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Help Me Get a 5'10" Draft over a 3' Bottom

5K views 25 replies 21 participants last post by  creedence623 
#1 · (Edited)
A Little Background:

I sailed my boat from Norfolk, VA most of the way down to its new permanent home on the West Coast of Florida. We had a great trip, but light airs led to slower than planned progress, and my work schedule caught up with me; so I hauled out short of our destination and had the boat trucked to a yard in Florida.

Before choosing the yard as a destination, I spoke with the yard manager and subsequently the owner of the yard who assured me my draft (5'10") wouldn't be an issue come launch day. Well as we are getting closer to launching I was looking at the charts and noticed that there is no marked channel leading away from the yard, and the surrounding waters are charted at 3' (mud bottom) for about 100 yards before it opens up to an 8' deep channel.

First, let me say I'm not dogging the yard folks for anything. I probably should have gotten hold of the charts before I chose the yard to begin with. In any case, the boat is where it is, and nothing short of another semi truck ride is going to get it out of there UNLESS I can get creative.


The Half-Baked Plan:

Looking at the tide charts, I see I have a couple 2" to 2.7" tides coming during my launch window- that's about as good as it's going to get . That "should" give me anywhere between 5' and 5'8" to play with.

My plan is to take a few 55 gallon drums, fill them up to lean the boat (Catalina 36), and motor on out to the channel during the rising tide.


The Questions:

Does this sound like a reasonable plan? I've heard of the guys who do it down Lake Okechobee way to help boats get under the low bridge on the cannal so I know it's possible.

What considerations should I be looking out for if I do strap 5 380-pound drums to the side deck?

Can anyone think of a better idea?


As always, thanks for the help!
 
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#3 ·
Not sure a 2-2.7" tide will do anything for you, 3' to 3'2" is not enough to worry about, UNLESS......the OLD UNLESS part, you hit the inch key insted of the feet key, Then yes, a 2-2.7' tide could get you out, with some barrels at the top of the mast, along with UNLOAD any and ALL items you can, IE sails, ALL water, black tank, extra clothes etc. This might net you another 2-4" of less draft! While generally speaking not usually enough to shake a stick at, but in your case, those 2-4" could be ALL you need!

Too bad you are not in the salish sea area, a 3' tide would be a really really really small one! 12-14' tides would not be too uncommon, with a -4 on one end, along with a +12 on the other!

Good luck!

Marty
 
#4 ·
Good advice above, heeling is an old trick to get in and out of shallow harbors.
If you launch on a low pressure day the tide will rise higher than predicted. There can also be additional significant hight increase depending on the wind direction in relation to the harbour mouth and tidal stream direction, locals will know the best wind to push up the tide.

Safe sailing
 
#5 · (Edited)
A few rambling thoughts...

I'd might head out there in another boat and measure the depth along your route to deep water.

If the charted depth is 3 foot it would be charted at MLLW. There may be more water than you think.

Waiting for an unusually high tide might be all you need?

55 gallon drums are pretty awkward....what were you going to fill them with water? IF so, water is approx 1# per pint..so a gallon is 8 lbs. x 55 = 440lbs. plus the weight of the barrel. Or the equivalent of two High school linemen...
You could invite the local football team down..and have them all stand on one side..

Swing the boom out all the way..make sure the topping lift is in good shape..rig a preventer and hang some weight off the end of the boom..
I've floated myself that way. A few people sitting out there works...worse case the topping lift breaks and someone goes swimming.
 
#8 ·
I'd might head out there in another boat and measure the depth along your route to deep water.

If the charted depth is 3 foot it would be charted at MLLW. There may be more water than you think.
It is posts like this that get Tempest a helpfulness rating of five.

We have many of the great electronics on board. We draw four feet and regularity go into some places that show no marked depth - just light blue on the chart.

We have on board a length of white 1/8' line, marked with with a black circle every foot. Five is marked with two rings, ten with three, fifteen with four rings and we stop at 20 feet. On the end is an old shackle.

Dead slow with one of us on the bow calling out the soundings.

Even better in a little aluminum boat with a small outboard.

Like Telmest says - "You may have more water than you think."

Rik
 
#9 ·
Local Knowledge...Does the Marina know something you don't?

On the NC coast there are numerous locations where the charts say an area is not passable due to shallow depth, but locals do it everyday. They know of certain unmarked routes through the shallows. I have had experience in one situation where the water is 2-4 ft. on the charts, but have gone through with a local and experienced a real draft on that prescribed course of 5 ft. minimum.

My guess is that the marina would not have misled you by that much. Before you fret too much, confirm with them that they really know how to get you to deeper water. A draft of 5' 10" is not that uncommon. Many boats in our shallow area draw 5'. Assuming your temporary docking area is similar, then you need only a little help from the tides and you are ok.
 
#11 ·
I agree that heeling the boat as far as you can in the safest way, is the way to go. So I endorse the football team idea, since that's easily moveable weight, and safer and more controllable than stuff dangling from mast or boom.

Here in the Gulf, the wind-driven tide is often significant. Don't know about your area, but an onshore wind may give you a little more water, if you can time it with an extra-high tide (good luck with that--prayer helps).

Get a friend with a big wake-making powerboat (if there's enough draft). then if you can't get unstuck, he could make--a big wake, which might get you moving again. Heck, it's 'only' a hundred yards.
 
#12 ·
If you do have to heel (lean) the boat, don't use any weight on the deck itself. You want as little weight on the boat as possible and a weight hanging from the top of the mast. The hanging weight needs a couple lines to it from the cleats on deck so you can control how far it hangs from the boat. To far from the boat (and to high off the water at the same time) and you'll get much more heeling than you bargained for (understatement).

You'll also need a way to keep the weight from getting too close to the boat, especially if you are using less weight than needed. (Enough weight will heel the boat enough to stay away from the boat, just don't pull it in too far or you'll have to restart and push it away.) You want the weight several yards away and you don't want it swinging back. The boom coud be used, as Tempest suggested.

Water works great as a weight because once it hits the water, it doesn't weigh anything. So you won't over heel.

Finally, you may be able to sell your diesel back to the marina, to help lighten the load. Diesel has a relatively long shelf life if it's kept circulated, and sailboats must provide enough agitation to qualify.

Regards,
Brad
 
#13 ·
Double check with the marina, the depths on the charts are the official recorded soundings and may not take into account any personal dredging the marina may do to keep the water way open for their use. I know of a few places that pay (with proper permission, permits, etc) to have "unofficial" channels dredged for access to their location. They do not get charted at the new depth because the gov is not paying for the dredging, and so can not guarantee that it is done regularly and kept at the new charted depth.

Of course, the last slip we where in was "Just dredged to 7 feet" but we bumped our 4.5 foot bottom a few times before they found us a deeper slip :)

Check with the marina, sound it from a dingy (lead line or hand held depth finder), look for other deep draft boats in the marina ( a clue that they can get in and out OK) and if all else fails, THEN think about getting crazy creative with football teams or water bags or barrels.

Good Luck!
 
#14 ·
Before choosing the yard as a destination, I spoke with the yard manager and subsequently the owner of the yard who assured me my draft (5'10") wouldn't be an issue come launch day. Well as we are getting closer to launching I was looking at the charts and noticed that there is no marked channel leading away from the yard, and the surrounding waters are charted at 3' (mud bottom) for about 100 yards before it opens up to an 8' deep channel.
I have a very hard time believing the marina doesn't have a dredged channel leading up to them. A 3ft approach would be useless for anything but smaller power boats and if that's all they handle for customers, then why have the lift capacity and slip depth for a Catalina 36?

I'd call them to ask about that. If they don't have a marked channel, they'll likely have a "best approach". If that was the case I'd buy a hand held depth reader, hook it up to my dinghy or kayak and explore the bay. Chart my own best route out.
 
#15 ·
You might want to ask a couple of people in the marina. A bit of local knowledge is priceless. In my area I can think of several deeper "unmarked channel" that is used by locals.

I can think of two where locals get annoyed when people anchor in these, even though there is not, nor has there been a channel marker or chart notation in my lifetime :D
 
#16 ·
Guys, thanks for all of the advice. You've given me a ton of good considerations, and I appreciate them all.

I forgot to mention in the original post that I would be using a 22' power boat running ahead of me plotting the depth. I was thinking in a worst case scenario, we could try using it to pull me off of whatever bottom I find.

A little concerning is the fact that I am the largest boat in the yard by a fair stretch, and I look to be about a foot or two deeper than the other sailboats in the yard. I couldn't see any signs of a dredged channel on the satalite image on activecaptain, but you guys could be right assuming the yard knows something I don't. I'm still waiting on follow up email from the yard confirming naviagation won't be an issue.

When I moved to the Chesapeake from Hawaii a few years ago I had to retool my definition of shallow water, but Florida is a whole new ballgame!

I'm planning on getting this done around the 19th of July, so any additional thoughts between now and then would be greatly appreciated. I'll try to follow up if/when we get this knocked out next month.

Thanks again



Aloha

-Adam
 
#17 ·
I would ask the guy who assured you that the channel was deep enough if he wanted to go for a ride to show you the way. Once through, he could always be returned by the power boat. The channel I have to go through was always deeper than charted, but you need some "local knowledge" to know where to go to be in the deepest part.
 
#18 ·
get in touch with your bottom - fnaa fnaa

if you have a GPS and a dingy go out and find the channel for yourself

Charles Stock used to use a pea stick as an echosounder

here is the technique in action on the slug

never leave homw without one because in my experience echosounders don't work at shallow depths

KTL 60 Ore spit « Keep Turning Left

a peastick of a dowell rod is a useful item for any shoal draft boat

zig zag from side to side looking for the deepest part

mark it on the gps when you do find it

identify the channel - and also find out how soft the bottom is

Dylan
 
#21 · (Edited)
The raw water intake is a few feet behind the keel, so I "should" be protected from sucking up any mud.

I guess I'll make a day of sounding the area before launch day. I may even have the yard manager come with me. I guess I'll commit to a strategy after that.

Funny you should mention the chainsaw thing. The last boat (another 36 footer) I owned was run hard aground and subesequently cut into quarters and shipped off to the dump. Thankfully, this was a couple days AFTER I sold it. I'll be damned it I let that happen to me. :D
 
#26 ·
People who know me would tell you I tend to grossly over-analyze issues. Based on the chart, I think the cocern may be valid but certainly agree that it turned into a non issue. Would have been interesting leaning the boat though.

Oh well, after a year in the yard, a new engine, new rigging, and a few other things taken care of, I'm just happy to be back in the water. Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions. Hopefully someone can use this as a resource in the future.
 
#25 ·
I have a 5' 10" draft too... This is the cove where I keep my boat;


The only time that I have ever touched bottom was when the helmsperson ran outside of the channel...
 
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