Is 6' draught too deep for East Coast Sailing

[johnalison]

There are quite a lot of moorings where a fin of about 6' will sink in to about a foot at LWS, in fact my old mooring in Maylandsea did this, though some nearby moorings didn't. My berth at Titchmarsh tends to but has been dredged.

I know of one deep fin boat with a 2m draft that was moored in the mud at Wivenhoe for a year, but it's not something I would recommend. The thought of all that mud in my seacocks would discourage me on its own.

 

[Koeketiene]

Felixstowe Ferry Boatyard had a lot of MT moorings this year, i am reliably informed

You might be afloat 24/7, but you're not going anywhere.
There's still the Deben bar to negotiate.
Once you draw more than 6', you're lucky to get HW +/- 2.

The thought of all that mud in my seacocks would discourage me on its own.

+1

 

[Lucky Duck]

I would have thought that the issue of mud getting into seacocks would apply to any boat regardless of draft

With a 6 foot draft I have been generally happy crossing the bar with, say, two and a half hours of flood tide. Entering or leaving on the ebb is a rather different matter.

 

[Javelin]

6'4" and apart from not taking on the Ald entrance and having to wait sometimes here and there I've had no issues.
Oh I do hit the bloody sands off languard on the regular basis when I turn North too early.
In and out of Southwold 4 hrs either side of high water (though rarely risk beyond 3hr after)
Also the Southern Delta in Holland is all perfectly doable also with no problems.

 

[sailorman]

You might be afloat 24/7, but you're not going anywhere.
There's still the Deben bar to negotiate.
Once you draw more than 6', you're lucky to get HW +/- 2.

+1

well thats not my experience, 1/2 tide but dependent on wind spd / direction & one might need to set the alarm to get out early some times

 

[sailorman]

6'4" and apart from not taking on the Ald entrance and having to wait sometimes here and there I've had no issues.
Oh I do hit the bloody sands off languard on the regular basis when I turn North too early.
In and out of Southwold 4 hrs either side of high water (though rarely risk beyond 3hr after)
Also the Southern Delta in Holland is all perfectly doable also with no problems.

As is the Marker / Issjelmeer, ok mebe a foot under the keel but no tide & one gets used to it

 

[johnalison]

Some of the Friesland canals are a bit marginal at anything approaching 2m. Dokkum has been dredged but there are plenty of places to do your own dredging.

 

[NickC]

6'6" here - careful with the tide on a bar - but never been unable to go somewhere - Heybridge Basin, Tidemill, Butley River, Pyefleet, - all fine

Good to know, these are the sort of places we would like to get to but was concerned that if something goes wrong, we get stuck, tide goes out and we have an anxious 12 hrs waiting to see if she picks-up ok when the tide comes back in.

 

[johnalison]

Good to know, these are the sort of places we would like to get to but was concerned that if something goes wrong, we get stuck, tide goes out and we have an anxious 12 hrs waiting to see if she picks-up ok when the tide comes back in.

That shouldn't happen if you are careful. The only place you might get stuck is Tollesbury, where even moderate boats can get neaped on odd occasions when there is a poor tide.

 

[sailorman]

Good to know, these are the sort of places we would like to get to but was concerned that if something goes wrong, we get stuck, tide goes out and we have an anxious 12 hrs waiting to see if she picks-up ok when the tide comes back in.

shallow draft bilge keelers have those same fears of being stranded, "its the East Coast" after all

 

[ifoxwell]

shallow draft bilge keelers have those same fears of being stranded, "its the East Coast" after all

Exactly... always bugged me when people told me that they would be worried about being stranded... its no different what ever boat you sail just the timings alter

 

[Koeketiene]

Exactly... always bugged me when people told me that they would be worried about being stranded...

Why?

 

[Bru]

shallow draft bilge keelers have those same fears of being stranded, "its the East Coast" after all

Ah yes but we don't have to worry about falling over and looking really stoopid. Us bilgeys can get the scrubbing brush out and pretend we meant to be there all along :ambivalence:

 

[johnalison]

Ah yes but we don't have to worry about falling over and looking really stoopid. Us bilgeys can get the scrubbing brush out and pretend we meant to be there all along :ambivalence:

Yes, but when you touch you know you are gestucken, whereas with a fin you can either spin round, back off or even heel the boat to get off.

 

[Bru]

Yes, but when you touch you know you are gestucken, whereas with a fin you can either spin round, back off or even heel the boat to get off.

Fair point!

 

[sailorman]

Fair point!

the up side is you can run aground in shallower water

 

[Javelin]

Plus I recon if I had a couple of short appendages rather than my one long one, it would take me much longer to get anywhere.

Mind you I had a chat with a guy last week who sails with a 5.2m draft, (he was bemoaning forward looking depth sounders)
I think 5.2m would make life hard almost anywhere this side of the continental shelf.

 

[Bru]

the up side is you can run aground in shallower water

Indeed I can, and do :nonchalance:

 

[Gargleblaster]

I have run aground in a lot of places in a fin keeler and been stuck. Generally in the East Coast rivers the mud is so soft that firstly you don't know you are aground or deep in the mud for some time and secondly as the water goes down you tend to sink in the mud and stay farily upright or no more than about a 45deg lean. Other places are harder and you will end up resting on your side, I remember once coming into the Swale in the middle of the night and running aground on the Horse at the very top of the tide when I left my tack to late. I lay right over as the tide went out but after laying an anchor out at low tide, the boat rose to the tide without a problem. You hear all these horror stories about cockpits filling as the tide comes in, but I think unless your mast is facing downhill most boats seem to float before they fill with water in my limited experience.
Other places I have gone into like Benfleet and Gravelines you expect to end up in the mud to your water line sitting straight upright and fortunately you do.

 

[NickC]

shallow draft bilge keelers have those same fears of being stranded, "its the East Coast" after all

Yep but they don't have the same concerns about whether they are going to pick up or flood when the tide comes in!