Shallows in a swing keel

[AlexanderGDean]

Originally Posted by arbarnhart

Bob,

A more legitimate spot is between Harkers Island and Shackleford Banks if going the back way from Beaufort to Lookout. It's a motor boat ride in a crowded corridor, but if you draft only a couple of feet you would have a few options (some potential sailing lanes open to you).

We sail our Tanzer 16 in Back Sound (between Harkers Island and Shackleford Banks) all the time without problems. She draws about 2 1/2' with the centerboard down, so we can snake our way between the islands/sandbanks/oysterbeds directly to Cape Lookout. Besides being shorter, faster and more beautiful, on that route we don't have to contend with the heavy traffic and wake on the marked channels.

Regarding sailing with just a little board/keel down, we let the sails luff a little bit to reduce the downwind pressure and hence leeway. Works fine in 1 - 1.5' of water.

Now, if only our Sunfish had a centerboard instead of a daggerboard...

Alex

[arbarnhart]

An addition of some info passed along to me that is somewhat specific but would apply to other boats of similar design. It was suggested to me that if I plan to do this I should make a special purpose rudder that does not swing up. The swing up rudder housing is designed to be used with the rudder straight down so that stresses are sided to side (on the rudder inside the housing). If you swing it up for shallows, then the stress is end to end with a lot of leverage against the edge of the housing. I was told to make a one piece square rudder out of 1/2" plywood and then cut off the upper back corner.