Sometimes I really have to wonder about myself and why I seem to attract certain kinds of people. I also have to wonder to myself, what makes these certain kinds of people want to share their advice with me.
Let me back up and shed a little light on this.
Every boatyard, marina, yacht club, coffee shop, bar, and workplace has one I am sure of it. You might even know the guy. He is by all appearances a nice guy, non threatening, somewhat likeable, apparently happy and on and on. It isn’t until he opens his mouth that you begin to scratch your head.
If you are talking about jet planes he will very quickly interrupt and immediately dominate the conversation sharing his vast personal knowledge and expertise on jet planes. The fact that he has never flown makes no difference. He is the worlds authority on jet planes. Well, this is equally true for boats. There is always “that” guy, who knows more than you ever will, who has more experience than you ever will, and will always be, well let’s just use the word better than you. If you are doing something in an A-B-C fashion, he will quickly point out, and have some kind of story to prove it, that you are doing it wrong and it should be done in a B-A-C fashion.
I have once again attracted “that” guy. I was on holidays this week and spent a considerable amount of time in the boatyard working on Akupara and low and behold, “that” guy spotted me. He seemed friendly at first but within minutes he set out to prove how much more he knew than I.
Look, I do not pretend to know everything. If you scour my blog I challenge you to find one place where I have stated that I knew more, was smarter, or was just all around better. I guarantee you that you will not find it because I know it is not there. The entire purpose of this blog was to record the process of rebuilding a Whitby 42 in order to measure our own progress, share with family and friends, meet other Whitby 42 owners and perhaps start a dialogue about projects where we could share our knowledge. I also thought that maybe, just maybe, someone who is considering attempting a project of this size might either find inspiration, learn something new, or wise up and not start it to begin with. I did not start it to mesmerize the world with my greatness. Will I make mistakes, of course, who doesn’t. Will people offer valuable advice, of course, and I will take it into consideration. But ultimately this is our boat, our project, and we will do it whatever way we decide to do it and the outcome will be ours alone.
Several years ago at the marina, I met another “that” guy. I was planning on going offshore with my Alberg 30 at the time and the boat was obviously being set up for just such a trip. Well, “that” guy came along and proceeded to tell my a hundred reasons as to why I would be stupid to attempt it, hurricane winds, 60 foot waves, and I would never be able to complete it. Turns out that he has never been offshore, and basically has never been out of the marina. When asked about his adventures on the high seas he quickly went off to tell me all about his missed opportunity in life and how it was somebody else’s fault. Last I heard of him he ran his boat aground just outside the marina and had a nice hefty insurance claim to make repairs. Of course, the rock that he hit was never, had never, and will never be on any chart.
So back to the original question. I wonder if it is me or something about me that attracts this type of personality or is it just so common that it affects everyone? I am not sure but I think my Summer Resolution is going to be to immediately call bull shit from now own, and get on with my project.
At some point, someone may realize that I do actually have a grain of knowledge about what I am doing, and I do have a plan on how to get it done. I may not be right, and I am sure there are a 100 better ways, but let’s just agree that if you are going to start impressing me with all of your knowledge, I am going to call bull shit and walk away. So in order to avoid the potential uncomfortable moment, perhaps save it for someone else.
That being said, if you are looking to share, please go ahead, if you are looking to impress, move on.
Damn, I really need to get Akupara out of this boatyard and into the water before I turn into one of these guys who’s boat keeps getting moved farther and farther to the back of the lot, or the Boulevard of Broken Dreams as I like to call it.
In case you are interested, there is a short video that can be seen. It isn’t the greatest, but it will definitely give you an idea of where Akupara is and the company she is forced to keep at the moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2maxxGLL8Q