Need a Precise Explanation

[Paul Annapolis]

Dear Zen girl! You sound like a great lady--and you'll continue to do great things with your boat--centerboard or not!. As a suggestion--when you pose a question, why not consider providing a bit more detail and background and a bit about what you need to know, your plans and your goals? Keep in mind that for many of your questions, the basics are often already answered online and in books and so many sources. Do you already own this boat? Why did you get a boat in Connecticut and you are in Texas? What else do you want to know about your boat? In general the Bristols were top production boats and many, many people cruise all over in them. You have gotten good answers about keel centerboards. Anytime you pose a question here, you get a lot of opinions and sometimes folks argue as if we were talking abortion rights or gun control. Everyone has an opinion, so the more specific your questions, the more likely yu'll get a helpful series of answers. A lot of sailors, generally the novices and less experienced think it is all about the boat when more often than not, safety and enjoyment and good sailing is about seawomanship and leadership. Same for anchoring--people here fight and argue about anchors but similarly, good anchoring is just as much about choosing a good spot and setting it right than it is about the anchor itself. Adios!

[CdS2 Roland]

A picture will give you an idea.
Draft centerboard up 1.75 m. / Center board down 3.5 m.

[Stu Jackson]

Congratulations on your new-to-you boat.

That's pretty much what I guessed, since sometimes all the information doesn't make it into a first post. We often see that follow-up responses fill in the blanks to better help us to help you.

Gotta be a tough cookie with this crowd.

Welcome.

Originally Posted by zengirl

Thanks to all for all the great info. Paul Annapolis, to clear up your confusion, I have never seen my boat. I am in Midland, Tx and my boat is in Brandon, Ct. She won't be in the water until May of next year. "what can i do to change this" was a stupid question. Agreed.
I was fine with the whole setup until I read something negative about it. Got paranoid and got on here to get the real scoop. I have read and read about shoal keel centerboards and the info I got here is tops compared to what's in the books. Don't worry (I know you won't) about being harsh, I'm a tough cookie and thanks again for all the input.

[roverhi]

Originally Posted by zengirl

Thanks to all for all the great info. Paul Annapolis, to clear up your confusion, I have never seen my boat. I am in Midland, Tx and my boat is in Brandon, Ct. She won't be in the water until May of next year. "what can i do to change this" was a stupid question. Agreed.
I was fine with the whole setup until I read something negative about it. Got paranoid and got on here to get the real scoop. I have read and read about shoal keel centerboards and the info I got here is tops compared to what's in the books. Don't worry (I know you won't) about being harsh, I'm a tough cookie and thanks again for all the input.

If it will make you feel better, bought my first C/B boat sight unseen from 5,000 miles away. It was a new Morgan 35 that I took delivery of in St. Pete, commisioned the boat in a week and sailed to Norfolk, VA with my future wife and cousin in another 2 weeks. Didn't know anything about C/B boats other than shallow draft. Bought a Morgan because the Morgan dealer in Hawaii took my boat in trade. the purchase decision was between the M33 fin keel or the M35 fin keel/C/B. The M35 won out because it was the biggest boat I could make the payments on while living aboard.