Posted by andyb on November 10, 2005 at 10:33:59 from 81.131.28.4 user beardbiter.
In Reply to: Re: Well? Re: Arthur Ransome and S&A in Wikipedia posted by David Shelton on November 10, 2005 at 09:12:24:
It is certainly not a clear factual error and the either/ or proposisition is not comparing like with like. Swallow had a keel and ballast, Amazon had a centre-plate I don't remember any mention of ballast. In my opinion, a clinker built dinghy with a centre-plate and no ballast or bouyancy would not sink to the bottom but float like a submerged log. If the boat was on its side with the plate down that would tend to right it. I also doubt whether Swallow would have sunk but as that depends on the weight of the keel and the ballast so, who knows?