Chuck, do you enjoy the level of OT posting found here?

I don't mind it. If I go to a marine trade event or a yacht club meeting,
everybody is discussing a wide variety of subjects that certainly include
boats. It has been my practice to avoid being among the leaders in initiating
OT posts, but I'm not shy about contributing an opinion to the pot once it's
boiling.

Do you enjoy the personal attacks that outnumber the boating-related
posts?

No, of course not. That's a separate issue from the OT posts. In most cases,
the people who resort to personal attack are either not particularly adept in
social discourse, or (more often) become frustrated with a lack of mental or
verbal ability to discuss a subject on an issues basis. That frustration is
often manifest by name-calling and flaming. Such behavior is more commonly
encountered in emotionally charged topics like politics and religion- but it is
also a regular element in on-topic posts.
(Bayliner, anyone?)

It's the tone of so many of the posts that is disturbing, more so than the
subject matter. Too many times the group forgets how to disagree without
becoming disagreeable. I'm sure we have all been guilty at times.