My objection to this subject is that it is irrelevant to the Gospel and has nothing to do with what God wants us to be doing in the world today.
I respectfully disagree. Noah's story is 1) The horrible consequences of sin 2) God's Holiness and judgment 3) Salvation. Peter agreed. See 2 Peter 3:1-9.
Noah serves as a reminder that God hates sin and that he will judge sin. The ark serves as a reminder that God also provides an escape if we will trust Him and His provision. The ark shows us that God's promises are sure, and that He will preserve (save) those who will trust in Him. Those who refuse to trust Him will perish. Noah put his trust in God's promise through the ark, we put our trust in Christ's finished work on the cross.
Genesis is the foundation for the Gospel. If Genesis is a myth, then we have no reliability that anything else in the New Testament is anything less than myth. BUT.....if Genesis is true, and we have the past to point towards...look what God did....then we can trust everything He has given us in the New Testament....look what God will do yet future.
If the Noah story wasn't important God wouldn't have given it to us to begin with, if it wasn't important Christ wouldn't have mentioned it, neither would the Apostles.
If I've misunderstood you, and its not the story of Noah that's irrelevant in your view, but merely the discussion of finding the ark you may have a point. Finding the ark isn't going to change the hearts and minds of those who don't believe. That much is obvious watching the many freepers mocking this discovery over the past few days on the various threads. BUT, should the ark ever truly be found, I believe it will strengthen the faith of those who already DO believe and may bring about more boldness in them to witness to others more, which is precisely what God wants us to be doing in the world today. That's a good thing.