Hi David, Just pepper away with your questions. About the only positive thing about getting old is that you have run aground often enough, reefed often enough, wrestled with non functioning engines and water pumps, gone through the dinghy drill - big, too tough to tow; go smaller. Then it becomes; but it can't hold four adults (teenagers are adults, weight wise); then you try an inflatable.... So, the only thing an old salt can pass on is his experiences and reasons for making the choices he did. Why reinvent the wheel? Don't hesitate. Raise the questions, and if I can't answer a specific one, at least I may be able to point you in the direction of someone who can give you the answer. May 2007 bring you almost nothing but broad reaches (an occasional slog to windward breaks the monotony), and always a hands breadth of water under your keel, where ever you sail. Connie