[cranky]

Is it just me or is it really so. It seems to me that since the advent of all these formal qualifications in yachting that the amount of people truely passionate about yachts, yachting and all things involved has all but disappeared. It seems to be nearly impossible to find a deckhand who can lay a good coat of varnish or for that matter even want to learn. All they want to do is get enough money to go to school to become a Captain. Then they think it's beneath them to do such menial tasks. It is by doing these tasks that one truely gets to know the yacht they are working on and it is this knowledge that is the basis of true seamanship. And is not a captain an accomplished seaman.