Sailing in Shallows

[heather21009]

I am very new to sailing, but live on the water off of the Chesapeake. It is an estuary that is generally shallow and 4 feet deep (high tide) at the end of the dock. With the exception of a catamaran, is there is sailboat that can be used in such depths (lack thereof)? The Bush is subject to winds which at times can even leave the end of the dock just mud, no water. Is there any solution? Thanks for your help!

[goduke]

Can''t do much about the winds taking the water away from your dock. With 4'' of water at high tide, you don''t have much wiggle room. However Lasers or Sunfish eacch have drafts of about 3.5 feet with the board all the way down

[Jeff_H]

Sure there are lots of centerboarders and keel-centerboarders that can work where you are. Occationally you may sit on the bottom but if you have 4 feet of water you should be OK most of the time. Most keel-centerboarders are older designs form the 1960''s but there were a variety of K/Cb boats made right into the 1980''s.
Have fun learning,
Jeff

[brucemcald]

There''s a large group of catboats in the Chesepeake Bay area. These are centerboarders with lots of beam, designed for shallow waters. Generally, they draw 2 feet with the board up, 4 feet with the board down. Great boats, and great for beginners. For more info, see my articles here on SailNet; catboat clubs can be found at http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/catboatsailing

and

http://www.catboats.org

and the Chesepeake catboat club:

http://www.toad.net/~smarc/

Not that I''m biased! ;-)