Shoal draft Moody 36/38 (1990s)

Ammonite

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My current boat is a 28ft long keel drawing 1.4m with a barn door rudder hung on the end of it and it sits quite happily on a "deep" water mooring with 0.5m at chart datum. At springs it sinks 20 cms or so into softish sand / mud but stays more or less upright unless its a very big tide (chart datum in March and September) by which time the Rustler next to me will on its side. I think it draws 1.68m. At low water its very sheltered and there are no passing boats as the entrance to the channel dries.

How would a Moody 36 or 38 (or equivalent westerly etc) drawing 1.4m fair in the same situation given it only has a partial skeg supporting the rudder?

I've asked the same question on the MOA website last week but havent heard anything

Boat is based in Chichester harbour
 
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tyce

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Problem with them sinking in mud is if they start to lean once partially sunk. Its a lot of loading the rudder if partially buried and forced to go sideways. Why not the bilge keel version of the 36, problem solved.
 

Ammonite

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Problem with them sinking in mud is if they start to lean once partially sunk. Its a lot of loading the rudder if partially buried and forced to go sideways. Why not the bilge keel version of the 36, problem solved.

It only sinks into the sand / mud about 20cms and at low water there's very little current as the channel entrance dries so no real loading due to this. A bilge keel version would of course provide a solution but im not overly keen
 

tyce

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Cant see 20cm doing much harm as the keel will touch first so rudder should go in even less than 20cm, I would consider a stainless steel boot on the bottom of the rudder to prevent wear. I made my own for mine, fairly easy to do and stops any wearing from sand / stone damage.
Note this is only my opinion not advice but it is based on my own similar experiences.
 

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

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I presume that your long keel boat is near "wine glass " shape underwater. The Moody has a very different hull configuration to the Rustler and it will be supported/float upright if only 200mm in mud. The Moody 36 or 38 is a very nice yacht.
 

Graham376

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It only sinks into the sand / mud about 20cms and at low water there's very little current as the channel entrance dries so no real loading due to this. A bilge keel version would of course provide a solution but im not overly keen

Unlike Westerly, shoal draft Moodies are Scheel keels so very wide at the bottom and won't sink in as far. Rudder bottom is higher than the keel but can't quote how much.
 

Ammonite

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Ive just been to see one on the hard and think ive answered my own question. The base of the keel is around 60cm wide as Graham suggests and with only 0.5m of water when the tides are at their very lowest i think theres a risk the boat would settle upright and "could" fall over if the wind got up. Whether falling over in 0.5m would cause any issues i dont know but i wouldnt want to try it.

At neaps and regular springs I'm sure it would be fine as id have at least a metre of water

Incidentally the rudder is pretty much the same depth as the keel on the 38

Legs might be another option given it only happens very rarely or I guess I could always move it for a few days

Thanks for the posts
 
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tyce

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0.5m of water and supposing 0.2m of sinking means the water line will be 0.7m lower, that's quite a lot and that's assuming a little bit of keel sinking into mud will happen.
Bilge keel 36 removes the likelihood of a fall.
 

Ammonite

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It does make sense from a mooring perspective but im already making a compromise in not going with the 1.75m draft and im struggling to find any reviews that compare the different keels. I think i will probably go with the shoal draft version and pop it in a mud berth on ocassions. The keel itself only protrudes around 70-80cms from the hull so if it sinks 20cms and I have a metre of water it may heel a bit but shouldnt fall.

Id be interested to hear any views of the sailing performance of the bilge keel versions of the 36/38cc though
 
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