Eric, I'd love to just get out there and "DO IT" except for the minor technicality of my not having a spi at the moment - and it wouldn't make sense to add one to my H17 if I upgrade soon to an F16... That being said, I have learned and continue to learn so much from you guys which I know will make my first forays into spi so much more fun and productive. What great members this forum has!

OK, not to change to subject too much, but since the subject of tea bagging has been raised, I'd like to explore it a bit more. Specifically, when singlehanding in higher winds and waves (with or without spi) mishaps do occur (not everyone has or uses chicken lines or footstraps, and even with nonskid on the decks you can slip or a wave can wash your feet off the deck). So I'd like to hear about peoples techniques for recovery, not for just getting dunked while on the wire, but from losing foot contact with the boat while on the wire (maybe I should call that "tea dragging"... although it's not happened to me yet it's just a matter of time and I've been thinking about what the best way to recover would be. I would think that you would swing forward, especially if you bury a bow in a wave. If you just slip off it might be possible to hang onto the tiller and the mainsheet and head up into irons to reboard. If you swing forward too much I would think that you'd have to release the tiller and hang onto the mainsheet; maybe just sheeting in would also put you into irons or at worst capsize the boat so you could reboard. Of course the things I would really like to avoid are just getting dragged along by the boat at high speed in heavy air without the ability to head up into irons or getting bounced off the trap and having the boat sail away. So, lets hear peoples interesting stories of getting "tea dragged" and their methods for recovery and/or prevention as well as lessons learned.

Jerry