuble said. "The problem was advertisers and members don't want to pay."

Schuble sees a company like Internet Brands being able to bring advertisers from outside the industry and growing the membership base, which should increase revenues.

It's remarkable to see where the site has gone, especially since Schuble was essentially a one-man band behind the scenes. When the site went down, it was Schuble who'd fix it. A banner ad needed to be sold, you guess who'd end up doing it.

The job running the site was thankless at best. Schuble too often found himself having to police the forums because a small minority of members were out to create unnecessary controversies. Over the years he banished "several hundred" people from the forum for libelous statements or causing problems.

"Forums are a great place to share information," he said. "But they're also a place where (some) people enjoy creating controversy and manipulating information. Some people get a certain amount of excitement from that."

It fair to say most members never knew all the work that Schuble did.

Schuble can't remember a single day in the past six years where he didn't check in or do something on the Offshoreonly.com site. He recalled a few years ago when he planned to go on a snow mobile trip in Northern Michigan and wouldn't have Internet access for at least three days. It turned out that a nearby cabin had DSL with a wireless router, so Schuble "borrowed it" and was able to keep in contact with the site.

"I took my favorite hobby and turned it into a business," he said with a rye laugh. "Big mistake."

But it was Schuble's enthusiasm coupled with the members' passion that has made the site so successful. Take the Offshoreonly.com parties at the Miami Boat Show or Lake Rescue Shootout in Missouri, which attracted the industry's top players along with the forum members.

For now, Schuble will stay on with Offshoreonly.com to continue serving as the "mascot" as he calls it, but in the long-term I wouldn't be surprised if he has another Internet venture in the works. One thing is for certain, Schuble has given a major voice to the performance boater.