East Coast - maximum draft for weekend sailing?

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Wobler

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Next year I hope to be sailing from Shotley Marina. This will be a new sailing area for me and I am currently in the process choosing a boat. The majority of my sailing will be of the Saturday out, Sunday return variety. I would appreciate any thoughts on the maximum draft which would allow me a reasonable variety of weekend destinations. I am currently considering a Dufour 405 which draws 2.03m.
 
I am sure you can get to most of the destinations in the area with a 2m draft, but timings will be restrictive with some, i.e. you would possibly be unable to get into the Tidemill at Woodbridge or Tollesbury except on a high spring tide.

There are probably others where you would have a relatively narrow window of opportunity.

Unless you are set on this boat I would suggest a bit less draft.
 
Wobler said:
Next year I hope to be sailing from Shotley Marina. This will be a new sailing area for me and I am currently in the process choosing a boat. The majority of my sailing will be of the Saturday out, Sunday return variety. I would appreciate any thoughts on the maximum draft which would allow me a reasonable variety of weekend destinations. I am currently considering a Dufour 405 which draws 2.03m.
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You will be better off sailing Monday to Friday for increased depth, as there are more boats on their moorings in the river, and the dispacement of all the boats keeps the depth up to 2.04m, which is lucky.

There are those who sail with deep keels, but you will be denied the upper reaches of some rivers and anchorages, and the short cuts across the top of the sands will be subject to more navigational scrutiny.

I have lift keel 35ft drawing 1.1m, and I can dry out, but my boat sails like a slug. You cant have it all ways.
 
2 m will restrict your access to places like Walton backwaters and Titchmarsh, and much of the Blackwater including Bradwell and Tollesbury, and the upper Crouch and Roach - you'd be able to get in and out, but would be picking your times very carefully. The bars on the Ore and Deben would be more nerve-racking than for those of us with shallower drafts, and the times to tackle them would be more restricted.

So, yes, you can do it, but if you want to enjoy all that the East Coast offers, I'd suggest you look at shallower drafts. It depends what sort of sailing you do.
 
pyrojames said:
but I had trouble with a 2.3m draft in Shotley Marina itself.
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I went aground three quarters of the way up one of the aisles between pontoons with a 1.9m draft so maybe Shotley needs some dredging. Compared with companions who have boats with more 'normal' drafts (say 1.5m) I have never noticed any substantial difference in the ability to visit places and improved sailing performance often makes up for delayed starts when waiting for enough water to cross a marina cill. Obviously, boats that can take the ground comfortably have places which they can visit which are denied to those with fin keels.
 
FullCircle said:
Oh, you can if you are racing. A 2.1m deep fin and bulb Dufour goes like a rocket.
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Next year I hope to be sailing from Shotley Marina. This will be a new sailing area for me and I am currently in the process choosing a boat. The majority of my sailing will be of the Saturday out, Sunday return variety. I would appreciate any thoughts on the maximum draft which would allow me a reasonable variety of weekend destinations. I am currently considering a Dufour 405 which draws 2.03m.
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i can't find in his text that he wants a boat for racing...
 
bitman said:
i can't find in his text that he wants a boat for racing...
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No, you said that you only want a lift /swing keel, and you don't see the point of fixed keels.
I was merely pointing out that they do have their uses, particularly for sailing performance. I never said the OP was going to race.
Hope that clears up the matter.
 
Wobler said:
Next year I hope to be sailing from Shotley Marina. This will be a new sailing area for me and I am currently in the process choosing a boat. The majority of my sailing will be of the Saturday out, Sunday return variety. I would appreciate any thoughts on the maximum draft which would allow me a reasonable variety of weekend destinations. I am currently considering a Dufour 405 which draws 2.03m.
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We sail a Kalik 44 (drawing 2.12m) out of Shotley. We've been East Coast (various places) based for nearly a decade now. My £0.02

1. If you're set on the East Coast as your cruising area, buy something else like a bilge keeler (so you can learn to sail sideways) or a lifting keel boat (so you can worry about or experience leaks).
Anything drawing over 2m will severely limit your cruising ground, and for those areas just within your reach, make sure your tidal calcs are up to scratch. Basically, the East Coast is a collection of shallow puddles surrounded by mud.
2. If you're set on the boat, look for a different cruising ground. If our pockets were deep enough and the people there were nicer we'd be over in the Solent without too much hesitation.

We've come to accept the limitations on our cruising and will continue to be East Coast based for at least the next few years as an East Coast berth/mooring is just about affordable and you're less likely to run into the hooray Henrys who tend to populate the South Coast.
Add to that, the East Coast's saving grace, the proximity of Ostend - a place we try and like to visit whenever possible.
Some East Coast cruisers also frequent Holland - though I can't figure out why as it's just another collection of shallow puddles surrounded by mud.
 
I went from a bilge keel Centaur to a 1.9m draft fin, now in Shotley but always East Coast based. I have traded vastly improved performance for slightly more restricted access, and of course that neeed pay a little more attention to depth - you pays your money etc. I have had some very minor issues at Shotley at LWS once when I had to wait half an hour to get into the lock, and I have dredged into my berth a couple of times but nothing serious.
 
Guapa said:
Some East Coast cruisers also frequent Holland - though I can't figure out why as it's just another collection of shallow puddles surrounded by mud.
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Just wondering if I should rise to the bait on that one...

I did find some 35m deep holes across the inside of the Roompot weir last week.
 
The defining feature of the East Coast is the Wallet. Because is is orientated in the direction of the commonest winds, SW & NE, you are likely to spend much of your time sailing dead downwind or, much more likely owing to sod's law, dead upwind. If your boat cannot do this comfortably and at a reasonable speed this short stretch can become a barrier.

I have always had fin keels and my last two have been about 5' or 1.5m. This gives decent performance and reasonable access to tidally constrained areas. My current keel is a "shallow" fin, but is deeper than most of that type and performs pretty well against normal (1'8m) versions - I have raced against some. Some shallow fin versions have poor sailing performance, and I'm thinking here about the Sadler 32, but there is now quite a range of boats with moderate fin keels. Although I wouldn't put anyone off bilge keels, they really have little use on the East Coast, unlike the Channel Isles, Scillies and Brittany where they can be very handy.
 
I have a 1.9m fin.

But I do agree with John's post above.

A bilge keeler offer little benefit, as you still can't get into the shallowest of creeks. For these, you need a lifting keel.

I don't find our 1.9m particularly restrictive... we can get to any of the places we want to go without too much effort, simply by avoiding entry at LW.... which isn't hard... and the trade off, as John says in terms of being able to make decent passage times up the Wallet, or indeed any of the other channels up the Thames Estuary far outweighs the disadvantages.
 
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