The Gulf in our area tends to tall short spaced chop when the breeze is up expecially when the wind is on shore. The wave action can make it difficult to tack.I can think of one time around one of the hurricanes this summer I was out there and kicked back for a few minutes. Upon getting going again I couldn't get the boat to tack.It was because I wasn't doing it right. Boat not up to speed,weight in wrong place and not quickly tacking as the bows go up the wave........Ok, I was trying not to spill my beer

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