Drying out on legs

[pugwash]

I have just reconditioned the legs to keep my boat upright (draft 1.5m) when the tide goes out. I have never used them before and will be cruising this season in Brittany and the West Coiuntry. Do you have any tips ?

What concerns me is that you presumably want to dry out on level ground or at least with the bows facing up hill, which in most estuaries means the boat has to touch down while it lies across the tide. So how do you go about it? Run out a kedge to keep you in position, test all round with the boat-hook for soft patches, and hope for the best? Any advice will be welcome.


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[graham]

Dont use them anywhere exposed.It may be calm when you dry out but what about when she lifts again?Allways have a prod round to ensure nothing sticking up where the keel or legs settle.It pays to run your kedge out so the second she refloats you can pull her into deeper water.I allways dry out bow up the slope so the rudder is in deeper water as you float and doesnt get bashed if you are hit by motorboat wash or whatever .

I allways try to dry out at about half tide as then the tide is dropping at its fastest and you dont bump the bottom for long before the weight gets taken on the keel.
Likewise when you lift off again .Drying out close to high water can leave you bumping the bottom for what seems like ages as the tide creeps out at that stage.

Depending on the boat you will need a surprisingly long ladder to get up and down.

Legs can be a pain but they certainly give you more options so are worth getting used to.

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[Joe_Cole]

Don't dry out at high water on a spring tide. You may end up staying longer than you expected!

Joe

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[graham]

Good point that. My boat has a lifting keel which reduces the draft by about 2 foot 6 inches so by going into a berth with it down we dont give much thought to being neaped.

Last year in a shallow drying berth in the river Axe we came very close to spending a couple of weeks there.HW came and only with much reving of engine and winching on a warp did we get away.Sailing back across to Cardiff a bit of belated tide book studying showed .9 less tide than the day before!

Potentially very embarassing.

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[Birdseye]

How useful do you find legs in the soft mud of the Bristol channel? Can you use them in places like Porlock where its pebbles?

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[graham]

In deep mud you dont need them .Places such as Burnham YC or The Weston Bay YC pontoon in the River Axe for example .A single keel yacht can sink into the mud upright quite safely.
In mud twin keelers often lean steeply away from the bank where a single keel can stay upright firmly supported by the mud.

I have dried out on legs on the pebbly shelf in Porlock Weir when the pool was chock full of boats.Usually fin keel boats stay afloat in 5 or 6 foot of water just outside the footbridge over the entrance to the inner harbour .If you dry out in Porlock keep your boat lined up with the local boats as there are timber retaining walls close to their bows.

Watermouth is a good place for legs with hard sand on the bottom,also Minehead harbour Though most single keelers lean against the wall there.Knightstone is another place with a hard bottom there is a timber dolphin to lean on but sometimes it is 10 deep with other boats.

Personally I prefer the peace and quiet of the Axe to the hordes of people in Weston SM.town.You can get a bus if you need to but there are shops and 2 good pubs in Uphill village.

Where do you sail from?Maybe we can arrange to stand on our legs together somewhere and discuss the art of leg using over a pint?Use a private message if you prefer.