I think this thread stems from a lack of information about how the
Taiwanese boat building industry functioned (now even the Taiwanese
outsource construction to the mainland because local labor is no longer
competitive). At some point I came across the comment that many
Taiwanese boat builders have good building skills but lack a sense of
what's seaworthy, simply because the Taiwanese simply cannot sail as,
for example, can their American or European counterparts.

OWTW is blessed with several of what I've taken to calling "Master
Huang's surprises". For example, the cabin house interior is nicely
built, of course. Except the aft corner posts block three of the six
bolts securing the sheet winches and, should the winches ever need to be
replaced, it's going to be an ugly, expensive job. The Baba 35 fuel
tank replacement debacle is another of Master Huang's surprises, as are
the covered-over chain plates for the whisker stays. Anyone with any
real sea sense would never have made these mistakes.

As to the ambiguity in names, Jimmy Buffett's line about "it's all about
the [expletive deleted] deal" sums it up. My guess is whoever brought
money to the table got to make the choices, consistency and continuity
and marketing common sense taking hindmost to that.

Or not. All the Chinese I learned came off a placemat. [grin]

Rick



-----------------------------------------------------------
Baba Panda and Tashiba Owners Mailing List --
For more info, please check out the FAQ...
http://www.ballreich.net/hypermail/baba-l/faq.html

Received on Tue Nov 08 06:04:23 2005