Does your boat shrink?

[maxcampbell]

Shrinkage

My trailer sailer looks quite big ashore, but every time she floats & we load up the gear she shrinks to the point that we can hardly get on.

She's just under 20' on deck, with a 6' 'sprit, we always give the LOD figure, and tell them we can steve the 'sprit, if they want - they never do.

 

[planteater]

A key point - under 7 metres you can use an all-round white while motoring

IIRC boats under 7m were excluded from the proposed "drink boating" rules. Lot's of advantages to a 6.9m boat!

 

[rotrax]

I am sure we all agree that Marinas here and abroad are too expensive, especially when staying over for just one or two nights. When you trudge up to the harbour masters office and are asked what the length is does your boat ever shrink, do you give them the waterline or overall length and has anyone been caught out?

Hi, My last two boats have helped me in this respect. The first, a Gibsea 96 was 10.15 metres. I used to say it was 9.6 metres and sneak in under the 10 metre price. The current boat is 11.3 metres-36 foot 10 inches. It also has a number in its name,350.I tell'em its 35 foot.With the dink on the davits its more like 40 foot! So far i've got away with it.

 

[prv]

IIRC boats under 7m were excluded from the proposed "drink boating" rules. Lot's of advantages to a 6.9m boat!

Although I think that might be the length at which the Irish nannies' lifejacket law kicks in (haven't checked).

Pete

 

[johnphilip]

pricey pulpit

Annual berth charges are worked out as an exact multiple of the length rather than half or one metre steps, fairer. I am tempted to redesign the pulpit which takes the O/A length from 9.9hull length to 10.45M, £135 per annum. Actually not quite that simple because of projecting anchor roller but still may be worth considering. The projecting pulpit is also very difficult to climb when moored bow on with no finger alongside.

 

[Sans Bateau]

Yep, the boat shrinks, every time particular friends turn up for the weekend with gear and food for a week!

 

[Ludd]

My NAB35(10.22m?) I'd always declare as 10m---never a problem. On reaching Spain(Portosin Marina) I filled in the form ,gave it to the lass,who said" Do you WANT to pay for 10metres? Your boat papers say 9.26m,this what we charge" Saved me €4.50 a night! Since then I just hand over the registration (Part 1) and avoid lying. Everyone is happy so far-----.

Oh ,plus I have a Duogen projecting from the stern!

 

[VO5]

My boat is 11.73 metres LOA. But I have stern davits. But these davits fold inwards by loosening a pin. With folded davits the LOA is still less than the 12 metre category imposed by most marinas.

Occasionally an akward HM points to the davits.

I give them a benign smile and signal them to wait...I then produce a surveyor's tape and challenge them to measure..

They ask me to hold one end..I refuse..and suggest it is for one of their dock hands to hold it just in case they think I would cheat..this puts them in an embarrassing position. They give up. I always win.

 

[sailor211]

We had a Westerly TEMPEST which from memory is 30' 4" so I would say 30', traditional method to round down if less than 6", not a problem, except in Ocean Village where harbour master just said "the Brochure says its 31' "

He then found a berth for us with just enough space to fit a 29' and minimal turning space !

 

[Romeo]

My pal had a one off clinker built boat from the 1890's. He got a letter from the Harbour Manager, asking him why his declared beam had shrunk over the previous 10 years from 7' to 6'6" to 6'. He wrote back to explain that his boat was simply getting crushed because the harbour magager was trying to cram too many boats into our wee drying harbour. No reply ever recieved.

 

[KellysEye]

The way to go is Part One registration because it mainly for ships. For cargo carrying purposes they measure the interior length and beam of the boat and that is given on the certificate. Thus you get a good few feet difference. Although we always tell the marina the true length... cough, cough.

You do get an odd weight though because the weight is calculated by the volume of wine the boat can carry. On reflection that's probaly the right weight for most boats.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Seredipity is registered as 39 feet, is 38'6" according to Westerly, but is 45 feet if I start measuring the davits and dinghy off the back end.

I just quote the official Westerly measurement when I go to the HM office which at 11.7 metres is under the magic figure of 12 metres and everyone is happy.

This has now got me wondering whether I should be applying the regs for lights for over 12 metre boats? I know the answer I am going to give; NO...

 

[Playtime]

When I moved to Brixham (MDL) a year ago, I quoted Playtime as 11.6m (38 feet - well, she's called a 38 Ocean . . .).

After a few weeks I received a demand from MDL for a couple of hundred pounds more berthing fees. They had measured the boat at 12.2m (which is probably not far out with the anchor attached).

We split the difference and settled for 11.9m, which I later found out was the quoted LOA on the original Bavaria paperwork.

I have also found that in some French marinas beam, as well as LOA, is used to calculate the berthing cost. Playtime's beam is 3.95m; a cut off point on the charging matrix is 3.85m so she does tend to shrink a bit in France. LOA can stay at 11.9, though, as 12m is the corresponding charging point.

 

[DanTribe]

When I'm [wet] sanding the bottom, or paying for antifouling, my boat is huge.
In the middle of North Sea in bad weather it suddenly seems very small.