Hello,
My name is Jesse Savary and I'm an experienced software developer with 8 years of experience under my belt, including 3 with NodeJS. I have looked over both RethinkDB and the sample chat application and can have both deployed for you to a Digital Ocean droplet in less than a day. It should only take me a couple of hours once I have the droplet credentials.
I frequently use Digital Ocean to host projects for my client and I am very familiar with their platform, so no worries there. Please contact me so we can discuss your project further, I look forward to hearing from you!
Best Wishes,
Jesse Savary