I make no pretensions as to being in the marine trades. I am strictly an amateur at any boat work I do, and often I don't know whether I did it well until I see how it holds up over time. My current painting project is a case in point- I will really know how well I did as I see how it endures. It all looks shiny when you put it on. (Of course, with an inverter, if it catches fire as soon as you start it up, I guess that tells you something.)
We should represent ourselves honestly; people who are doing research and presenting it as their own original work are not being truthful. People who are speaking from experience ought to say so, but they ought to quantify their experience in some way as well. For example, I am in the midst of my first Awlgrip job. I am figuring out how much of an authority I am on this, and let me tell you, it ain't much of one at all. If anything, I feel more ignorant as I go along. No one should take advice from me on how to apply Awlgrip, unless they want to know how NOT to do it. On the other hand, I've been asked questions in the past about medical concerns, first aid, etc, and I would fairly hold myself as knowledgeable enough to answer those questions. I do not pretend than any opinion I hold is the final answer to anything.
We need to concentrate- and everyone here is entirely capable of this- on making decent manners a first goal of this forum. This is not enforceable and can't be mandated. It has to be an effort by the group, as a group, to consciously try to keep postings on topic, avoid personal attacks, and to speak honestly and fairly. No amount of policing by Doug, Karl, or myself can ever achieve this. It has to be something we all want, and it can only be achieved by example.
What I hope is this: if we can improve the tone of discussion here, we can possibly attract more people and more expertise onto this forum. I hope we will all see the need for this. As I said, and others have corroborated, we've lost participants whose experience and opinions were valuable because they were ill-treated here. It's time that we made this forum a place that attracts the owners of Hatteras Yachts, not one that discourages them.
