RE: To wax or not
hew,
" the hull grabs a molecule of water", or in effect, just the opposite..." a molecule of water grabs the hull".....is exactly what happens when the hull is super smooth as in waxed. because of the capilary action of water the molecules attatch themselves more completely to the hull and don't want to let go as the hull passes. a slightly rough surface doesn't allow the capilary action to work as well, so small turbulences get a boundry layer of molecules roling around, none of them actually hanging on to the hull, so you could say that the hull is "rolling along" on a bed of water ball bearings and air, more or less unattatched to the water.
a rather simplistic example, if you're framiliar with "contact" cement, is that the smoother the surfaces to be glued are, the better the contact holds because the smooth surface allows more complete attatchment of the glue molecules. a rougher surface leaves voids in their attatchment, so the bond is a bit weaker.