Dave, Basically I recorded where the the water surface touched the hull at the beam in calm water, since it is pretty hard to measure from the keel to the surface under water (and the water I was last in was not swimming temp for me). The scum line I lost at Anacortes, since California does not like trailer boats with scum these days. I measured everything to the ground as a reference point (on a level trailer), and did the arithmetic. My principal motivation was to confirm that the kickup rudder will "probe" the bottom before the keel grounds, so the inevitable inch or two error either way did not concern me. A pitching, rolling or heeled boat changes the equation a lot more than that. Tom Jenkins M17 Scintilla ----- Original Message ----- From: "W David Scobie" <wdscobie@yahoo.com> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, July 04, 2009 4:46 PM Subject: Re: M_Boats: draft tom: did you measure the 'scum line'; or did you swim? dave scobie M17 #375 - SWEET PEA visit SWEET PEA's www-site: http://www.m17-375.webs.com --- On Sat, 7/4/09, Tom Jenkins <tjenk@gte.net> wrote: Folks, It might be useful to know a boat's draft under various conditions, so I did some measurements, and wonder if others' estimates are in the same ballpark. Fully-loaded (and I mean fully) for two weeks on saltwater, the keel reached down about 27" (presumably 42" with the centerboard down). My IdaSailor rudder sticks down another foot, for a total draft of 54". Tom Jenkins 2004 M17 Scintilla _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!