It's really too bad that Americans (generally) always seem to be like little kids, fascinated by only the new until of course something new comes along. The people of western Europe (they must be fine people) appreciate the beauty and the history of these magnificent wooden boats that often take more than a push of a button... The skill and enjoyment of working a wooden sailing boat coaxing her to your will by wind and sea. That takes a mighty fine person of which I as an American, have absolutely not one doubt.
Terry, don't throw all Americans into that boat. There are a lot of Americans supporting schools, restoration projects, and things of that sort, that pertain to history and wooden boats. I would like to see more appreciation for utilizing good quality items for long periods of time. You are right about how we do treat a lot of things that we use every day, where it seems we buy something but disregard it years in advance of its useful lifetime in exchange for the "new" thing. But I love what I am seeing in the wooden boat industry here in the United States. There's lots of large and small wood boat builders. And large and small wooden boat owners. And a lot of programs dedicated to bring awareness to the use of wooden boats when they were more common.
