was taunt. So my reaction of pulling the tiller hard towards me left the boat perpendicular to the wind, with  the line taunt... and just make things worse, I was sitting on the side of the boat o pp osite the wind. If my  hand was on the line and I was mentally prepared, I would have released the line holdi ng the sail taunt. But in  no time I was off- balance, going backward towards the water (and of course the boat was on its side). So then I was in the  water and it was in the cold time of the year, and the mast was pointing downward. It was choppy, but at least I was in  the river around other boats and not o ut in the ocean. My cell phone that I kept with me for any emergency was  no good in the wors t of emergencies. A motor boat came by and with pliers I loosened one of the stays (while sti ll in the  water). In hindsight, I just should have loosened the line holdi ng the boom taunt. Of course, I would have had to  release it by swimming completely under the upside-down boat.  With my other sailboat, I would've put all my weight on the daggerboard and the boat would've popped up (I verified this  during a storm one year). However, I was not dealing with a daggerboard this time. Now, I was fighting against the weight  of the centerboard which was being pulled back into the  boat by gravity. When I would get the centerboard out  from the hull, I couldn't keep it out and at the same time use it as lever to righten the boat. It kept slipping  ba ck into the hull.  I was fortunate that someone with a couple of huge engines came along. I was fortunate that I had some really strong rope  to fasten to key points of the boat, and that I was able to righten the boat. And I was fortunate that I was able to get it  close to a nearby shallow area to bail out the wat er. When it was finally upright, it had to be held level to keep  water from pouring in from the sides whil e I bailed it out. I had to replace my sail cover, my mast, and had to have my motor serviced. I also had to replace my cell phone. It was a  very expensive day. But for a while I feared that I might lose my whole boat. Anyway, the lesson I'm trying to pass along  here (at my own embarrassment) is this: Although the Picnic Cat is  extremely stable, if you manage to do  EVERYTHING wrong, you CAN tip it. And if you do tip it, you have  a major problem.  Knowing  what I know now, I would have had my hand on the line (and of course changed the side of the boat  I  was sitting on). And if I found myself with the boom still taunt while in t he water, I would swim under the boat and  loosen the line  holding the bo om. I then would do everything I could to g et the mast down. But mostly, I would not  assume that just because the boat is stable, it can't go over. And once it goes over, you're goin g to need help. One other  thing, any type of phone or radio will be useless unless it is kept in a wate rproof container.  I suppose most of this is as obvious to you as it is to me. And you think that you're pretty knowledgable and pretty careful.  But hopefully my horror story while add to your vigilance.  96