A fellow "Texan" wrote:

Considering that the poster said he was out of Corpus Christi and
most of the bays and anything out of the channel in that area is
ultra shallow, having a centerboard boat is an excellent idea.

Hello fellow "Texan",

Thanks for your input! Even though I have sailed in Corpus Christi
it's unfortunately not my home turf (but my dream adventure would
probably start out of Corpus or Houston). I read an explanation about
why Corpus bay is so shallow. As a fellow Texan you probably already
know this, but it turns out that at the end of the last ice age what
is now the bay was just the flood plain for the Nueces River. As the
Ice Age ended the ocean level rose, filling the plain and creating the
bay. Pretty neat I thought when I read that! I currently have a boat
with a 4 foot draft that allows me to get by, specially on my home
turf. I would be interested in your views on centerboards. As you
mentioned, these are definitely a must on Corpus... but how about for
extended passages? They are great if you want to anchor in the
shallows, but I'd hate to have one more thing that could possibly
break? One of these days I may start a new thread to see if we have
better luck seeing as the original post has unfortunately turned into
a mud-slinging debacle.

Bob Whitaker
"Free Spirit"