Please Help! Fin Keel 21' tipping over at low tide!

[Tardis]

i have a thirty foot long keel boat an mg 30 and it lies down twice a day every day and has done for eleven years now and apart from the mud on her sides not a problem.Kieron

now that has made me feel ALOT better... thats what i wanted to hear. THANK YOU

 

[Tardis]

Here's a picture from the Classic Boat forum of someone's legs: http://i566.photobucket.com/albums/ss105/dur_photo/P1030018.jpg .

His look to have a moderate-size bolt through the hull, no doubt with a sturdy backing plate on the inside to spread the load. There are then lines from fore and aft to the tip of the leg, to stop it pivoting.

I wonder if it might be possible to fix legs to the chainplates rather than drilling holes in the hull. Would depend on the design of the chainplates, toerail, etc.

Any legs are going to require some amount of adaptation to the boat, so it's not as if buying them off the shelf would be a five-minute fix anyway.

Pete

what are these legs made of in the picture. it looks like they fit the hull precisely. how did you do it if i may ask,...

 

[Tardis]

It must be a bit of a problem if you are sleeping aboard
One would get a tad miffed with ending up on the cabin sole

as long as i am on the right side when goes over i am sure i wont be too upset

 

[prv]

what are these legs made of in the picture. it looks like they fit the hull precisely. how did you do it if i may ask,...

They're not my legs, they're just from a random post on another forum here (the Classic Boat one). I don't know any more about them than what I can see in the picture. I assume they're timber.

If I were to make the same thing, I'd start by making a cardboard template to match the shape of the hull. I'd make the legs out of chunky rotproofed timbers like fenceposts. Fix an extra section of post alongside the top few feet of each one, secured with epoxy or bolts or both. This would make the wider section shaped to fit the hull. I'd lay the cardboard on top, mark round it, and cut out. Not sure if a normal domestic jigsaw would be up to it, so I might have to do lots of straight cuts with my big circular saw and round it off after with a plane and sander.

All that said, many yachts' legs don't try to fit closely to the sides and still seem to work fine. All they really need to do is prop one side up a bit - if the boat remains nearly vertical then most of the weight will be on the keel, not the legs.

Pete

 

[fergie_mac66]

bridlington

Bridlington harbour and probably other harbours(I only have noticed brid' tho) have taken a different route they make 4 legged stands in rows to take fin keels some big have looked for a picture but this is the best I can find at min

 

[BAtoo]

How about setting your rudder hard over to shear her out towards the middle on the ebb tide - might help a bit...............

 

[fergie_mac66]

Seabed

The main thing is the size of keel in relation to the draft and also how flat the sea bed is if there is a slope then then you have to arrange your moorings so that the mast points up the slope . Most modern boats don't have a problem but older types with slack bilges go right over on there sides and if their mast points down the slope then they struggle to lift to the incoming tide .
and Obviously you dont want the tide to go out with rocks, anchors or mooring blocks that the turn of the bilge can come down on . if there is any chance of that then you need to moor the boat for and aft to keep her in one place

 

[Iona of Exe]

Tardis,
I've just bought a Macwester 22, moored 1/2 mile downstream of you - but luckily there is plenty of draft on the mooring. As part of the purchase I had her beached at Shelley to take a look at her bottom. This entailed using the legs as she is a long keel, the legs are simply 4" fence posts with a large bolt hole in the top end and a sole plates with "ring" bolts to attach fore and aft lines to.
You would need to find a suitable point (with fairly easy access from inside) to drill through your hull, presumably strengthen the surrounding area for the top bolts to mount to (mine has a stainless plate bolted to the outside of the hull). The top bolts have eye nuts? so that when in place and tightened, they can be linked together with a line inside cabin for extra security.
Am going over to her tomorrow will take some pictures of the set up if you like?
Regards Ady

 

[Tardis]

thank you to everybody! you have give me some really good ideas! i shall suss it this weekend and see what method will work best. THANK YOU EVERY BODY!