Bilge keeler sinking in mud

[tyce]

I have a rather annoying gully forming near my mooring, i have had the mooring along time but the gully only appeared last year and has stubbonly remained.
Problem is my boat a Moody 31 occasionly drys out slap bang on top of the gully and sinks to her belly totally immersing the bilge keels in the soft goo.
I cant help but worry a little about the pressure on the keels when see sinks and lifts again, so do other bilge keels (with splayed keels) sink regulary and have you ever had any ill effects from it.
It has to be said that my boat does not seem to be overly bothered by it so far.

 

[Searush]

Conditions change, tides scour, channels & gullies move. I have found that mooring boats often tends to clear mud from an area as they always sit in a slightly different place as the wind/ tide effect is different every time.

There can be considerable strain & some movement in splayed keels as they go in & come out of the mud. Does she lift easily when the tide returns or does it come out suddenly after the water is above the normal waterline? That will give you a clue if it is held in or not.

 

[mcframe]

I have a rather annoying gully forming near my mooring, i have had the mooring along time but the gully only appeared last year and has stubbonly remained.
Problem is my boat a Moody 31 occasionly drys out slap bang on top of the gully and sinks to her belly totally immersing the bilge keels in the soft goo.
I cant help but worry a little about the pressure on the keels when see sinks and lifts again, so do other bilge keels (with splayed keels) sink regulary and have you ever had any ill effects from it.
It has to be said that my boat does not seem to be overly bothered by it so far.

I'm not aware of any problems/risk on our Hunter 27 doing the same thing - in fact, I consider it an advantage 'cos if strong weather hits, then there's a 10/24 chance that it's *impossible* for us to drag or chafe ;->

 

[Cantata]

They're built for it. My 31 and many others that I know live in mud berths, no problem.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

They're built for it. My 31 and many others that I know live in mud berths, no problem.

I'd be slightly more cautious because we have had several boats lose one keel in such soft mud ( and sink when the tide comes in) though all have been older boats. One was a Westerly 33, others were MacWesters. No Moodies or Hunters and we had two Moody 31s on the moorings for quite a few years..

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

I'd be slightly more cautious because we have had several boats lose one keel in such soft mud ( and sink when the tide comes in) though all have been older boats. One was a Westerly 33, others were MacWesters. No Moodies or Hunters and we had two Moody 31s on the moorings for quite a few years..

I am surprised to see that you have included the Macwesters, as most have encapsulated keels and are almost vertical

 

[Rivers & creeks]

+1 and I'm always suspicious of phrases like "we've seen several". I think a number of sinkings in the same location, from the same cause, might have made the yachting press
The Macs were known for their encapsulated keels, that's why they couldn't use an asymmetric design.

 

[SeaStu1]

My boat sinks in the mud every low tide with the belly of her hull touching the mud. I've not seen any side effects to the keels, l'm more concerned about the strain put on the tiller which is lashed across and the strain the rudder puts onto this as it sinks into the mud. In fact l don't lash it too tightly so the strain is less.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

+1 and I'm always suspicious of phrases like "we've seen several". I think a number of sinkings in the same location, from the same cause, might have made the yachting press
The Macs were known for their encapsulated keels, that's why they couldn't use an asymmetric design.

Cynic. The only reason you get " we've seen several" is because I can remember 3 events but think there was at least another one in the 25 years I've been a club member. Sadly, my memory has gone south along with my hair and my waistline.

Two smallish Macwesters I can recall and in both cases one keel ripped off completely. Both sank and were recovered by the members. I doubt that either would have been an insurance claim given how low value they were but both have been repaired by their owners and cleaned out of the mud. Their standard of construction was far from impressive - I had a good poke round..

There was some suspicion that the westerly had been weakened a bit by hitting a rock at some point ( the owner was a serving naval officer so he was quiet on the subject ) but it sailed on quite happily for some months afterwards before losing one of its keels on the moorings and sinking. That one was an insurance claim though the insurer would not pay the salvage costs to lift the boat. Again that was recovered by the members, sold on as scrap and is currently part way through repair by a new member at the club.

 

[Tommyrot]

My boat sinks in the mud every low tide with the belly of her hull touching the mud. I've not seen any side effects to the keels, l'm more concerned about the strain put on the tiller which is lashed across and the strain the rudder puts onto this as it sinks into the mud. In fact l don't lash it too tightly so the strain is less.

My Coromandel sinks in the mud to a similar depth, no problem. I use a bungee cord to lash the tiller, and it's always gone down into the mud in a central position, so can't be a lot of strain on there either.

...and It's got asymmetric encapsulated keels.