The one-upmanship is good and bad. It can get a bit too confrontational at times, but by hearing different opinions, we all can learn.

Everyone who builds a boat does so for his or her own personal reasons. Some want to spend time alone in their shops. Some want to save money. Some find the home built boat more beautiful. Some enjoy the feeling of satisfaction that comes from owning, showing, and completing their own handcrafted creation. Some enjoy experimenting with innovations and the education that comes from innovating (success and failure both should yield education).

Among this latter group you often find engineers. Engineers, by their nature, tend to be self confident, and esoteric (among other traits). Perhaps the confidence comes from competence in one particular area. I was never athletic as a young person, but I was academically gifted. My peers could run farther, run faster, catch and throw better, etc., but when it came to academics and to invention, most of them couldn't keep up with me. It is good to take some pride (in a healthy way) in what you are good at. We need, perhaps, to work on not demeaning the accomplishments of others.

Not everything posted is understood by all. I see posts that are specific to a particular task that I know nothing about, and sometimes I'm lost because I haven't been around the exact "hardware" being discussed. That doesn't mean I don't want it posted. I read it, try to get a general idea, and move on. If it sounds interesting I may ask for clarification.

If the engineering stuff gets too thick for you, just ask for clarification. It may be too complicated to explain, but often it isn't. Explaining it forces the person who says it to thoroughly think it through.

Being exposed to new material won't make any of us a worse person. I really enjoy the engineering discussions. I also enjoy the building discussions. They belong together. Designing is too imprtant to building, and vice versa, for either one to be ostracized.

That's my $.04

>

> It's getting hard to wade through all the one-upmanship of engineering
> credentials on this board. Most of us (I think), just want to build
> something that is esthetically pleasing and has a reasonable prognosis
> of surviving the rigors of bobbing around in boats, and, to that end,
> I will defer to tested designs. Rather, I'm looking for helpfull tips
> and techniques on joining and finishing wood and 'glass with a reasonable
> chance of survival, not a return to "geek" lunches at Cal
> Poly. A pound or two here and there won't make much difference...
> heck that's my KFC lunch while I'm watching the whales. JMHO

> Brian Millington