Where are we headed

From my observation there are many parallels between the four-wheel drive scene as it is today and the amateur yachting scene as it was in the seventies. It has become a lucrative industry feeding in large part on perception and image rather than reality.
Otherwise sane, intelligent, shrewd and analytical people came apart at the seams and put at risk resources, careers and relationships to chase a romantic dream, which was in large part based on information gained by reading the promoted literature of the day. This ranged from the writings of Joshua Slocum to that most insidious propaganda tool, the monthly yachting magazine. The newsagent’s shelves were stacked with these and the victim was spoiled for choice of titles if not content at the height of the golden years. These magazines were of course driven solely by advertising and circulation figures. As the same few syndicated writers contributed to most of them and they were vying for the same advertising dollar there was precious real difference between them, and the true interests of the readers were way down the priority list if considered at all. Their strident editorial comment was outwardly independent opinion but was in fact a reflection of the majority opinion of its readers and written from the point of view of its advertisers. As time went by and their circulation numbers rose there was less and less technical content and more froth with each issue. If this sounds familiar could you not draw a parallel using Len Beadle or the Bush Tucker Man and the current crop of 4X4 magazines?
The results of this were amazing. Any protected piece of available sheltered coastline within commercial distance of a yacht chandler or boat books franchise was a potential Marina, these filled with expensive show ponies few of which ever made more than the occasional Saturday afternoon trip out of the harbour mouth. Take a look under the average 4X4 luxo cruiser and see if you can find any stone chips. Boat building boomed. It was not out of the norm to see a construction larger than the house suddenly start growing in your neighbors yard. The new cruising yacht. This was in many cases the project of a guy who until the week before could not replace a hinge on the garden gate. Tafe courses were at a premium. Intractable opinion and absolute conviction matched only by a chronic lack of real world experience led to arguments relating to the merits of one construction material, design, rig or diesel engine over another which lasted until booze ran out or fatigue set in. Toyota – Nissan debate anyone, or you could really fuel the fire and throw a defender in, the concrete boat factor.
There was in the middle of this euphoria of course a few real Yachtsmen, who over years with few facilities and their own hard won experience and resourcefulness had, in tough practical small craft along with remarkable mates overcome the real difficulties and made fantastic voyages which rewarded them with the experiences and the isolation they preferred. They were the real losers. What had been was replaced with the inevitable problems, rules and commercialism catering to a much less able and differently motivated group. Groups of yachts whose owners skills existed only in their minds were shepherded by experienced guides to visit the remote and isolated spots they had read about, of course the fact that the isolation evaporated the instant they arrived was lost on them. Public toilets and Marina fees to follow. The focus had shifted completely from the voyage and destination to the boat itself, its image and place as a status symbol.