My boat keeps falling over

[WALTERJOHN]

My boat is moored on a finger pontoon on the south coast, and dries out onto soft mud. Due to some irregularities under the surface of the mud, the boat lists severely when dried out, towards the pontoon, so badly that the top of the mast engages with the neighbouting boat. Does anyone have any ideas how I can prevent this happening? Ideas that occur to me are the use of a high speed hose / digging with a spade / dynamite to dig out a deeper hole in the mud on one side, pouring sandbags / rubble into the "soft" area, use of a plank or similar under the bilge keel etc etc. Any ideas welcome. Thanks.

 

[steve28]

I assume you pay for the pontoon berth , if so would it not be the responsibility of the company you hire/rent from to provide a suitable berth and conditions when the boat is dried out.


steve

 

[tugboat]

Not a solution, but as an interim measure could you berth the other way round so adjacents masts are not in alignment? Just a thought. I'll crawl back under my rock now! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[wiggy]

could it be that being big john your meer presents on th pontoon effects the baot

 

[seaesta]

1. Try using the prop to wash away some of the mud - tie her up well, engage gear and run the engine reasonably hard for a long time. One of my neighboring baots did this with soem success on a Bristol channel mud berth.

2. Get an old rigid tender, shovel it full of mud at low tide, tow it away at high tide and shovel the mud elsewhere PREFERABLY WHERE THE MUD WOULD BE WELCOME such as a levee or bank. Repeat the process for as long as you need to
Martin

 

[MarkJohnson12345]

You might try to tie your main sail halyard to the other side of the pontoon, as if you were berthing/drying out against a wall.

Difficult one, really sounds though the berth is not suitable to dry out on.

Short of excavating the berth at low water (owners problem), not really sure what the long term solution might be.

Good luck

 

[dog]

Only problem I can see with using the engine to stir the mud is the possibilty of sucking up a load of debris into the raw water intake which could lead to overheating problems and the possibility of damaging shaft seals etc as the mud could act as grinding paste. I even found small critters in the strainer bowl last year!

When talking to the skipper of the dredger in our marina over the winter he said the boat had no raw water cooling and special shaft seals to prevent these problems.

 

[bigmart]

I keep my boat in what sounds like a similar situation on Hayling Island, I think you'll find several other members here use the same Yard.

When I first took residence I had a similar problem to you. The Boatyard owner suggested placing several buckets full of Sand/Shingle on the higher deck. Within a couple of weeks the problem was gone.

Its cheap & worth a try.

Martin /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[ongolo]

Hacksaw to remove neighbours mast

Ongolo

 

[muchy_]

What about some cheap paving slabs laid out in the mud so when the boat comes to rest it has a hard surface to lay on. This will spread the weight out and stop the boat sinking in the mud.

 

[Superflid]

My boat dries out against a wall on mud, the problem was that it slid gently away from the wall as the tide dropped until it was 6 - 8 feet away. I shifted a load of mud with a petrol jetwasher, very messy but you can clean things (including yourself!) down when you're done.

 

[adelaidem]

buy a swing keeler!

 

[boatmike]

The answer I think lies in your question where you refer to "bilge keel" If you have twin keels then be aware this is a common problem. In fact with fin keels it is often possible to get them to settle in to the mud easily where with a bilge keeler (especially if the keels are splayed rather than vertical) the tendancy is to tip one way or the other. Try to get your yard to move you to a position where the mud is softer and the first time it settles be on board. Tie a couple of buckets full of water or whatever you can find to the end of your boom and swing it out whichever side starts to rise until you settle level. Once you have settled level once, you should do so again as the mud will take up your boats form.

 

[WALTERJOHN]

Thank you all very much for your various suggestions. You have given me some new ideas which I might well try. Nice idea to chop off neighbour's mast, but I'll put that one on hold.