Why would Marlow have "abused the old church at home for not being a cathedral"?

Question

In Youth: A Narrative, Joseph Conrad writes:

“We had fair breezes, smooth water right into the tropics, and the old Judea lumbered along in the sunshine. When she went eight knots everything cracked aloft, and we tied our caps to our heads; but mostly she strolled on at the rate of three miles an hour. What could you expect? She was tired—that old ship. Her youth was where mine is—where yours is— you fellows who listen to this yarn; and what friend would throw your years and your weariness in your face? We didn’t grumble at her. To us aft, at least, it seemed as though we had been born in her, reared in her, had lived in her for ages, had never known any other ship. I would just as soon have abused the old village church at home for not being a cathedral.

I don't exactly understand the last sentence, but my intuitions are that the sentiment of the last sentence contradicts that of the former sentences. It seems to me, that initially Marlow expresses a sentimentality for the ship, and possibly a veneration for its endurance as it becomes increasingly dilapidated, and requiring of repairs during its journey to Java head, whereas the last sentence conveys the sentiment that he would rather chastise a similar old object (a church) for not having the efficacy that an, assumedly, well-furnished and maintained cathedral would, without consideration of its past service. Is this sarcasm?

Answer 1

The narrator first says "We didn't grumble at her", and then says "I would just as soon have..." This is saying that he wouldn't grumble at the old church, and he doesn't grumble at the ship.

In both cases, he's saying that he's satisfied with what he's got. No matter how much grumble, your old local church isn't going to turn into a grand cathedral. It's pointless.
In the same vein, it's also pointless to grumble at the ship. It's an old ship, and it's been through a lot. It'll go at the speed that it goes and that's that. It'll do as much good to complain about the old church not being a grand cathedral as it'll do to complain about the ship being old and not the fastest - i.e., none. It's pointless.

The phrase "I would just as soon" means "I am equally likely to do X as to do Y". In this case, X is "berate the church" and Y is "berate the ship". He is equally likely to berate the church as he is to berate the ship. Since he has already stated that the likelihood of him berating the ship is none, we can conclude that the likelihood of him berating the church is equal to that - also none.