Long Keel??

[dbrdh]

Hi Tribe,

My wife and I did most of our sailing in dinghies on lakes before children. Now they've left home, we bought our first proper boat albeit small; a Frolic 18 lifting keel. We’ve loved it. Especially being able to nuzzle into the shallows.
We have spent the last three years learning to deal with sailing on the sea in and around Poole Harbour.
We would like a bigger boat that we can live on more easily and spend more time on. We have gravitated towards around 29’. We have been looking at bilge keelers, seeing we hang around Poole and its sandy shallows.
I’ve found a 28’ boat that I really like but it’s a long keel with 4’ 5” draft.
I plan to do my day skipper over the winter and hope to venture further afield next season.
Should I let the fact this boat is a long keel put me off? Or would I actually gain whilst losing the ability to beach?

TIA

 

[duncan99210]

Look at getting a set of beaching legs made up for the long keeled boat. That’d give you the best of both worlds.

 

[Wansworth]

Bilge keels give access to shallow draft moorings and make for interesting pottering about.Modern bilge Keebler’s are quite efficient,biggest problem if oldish is crawling about between bilge keels.Hand for mid season or any time to run up a hard way and check underneath.(oldish,sort of unfit)....plus easier and safer to store ashore

 

[Kukri]

Buy the boat with the long keel and the deeper draft. She will teach you much more and you will gain confidence in her.

 

[lw395]

Look at getting a set of beaching legs made up for the long keeled boat. That’d give you the best of both worlds.

Beaching with legs is not always trivial unless the ground is hard.
I'd suggest thinking hard about what kind of sailing the OP really expects to do.
From Poole, there are a lot of day sails that suit a lift keel boat. A bigger faster boat will be great if you've got at least a full weekend to enjoy going to Weymouth, Solent etc.
No right or wrong answers, you have to follow your heart to some extent.
If you've done what you want to do with a boat that's great in the shallows you may want to look for a boat that can comfortably (and reasonably quickly) take you further. If you're keen to get to France/CIs or Cornwall, then a boat that goes well is an asset. But you may lose the ability to go to Wareham.
Maybe doing DS will give some time on a bigger boat to inform your choice?

 

[johnalison]

I get the impression that you mean fin keel rather than long keel, which has a different meaning. Bilge keels have their uses but as a rule sail significantly less well than fins. You should get bilge keels if you actually want to use them, either for drying out or accessing places where fins can't, or for getting a mooring that dries and is therefore cheaper.

 

[Jonny A]

If you want to be able to get up to Arne or Goathorn at any state of the tide, you need a shallower draft, whatever the type of keel.

 

[Poignard]

Bilge keelers dried out always look a bit precarious to me.

If I wanted to go in for ditch crawling I would buy a boat with a centre-board.

 

[ProDave]

I am only replying to the thread because we sailed a lifting keel Frolic 18 for about 7 years before we sold it last year. There are not exactly man of them about. Yours is still close to where it was made. That's still it as my avatar.

It might be argued that with the keel down the Frolic was a "fin keel" boat. We enjoyed it as a first boat but it was not a particularly good boat imho, and it did not point very high or made a lot of leeway.

By contrast I now sail a Leisure 17 bilge keel and it is a far better boat to sail, points a lot higher. So don't let people tell you bilge keelers are rubbish.

 

[prv]

Bilge keelers dried out always look a bit precarious to me.

If I wanted to go in for ditch crawling I would buy a boat with a centre-board.

Personally I like the idea of landing with a hefty chunk of iron against an unknown bottom, rather than unsupported fibreglass.

Pete

 

[Poignard]

Personally I like the idea of landing with a hefty chunk of iron against an unknown bottom, rather than unsupported fibreglass.

Pete

Yes, don't those Southerlys have a thick flat keel plate?

 

[Captain Crisp]

Get a long keel and start dreaming of the southern seas!
I've owned a 28ft Twister for a year - beautiful to look at and sails like a dream.
Some amazing deals around too.
Enjoy!
Crisp

 

[Pete7]

But you may lose the ability to go to Wareham. Maybe doing DS will give some time on a bigger boat to inform your choice?

Well you can go to Wareham with a fin, but they tend to fall over every so often.

However, you are right there are no wrong answers. We just prefer seeking out places that most yachts can't reach. If they buy a 30ft yacht and moor it in Poole, then the cruising range is likely Solent, N France, CIs and the West country. Perfect cruising areas with bilge keels. Us at Totnes up the Dart for a few nights.

 

[V1701]

If you know for a fact that you'll find it very frustrating not to be able to go to the places that you can only get to in a bilge keeler then go for a bilge keeler. Fin keeled and long keeled boats sail/handle quite differently - a Beneteau First 30 or similar, say, will feel a bit like sailing a giant dinghy, which you might like as former dinghy sailors. A heavier 30 foot long keeler on the other hand will feel more staid, hence a bit more forgiving which in turn might inspire you to go further afield with a bit more confidence perhaps. Thing is you won't know without trying them so if you can try to arrange a few trips out on the different types...

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Buy something like a Moody 27, 29 or 31 bilge keel. They are very roomy, solid and fast; also being a bilge keeler can take the ground.

 

[prv]

Yes, don't those Southerlys have a thick flat keel plate?

Yes, and some adventurous aluminium yachts have very thick bottom plating that should handle landing on a protruding rock or old piling. But the sort of small lift-keel boat the OP is likely to end up with will just have a fibreglass hull.

Clearly they aren’t all puncturing themselves every five minutes, so it’s probably fine. Just saying that personally I’d worry about what I might be coming down on.

When we had a boat that could take the ground, I was quite reassured that the bottom of the hull was effectively an 18” thick block of solid polyester and steel.

Pete

 

[scotty123]

Hi Tribe,

My wife and I did most of our sailing in dinghies on lakes before children. Now they've left home, we bought our first proper boat albeit small; a Frolic 18 lifting keel. We’ve loved it. Especially being able to nuzzle into the shallows.
We have spent the last three years learning to deal with sailing on the sea in and around Poole Harbour.
We would like a bigger boat that we can live on more easily and spend more time on. We have gravitated towards around 29’. We have been looking at bilge keelers, seeing we hang around Poole and its sandy shallows.
I’ve found a 28’ boat that I really like but it’s a long keel with 4’ 5” draft.
I plan to do my day skipper over the winter and hope to venture further afield next season.
Should I let the fact this boat is a long keel put me off? Or would I actually gain whilst losing the ability to beach?

TIA

What 28' boat have you found?