Challenge: Getting a Boat with a 5.5' Draft Through a 5' Channel - Page 2

hellosailor · 04-10-2009, 21:50

So you will need to make the trip twice.

I guess if you need that haul...empty the boat, measure the draft, measure it again with the boom swung all the way out and some weight hung over it.

Dreaming Yachtsman · 05-10-2009, 00:33

Standard procedure for boats with draft of more than about 6 feet entering Livingston, Guatemala (Rio Dulce) is to have a tow boat slightly forward of the beam pulling on a halyard while the boat powers through the mud and sand. I have not done this myself but did see several boats dragged across the bar that way in May 2009.

Fishspearit · 05-10-2009, 07:45

Cut 6 inches off of the bottom of your keel.

But seriously, why in the world would you want to put your boat somewhere that you can't get it back out easily?

b-rad · 06-10-2009, 05:14

The yard says they have done this before by straping a air bag to the keel and heeling the boat over? Anybody heard of this? Does that sound practial and safe?

hellosailor · 06-10-2009, 08:52

Sure, that should work. Especially if they have air bags & know how to rig them.

**Boracay** · 06-10-2009, 21:01

The chart depths should be (from memory) mean low water. If your channel is tidal it may be possible to read the tide charts to work out a time to enter the channel shortly after mean low water and get your required depth.

Do adjust to get the tide time for your channel and don't do it on a falling tide...

osirissail · 06-10-2009, 22:13

The dinghy soundings are the most confident way to find your way through. I always have one of the 3-piece extendable boat hook/pole on board. Extended it is almost 14 feet long. I mark with magic marker every foot up the pole. Then as the dinghy moves forward slowly I stab the water with the pole and read the depth. If a shallow obstacle is encountered, I stop and start stabbing the pole in the water in wider and wider circles around the shallow spot looking for the "deep water" if any. The GPS idea is good but you can also just take notes as to any reference things on land and how far left or right you need to be in the channel to avoid the obstacle.
- - And with the pole you can "feel" what the bottom actually is. Soft mud, hard mud, soft/hard sand or rock.

b-rad · 07-10-2009, 05:21

I found a yard a few miles further that has 10 feet of channel, and they matched the price of the first yard.

Ishmael · 07-10-2009, 06:55

The "Nantucket Camel Ride". This is how they used to get the heavy whaling and merchant vessels in and out of Nantucket harbor over the sand bar before the jetties were built and the channel dredged:

http://www.seahistory.org/assets/KIDS%20108.23.pdf

sailone · 23-10-2009, 11:04

Heel the boat 18 degrees and you will be good....Barrels work well

05-10-2009, 00:33	#2
Dreaming Yachtsman Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Boat in Rio Dulce. Temporarily living in Portland, OR. Boat: Fountaine-Pajot, Belize 43, "Yachtsman's Dream" Posts: 117	Standard procedure for boats with draft of more than about 6 feet entering Livingston, Guatemala (Rio Dulce) is to have a tow boat slightly forward of the beam pulling on a halyard while the boat powers through the mud and sand. I have not done this myself but did see several boats dragged across the bar that way in May 2009. __________________ John C. Bickford S/V Yachtsman's Dream

06-10-2009, 21:01	#6
Boracay Moderator Moderator Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: nr Blackwattle Bay,Sydney, NSW, Australia Boat: Steel Roberts Offshore 44 Posts: 1,880	Are you sure it's not tidal? The chart depths should be (from memory) mean low water. If your channel is tidal it may be possible to read the tide charts to work out a time to enter the channel shortly after mean low water and get your required depth. Do adjust to get the tide time for your channel and don't do it on a falling tide... __________________ Rust never sleeps Boracay Blog.

07-10-2009, 06:55	#9
Ishmael Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 46	Sort of off-topic, but interesting... The "Nantucket Camel Ride". This is how they used to get the heavy whaling and merchant vessels in and out of Nantucket harbor over the sand bar before the jetties were built and the channel dredged: http://www.seahistory.org/assets/KIDS%20108.23.pdf

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04-10-2009, 21:50	#1
hellosailor Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 3,993	So you will need to make the trip twice. I guess if you need that haul...empty the boat, measure the draft, measure it again with the boom swung all the way out and some weight hung over it.

05-10-2009, 07:45	#3
Fishspearit Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: currently Deltaville,VA Boat: Westerly Posts: 484	Cut 6 inches off of the bottom of your keel. But seriously, why in the world would you want to put your boat somewhere that you can't get it back out easily?

06-10-2009, 05:14	#4
b-rad Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: miami Boat: us yacht 30 ft - obsession Posts: 67	The yard says they have done this before by straping a air bag to the keel and heeling the boat over? Anybody heard of this? Does that sound practial and safe?

06-10-2009, 08:52	#5
hellosailor Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 3,993	Sure, that should work. Especially if they have air bags & know how to rig them.

06-10-2009, 22:13	#7
osirissail Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: onboard in the Caribbean - mostly in Grenada Boat: Gulfstar 53 - Osiris Posts: 850	The dinghy soundings are the most confident way to find your way through. I always have one of the 3-piece extendable boat hook/pole on board. Extended it is almost 14 feet long. I mark with magic marker every foot up the pole. Then as the dinghy moves forward slowly I stab the water with the pole and read the depth. If a shallow obstacle is encountered, I stop and start stabbing the pole in the water in wider and wider circles around the shallow spot looking for the "deep water" if any. The GPS idea is good but you can also just take notes as to any reference things on land and how far left or right you need to be in the channel to avoid the obstacle. - - And with the pole you can "feel" what the bottom actually is. Soft mud, hard mud, soft/hard sand or rock.

07-10-2009, 05:21	#8
b-rad Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: miami Boat: us yacht 30 ft - obsession Posts: 67	I found a yard a few miles further that has 10 feet of channel, and they matched the price of the first yard.

23-10-2009, 11:04	#10
sailone Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 7	Heel the boat 18 degrees and you will be good....Barrels work well