On 2008-10-15 14:13:18 -0400, "Wilbur Hubbard"
said:

You don't have choppy little seas you find on your little bays and
inland lakes that can raise the stern out of the water enough to
disengage the rudder because of the teeter-totter effect of short
wavelengths. Instead, you have large, long period waves with crests
that are not breaking or anything close to breaking unless you're
sailing in a gale and those who sail in a gale under spinnaker are
crazy.

I agree that whomever mentioned the rudder coming out of the water on a
reach/run just wasn't thinking.... Xan's rudder reaches down 3.5'+,
only 6" less than our keel. If her rudder gets significantly un-wetted,
so does her keel .....

We know that it takes on the order of 40 degree heel to show any keel,
so I doubt that's going to happen, as I have never seen us hit 45 for
more than instants.

Strike that. Last October 27-28, I made a bunch of mistakes which
landed Xan and one of her sisters in shallow-enough water to show 45
degrees on the inclinometer as the water blew away overnight. Since we
were still alongside when the sun came up, 'twas easy to see their hull
and keel. Even at that extreme angle, the keel was barely exposed, the
hull well free of the bottom. I do believe that the Towboat/US guy was
surprised how easily he pulled us out. As soon as he threw the
throttles forward, we moved.

And before you slam me for such a stupid set of mistakes, the pics from
that "learning experience" are on Xan's pages (below). I, like Skip, am
secure enough to say "I screwed up" in an effort to warn others not to
do *those* particularly stupid tricks.

EVERYONE who sails does stupid tricks. It's part of the fun -- afterwards.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/