That is what an interactive forum is all about, i.e. "shared knowledge" is its highest calling... if you will.
Art-- Here is how I view it. I may respond to a question about how to best care for a teak deck, or what oil is best for an FL120, by stating what we do or what we have learned.
But in my very blunt opinion, I think anyone who takes my "advice" and acts on it without checking with a true expert-- a shipwright with a lot of experience with teak decks or a diesel shop with a lot of experience with FL120s-- is a fool.
Outside of its pure entertainment pastime value and opinions on fluff stuff like what's the best coffeemaker, the only value I think an internet forum has is what RTF said a few posts back about being a source for ideas that may be worth pursuing.
There is only one suggestion or piece of advice on TF that I can recall ever acting on, and that was to use GoJo as a cleaner for shorepower cords and fenders.
But for advice or recomendations or solutions to important questions or problems concerning our boat or boating, an internet forum is at the very bottom of our resource list.
If I want to know about taking a firearm into Canada, I call Canadian Customs directly. If I want to know the best way to overhaul the windows in our boat, I talk to or e-mail shipwrights with experience in overhauling the kind of windows we have. If we have questions about an unfamiliar new anchor type that we're interested in (which we had some years ago) we call the manufacture directly regardless of which country they happen to be in and put them on the spot about their product AND hunt down as many Independent user testimonials as we can find, either in person or on the internet.
The only boating forum we seek advice or solutions on is the Grand Banks owners forum because there are retired shipwrights and yard owners who participate who have forgotten more about GBs than I will ever know. But these are people whose credibility has been confirmed to us from sources outside the forum.
So, Art, if I post in answer to your question that we use Delo 400 30wt oil in our FL120s and we use Baldwin filters, don't YOU do that unless you confirm it with someone you KNOW has the experience and credibility to give you the correct information.
And yes, I know you don't have that type of engine so would not be asking my hypothetical question.
To relate this to the thread topic, I personally think the worst thing a boating newbie or wannabe can do is ask his "what kind of boat" or "what should I do" questions to a general boating forum. I think they should "call Canadian Customs" directly. Talk to brokers, walk the docks and talk to owners face to face. Talk to charter companies. Talk to friends who have boats. Talk to boatyards about specific types of boats they might be interested in. Talk to diesel shops about the pros and cons of such-and-such an engine.
A college professor once told the class I was in that the ONLY lasting value of an education is that it teaches you how to learn. In my opinion, if a person cannot figure out on his or her own how to get the best, most credible advice and accurate information on a particular activity--- boating in this case-- they'd be better off not attempting it at all.
My wife and I are considering buying a drift boat for fly fishing for steelhead. While I've been in a friend's drift boat several times, my wife and I know very little about them. There are dozens of manufactures, so which one to get? So we are driving to other states to visit drift boat companies. We are hanging out at river launches and pullouts talking to fishermen about their boats. We are reading testimonials from users about their particular boats. What we are NOT doing is asking an internet forum because we know what we'll get: a whole bunch of conflicting opinions and arguments from people whose credibility we cannot judge.
