the discussion about Mboats and anchoring behavior remind me that a bad night at anchor, or on a boey, makes one wonder 'what was i thinking!'. i had such an experience summer 2007 on a trip around vashon island, puget sound. i made the choice to go on a boey instead of staying in the marina at blake island state park (washington state, USA). two summers ago i had stayed in the marina and spent a night of being awoken by the gaggle of stinkpotters talking (loudly) and playing (even louder) until 3AM ... this group even had their young children (i mean under 5 years of age) running up and down the dock until 1AM! not being one for crowds to begin with, i just didn't want to face this experience again. i tied to a boey on the south-west corner of blake island mid-afternoon when the seas were not bad. there was also a slight breeze so the bow was staying into the waves. as afternoon went to evening things changed ... blake island, for those that don't know, is located just west of seattle. it is also in the middle of following: * car ferry traffic * commuter ferry traffic (ie, passenger only) * shipping traffic * conflicting tide flows * sits in the middle of lots of close shores so all waves and wakes reflect back in a confused mess i had not really thought through all the above. i should have known better as i had spent some nights 'rocking' at blake island in my folk's cheoy lee 32' ... and that was a LOT more boat than a M15! the seas 'got up' in the early evening as ferry traffic increased. Scred, my M15, began to roll. as shipping came by i rolled. as the tide moved the boat would put beam to the wind and rolled. i ended up cooking on the cockpit floor holding the pan on the stove. as already stated by other Mboat owners, the lapstrakes do make a bit of a noise if the seas are up at anchor (or boey). this is the tradeoff to the classic looks, stronger hull (for size) and the dry cockpit when sailing in a blow. i'll take the noise as 'bad anchorage experiences' are rare; and one gets better at choosing where to anchor after making mistakes. i'm not prone to be seasick, nor do i have difficulty sleeping in 'adverse' conditions. in general if i know 'why a noise is being made' i'll sleep fine. during this night i did sleep ... not the best sleep of my life, but one that was restful. i did not get seasick. at about 5AM i woke because the boat stopped rocking. the ferry traffic had stopped at midnight and there was no wind. after the waves had stopped bouncing off of all the shores things were smooth. the ferry wakes began again at about 6AM, but as it was early in the day the 'seas' didn't become confused. the morning was great as blake has WONDERFUL views of seattle, the olympic mountains and mt. rainer. i saw all three sitting comfortably in the cockpit drinking a few cups of coffee. i sailed off the boey and later found the only 'after effect' of the night when the morning breeze failed i starting the outboard. the honda SMOKED because of the oil being tossed in the crankcase all night. after 2-3 minutes the engine exhaust became 'clear'. no damage ... the motor ran with no challenges the rest of the summer - including the san juan is. MSOG cruise. in early april 2008 the little 'iron horse' got a clean bill of health during the spring motor check by my honda marine repair guy. below is a link to a video made the evening and morning described. you can see how the boat rolled! there is also my 'rant' about the blake island anchorage. take note of the noise of the hull. during the 'in cabin' footage watch the seas through the cabin window. the morning views speak for themselves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgkMzAzNWjg to add my 2-cents to the discussion of a Mboat 'sailing' when at anchor or on a boey - i've experienced no greater 'walking' in my M15 than on the other boats i've anchored. sailboats want to sail. the keel and rudder will cause a forward motion with just a breath of wind. motor boats don't do this (as much) because they have little rudders, and no keel. when anchoring in the midst of other sailboats i've not noticed my M15 'wagging' any more than the sail-type craft. david scobie M15 #288, Scred (yes i finally named the boat) --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.