Just buy/build a boat you like...

Interesting times in education, a moment of reflection on a passing, and it might be "perfectly reasonable" in an ass-backwards world...

The web has kind of a strange effect on the world of cruising and sailboat stuff...

It used to be that if you wanted to buy a boat you'd look at boats, see one that you liked that you could afford, and then buy it or some such.

That said, once you got the boat sorted out and fixed up you'd get on the water and sooner or later run into someone or other that would not like or approve of your choice... Sort of a no-win situation because if you'd bought a Westsail you'll find a guy to regale you with all of its supposed flaws but, on the other hand, if you'd bought a lighter displacement CAL 34 you'd have run into a guy who'd regale you with its flaws and tell you that you really should have bought a Westsail.

Like I said a no-win situation...

Of course, now we have the internet and you can find any number of contrary opinions on tap 24/7 and if you're in need of abuse all you have to do is write in to a forum that you're considering buying a Westsail...

I might add that the experts who will cite chapter and verse of the failings of (insert whatever boat design here) will, more than likely, have had zero experience with said boat but might have talked to a guy in a bar who knew a guy who knew a guy who might have had one.

The scary thing for me is how folks seem to really need the approval of faceless folks and seem unable to make a decision unless they get full consensus that the boat they are thinking of buying passes muster.

Case in point: a reader dropped me an email yesterday that he was considering buying a certain boat but "some folks on the internet" don't seem to like Wharram catamarans and have as much as said that he'd be an idiot to have one...

Wharram cats do seem to garner the same sort of treatment that Westsails get and just like Westsails most of the folks who Wharram bash have neither sailed on or spent any quality time on one. Now, I don't know about you, but if I was considering buying or building a boat I'd want to talk to a guy who has spent time and made some voyages on one and not a guy whose main claim to fame is that he's posted 79,000 posts on a sailing forum...

Ya think?

By the way, since we were speaking of James Wharram, there is an excellent interview with him over on Scott's Boat Pages which is well worth watching...

Listening to Pure Prairie League

So it goes...