First, now that I'm done with my build and sailing it now, I changed my sign-in name from "Sawdust" to "Mummichog", the name I picked for my Skerry.  

The mummichog is also known around here as a "mud minnow" and is a small killifish endemic to the estuaries of the East Coast.  It is very robust and survives in nearly all waters.  It was also the first fish in space (look it up!).  

I was trying out some further adjustments today off Annapolis and have a new respect for the skerry's seakeeping and the wisdom of an early reef.  While in the harbor, I was sailing with the full lug sail, but as I headed out to the Bay, the southeast wind was more fully exposed: 16 knots true, gusts to 18 per TPLM2. 

Anyway, on a close reach on starboard tack out of the Severn, I made it out past Hackett's Point and realized I needed to get on port tack to make it back into harbor.  However, with the nasty chop and that much wind, I just couldn't get it to tack through. I know this is technique, but I've been there even in a keelboat and it can be hard. So, I tried to run down and jibe around, only to find that with that much wind, a skerry is way overpowered and not being a planing boat, gets uncontrollable about 6 knots of boat speed.  If I knew the boat better, I should be able to do a quick jibe from reach to reach, but if I screwed up I was going in the drink.

So, time for that reef I hadn't put in yet.  The good news is, once the sail was down, the skerry "lies a-hull" well.  That is, drifts sideways downwind, bobbing on the seas.  I was drifting at nearly 1.5 knots.  So, with the sail down in my lap, I could tie in the reef and rehoist on port and make it back in with no worries.

Lesson:  Reef early, cause this thng accelerates VERY fast in big breeze.