Drying Safely

[paulskent]

OK After doing all the right things in terms of courses, (practical and shorebased) I am about to take the plunge. I have a berth lined up in the Conwy Estuary, I just need the appropriate piece of kit to put in it.
I have run a small 20 footer out in the med for the last 7 years. That was easy; no tides and not much shipping to worry about. Being in North Wales we are working towards a boat that can dry out. 2 Options I have at the moment are a Hunter with Bilge Keels or an Oceanis with a lifting keel and twin rudders. I would be interested in any opinions on the advantages of either config.
Also people talk glibly about just letting the boat "take the ground anywhere", is it is as simple as this or are there procedures and skills that you need to learn about the drying out process.


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[Gunfleet]

Have you thought about a Parker with a lifting keel? They're rather nice

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[bendyone]

Look at a Hiunter 26 twin keel see the web site
http://www.hunterassociation.org.uk

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[paulskent]

I think I have looked at most of the options in terms of boats and types. I am really down to choice of the types of undercarriage that the boat has. I am interested in any experience or observations any one would have of actually drying out on these configurations. Especially the lifting keel and twin rudder option.

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[misterg]

Not quite an answer to your question, but I was under the impression that there are still some swinging moorings available in the river for ~1m draft boats. I don't believe there is any price difference between swinging/drying. If you haven't done so already, have a chat with Tony Meade (Harbourmaster). He's a really nice & helpful bloke.

Andy (Swinging in Conwy)

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[bhallworth]

I also have a swinging (non drying) mooring in Conwy. It was my first mooring & boat, and like you I considered the bilge keel option but eventually went for a modest draft fin.
The tides were quite daunting (especially compared to the med) and I suppose a bilge keel feels safer in case of grounding, but once you’ve picked up a little local knowledge and with your experience and a little common sense this becomes very unlikely.
Bilgers have their obvious advantages, but with the same mooring prices and the slight performance gains from a fin to help overcome the tides, I certainly don’t regret my decision.


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[paulskent]

I am not actually in the Estuary itself but on a Marina berth in Deganwy. I am pretty set on a boat that will dry out, and the 2 boats in question fit the bill. Just wondering if there were any tips on the drying out process and if there are any subtle (or major) gotchas. They don't seem to have the time to go through this process on any of the courses I have attended and it's a bit hard to arrange it in the Med.

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[oldharry]

Not a lot to drying out. The two key things are: 1. ensure the area is reasonably level, and free of debris that could damage the boat as she settles. and 2. that the area is not exposed to a run of rough water at crucial time.

1 is obvious enough - you want a reasonably level surface away from holes, or channels into which the boat may fall. Bilge keelers can fall over if they come down on a steep bank, and may then fill on the next tide. Large debris can do lots of damage to the bottom of the boat particularly if there is much movement and pounding when she grounds or lifts.

This leads conveniently to point 2, which is to ensure that there will never be any serious surf running as the tide rises or falls. If there is the boat will be crashing and pounding on the bottom for 10 or 15 minutes every tide like a steam hammer, with potentially disasterous consequences for the structure if there is any weakness. It is better to avoid an area too where there is a strong tidal stream as the boat lifts. The shock as she floats free and runs to the end of her chain can be enormous.

And you dont want to be lying in bed worrying about the boat every time the weather wakes you at 3.00am - its too late by then!

Finally make sure there is a decent swivel between the chain and the boat. If not it can wind the chain down until there is not enough length for her to rise to the tide. No problem for short term anchoring, left to its own devices for several weeks a boat can be pulled underby its own mooring chain.

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[Allegro]

We sailed a bilge keeled Corribee in the west country for about 5 years and dried out in a good number of different places. The comments above about an unobstructed bottom and a sheltered spot I would agree with entirely. I might just add a bit about different bottoms.

Hard level sand is probably best, with the other advantage that you can often see this sort of bottom and so visually check its clear of obstructions. Soft mud in theory should be fine, but in practice we very often seemed to find that one keel sank in more than the other, or the heavy keels sank while the rudder and skeg didn't as much... No serious problems from it, but did end up on rather a slant on a number of occasions. Rocky or stony bottoms would be a no-no, I'd have thought - we never really came across them in the southwest.

We anchored in drying channels or rivers on a number of occasions, and my biggest concern then was usually to make sure that we "landed" in the middle of the channel and not on the sloping, sometimes very steeply, sides, so two anchors were often helpful in keeping us exactly where required. Often even when the sides of the channel are soft mud the centre, scoured by that last run of tide, is relatively hard and flat. The time we most dramatically "missed" we ended heeled at about 30 degrees when the water had gone, the keels fortunately dug deep enough into the mud to hold us firm. I was a bit concerned about the high lateral forces being placed on the hull-keel joint, but everything was still intact when the water came back.

I always worried slightly about the possibility of coming down on top of a sunken fence post or something and the boat being impaled in it, but this fortunately never happened! I also worried a little about going aground on the steeply shelving edge of a channel on a falling tide, when I felt that the boat may fall down the slope and flood, but again that never happened either!

On the plus side we got much further upriver, to some much quieter, sheltered spots than we could possibly have done with a fin keeler. We also were able to dry out and antifoul whenever needed.

Happy landings!

Cheers
Patrick

<hr width=100% size=1>Sailing a Victoire 25 on the Scottish West Coast

 

[misterg]

I got some useful pointers in a thread entitled "Beaching" started on 23/6 in the PBO "Reader to Reader" forum. (Sorry, don't know how to make the little blue "here" work).

Noticed that somebody managed to dry out a fairly big fin keeler near the floating pontoon on the Deganwy side of the harbour last Saturday. Hope no damage was done, and that it refloated OK.

Andy

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[Benbow]

It is looking likely that I will be leaving the country for a while and my bilge keel Hunter 26 presently on a drying mooring in Beamaris will be for sale.

It is meticulously (SWMBO would say obsessively) maintained.

PM me if you are interested.


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[Birdseye]

best boat for a drying mooring is a cat with long keels. no chance of falling over, dropping into hollows etc.

but if you insist on a half boat, then I would suggest a twin keel like a hunter. you wont lose very much performance, and its much more pracxtical to put a couple of iron keels onto the mud that a fibreglass hull. you can never know how clean the bottom is except perhaps on your permanent mooring. would you like to sit a drop keel boat down on a Tesco trolley? or an abandoned mooring anchor?

be cautious about the " dry out on a beach" line you will be given. very easy to get caught in a rising on shore wind as the tide starts to return. which can be a frightening experience. only dry out in very sheltered areas.

<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.