Elizabethan on mud

[Knysna1979]

Hi all, I'm after some advice. I bought our first sailboat 5 months ago. We also moved down to Hayling Island. The boat is a 23ft Elizabethan with a long iron ballast keel and drop down steel centre plate. Currently moored in a deep water mooring in the Emsworth Channel.

There is space available at Hayling Yacht company marina but it's a drying marina. The previous owner suggested he wouldn't leave the boat on a drying mooring as you can get things stuck inbewteen the plate. Has anyone got an opinion if this is a definite no no or personal opinion? Any help will be much appreciated.

 

[HughClayton]

I also sail a lifting keel boat in Chichester Harbour and I’d be thoughtful and cautious about a drying berth. If it’s just fine silt and mud then it’s not an issue but if there are pebbles or shells then they can get stuck in the centre plate slot which is then not easy to free.

I’d go and look at the berth at low water and make a call.

 

[Pye_End]

I had a lift keel (swing) Sonata which I kept on a mud (sticky) berth on the East Coast. The keel spent most of it's time jammed.

 

[neilf39]

I kept a lift keel on the mud at Emsworth Pool. The keel often got jammed by mud/grit. I made a sealable access hole at the top rear of the keel box so I could push it down with a stick. Even that was difficult on occasion.

 

[Gixer]

I had a 23 snapdragon on drying mud. I used to leave the drop plate down a few inches, this meant each tide it would move slightly. This seemed to help stop the build up of mud, it also gave you the ability to lift it slightly to start momentum If it gets stuck, If that makes sense. It still used to stick every now and then but after a few miles of motoring/sailing it would free itself.
Stones and gravel I personally would steer clear of, I jammed drop keel is a real pain.

 

[ianfr]

I had an Elizabethan 23 for 3 years on a mud berth. I never had an issue with getting the drop keel stuck, mainly due to ensuring that I always left it lowered a few inches before I went home.
Next trip out pull it up a couple of inches first then lower away.
Where we were the mud was reasonably clear of shell and stones but there were a enough to take that precaution..

 

[neil_s]

Yes - I leave my drop keel down a few turns and that seems to keep it free most times. On the odd occasion it would not drop when wanted, a few turns of 'up' released the blockage. Mine is a vertically lifting ballast keel, though.

 

[steve yates]

I have a drop down keel on a mud berth, and leaving it down a couple of inches has always worked well for me over the past 3 years. The only time it jammed was 6 jetskiing wankers blasting past the stagings to create a massive wake wave, unluckily timed with the tide just as she was either settling or lifting off the bottom; The wave must have lifted her bodily about 3-4 feet and then slammed her into the mud. There was a geyser of mud forced out through the uphaul slot and all over the cockpit and companionway hatches and the keel was well and truly jammed. Sorted by getting her lifted and a high powered pressure wash.