> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> West Wight Potter Website at URL
> http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> I want to put on my "Dr. Science" hat and rant and rave for a moment, if
> you folks will indulge me, please.
>
> "Anyone who has tried to sail, or even tow, a swamped boat will tell you
> that water below the waterline definitly does not become weightless."
>
> In summary, unless your hull has a hole in it, the water outside knows
> nothing about the water inside. The problem with water ballast is not so
> much WHAT it is but WHERE it is.
Gadzooks! I think Dave's onto something here. Now I'm not an engineer and
I don't have a Dr. Science hat, but I do know a little bit about beer
science. Every few years I meet a couple of old college buddies out in
Gunnison, Colorado, for a little backpacking in the mountains. We four
wheel up to an old abandoned line shack that serves as our trail head.
Concealed in some bushes is a spring brimming with crystal clear ice cold
water. Before heading out on the trail, we drop a 12 pack of beer (not
light beer) in a mesh bag into the water. When we return several days
later, the ice cold beer is a sweet ending to a great trip. Try it
yourself. Take an empty bottle with a screw-on lid and try to sink it.
Then take off the lid, fill the bottle with water, and try again. Not as
rewarding as beer science, but it does illustrate the point.
Good sailiing,
Steve Eustace
P-15 #1157, Kokopelli 2
Euless, TX
>
>
>