Yes, the metric system is nice.

In Norway metric system is what we use. I am 1.95 meter, I say, not 6'5". But how long is a sailboat in Norway? It may be 29'. We use feet for boat length. And for several other purposes. It is easier for me to talk about a 17' or 18' kayak than specifying 5.18m or 5.46 m (if my memory serves me correct - I did not calculate noe, I know that 1' = o.3048m.)

I do believe that it is handy to have several scales available for measuring. It only becomes inconvenient when one do not know the conversion factors. Like when I will compare amount of epoxy in a 1.5 gal package from US with the amount in a 6 kg package in Norway, and I do not know the density of epoxy. (They seem to use volume in the US and weigth in Norway.)

My opinion: We will just have to learn the conversion factors, and then we can handle this part of the world. But I prefere the decadic system better than the system with units divided in 12 or 6 or 21 smaller units. The decadic system is so nice because we use the decadic number system, and so calculating becomes so easy.

But this is a digression from the boatbuilding theme.

Jan Gunnar