Thoughts on draft in Florida

[Sgaar]

All,
I am considering a boat purchase come some time mid next year and I wanted to ask the hive mind what the thoughts are on draft. I am based in Tampa on the FL west coast but will at some time also be cruising in the Caribbean. The boat I am considering have a standard draft of 9.19' / 2.80m and I am slightly concerned that it might be a bit much for the type sailing I want to do. Especially when it comes to the Caribbean.

While a hoisting keel would be great, I just don’t much like them. The boat I am thinking about does come in a shoal draft version, but they are hard to find, so if I stick when what I have in mind, it will likely be a standard draft boat.

Thoughts?

[Sailmonkey]

For the Caribbean that draft is fine. For the Florida and the Bahamas, that draft sucks. If you really like the boat you can make it work, but imho it’s awfully deep for your local area.

[denverd0n]

For Florida and the Bahamas I would not want a draft of more than 5' (1.5 meters). There are plenty of nice monohull sailboats, up to about 40' in length, that will fit that limitation. With catamarans and powerboats, you can stay within 5' of draft even in significantly larger boats.

Good luck.

[Sgaar]

I hear you both and it makes sense. Now, I should add that on top of not liking hoisting keel boats, I am not looking for a powerboat or a cat. The one I am looking at is a Hanse 545 and it will be a liveaboard. I know that the west coast FL ICW is pretty much off limits unless you are in a cat or a powerboat. -and even at that, there are severe limitations on bridges.

[Paul L]

Air draft and water draft are important in FLA and the US east coast. 2.8 m is just going to rule out most of it. You will be stuck going to large ports with shipping channels. You will rule out most anchorages. It is an impractical boat for that area. You need to be below 65ft and less than 6.5ft, preferably less.

[Cheechako]

That is probably tempting because it's cheap. Offer 1/3 what they want if it's in Fl and you must. Useless in Bahamas and FL. I ran aground more in Fl with 6-4 draft than any time in my life. Much of the Caribe fine. Hard to sell. What is the real advantage to all that draft? a little better to windward, but everyone plans well and avoids going to windward. More people are buying cats that cant go to weather near as well as a 6 ft draft mono because they aren't focused on bashing to weather, why go to extremes?
JMHO

[Jim Cate]

Want some more opinions? Use the search function, for there have been endless conversations on this very subject, some pretty recently.

You will find that there are those who say anything greater than 5, or even 4 feet is hopeless. You will find those who claim to have enjoyed sailing in these areas with > 7 or even 7 1/2 feet. Y our proposed 9+ feet is well above that limit, and there hasn't been much experienced comment on such drafts IIRC.

I've never sailed there so can't offer personal advice, but it does sound like you'd have some issues!

Jim

[Pete7]

I know what the advert says, but is it worth confirming with the broker, wouldn't be the first advert to be wrong.

Who sleeps down the hole?

Pete

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by Pete7

I know what the advert says, but is it worth confirming with the broker, wouldn't be the first advert to be wrong.

Who sleeps down the hole?

Pete

Paid crew. The boat is built for crewed charters.

[danielamartindm]

On the West Coast of Florida, I've heard it said that there are two types of sailors: those who've run aground, and those who will run aground. Water is skinny here in many, broad areas and shoaling happens, especially around passes. Some channels only provide six feet of water at low tide, and Tampa Bay, while pretty to sail, is a riot of obstructions, spoil areas, wrecks, etc. The less your vessel draws, the fewer waypoints you're going to need to get where you want to go, and the more places you'll be able to go. As mentioned by others, mast height of 64 feet or less allows passage under fixed bridges that straddle area channels. A deeper draft vessel for Florida and the Bahamas? It's doable, with longer dinghy rides, but why not buy a boat better suited to the mission you're describing?

[billknny]

That's a very, very deep boat. It would be a very bad choice if your primary cruising ground is going to be the Bahamas and Florida. It really is that simple. The sailing performance you gain by adding 3 or 4 feet of draft is trivial and you going to reduce the number of places you can go by 90%.

If it was the boat you HAD, then you can find places to go, but if you are buying a boat specifically to cruise Florida and the Bahamas that would be a poor, no, a DUMB choice. You do not have to ask here, just look at the charts.

But this is one of those questions people ask here to justify a bad choice. You'll get 50 answers saying its a bad idea, and two saying "Sure go for it!" and you'll only remember those two.

[Gene Neill]

I can only speak for the Florida gulf coast from personal experience, but I clutched at my heart when I saw 9.19 feet! That boat would be all but useless anywhere from the Keys to the Alabama line. Just look at the charts. All the quaint little towns, remote anchorages and beautiful coastlines would be off limits to you. You'd see them only through binoculars.

[svHyLyte]

For what its worth, the 545 does come with a 1.95m/6'-5" draft option albeit with somewhat greater displacement to account for the shallower keel depth. We sail out of the Tampa Bay area and draw 6.5' and that is about the greatest draft I can see being reasonable for this coast as a routine matter. Frankly, with our draft we are denied access to a number of areas we'd like to visit but, sometimes, with attention to tides, and on-shore winds, we can sneak into areas where one would not think a 6.5' draft could go. In addition to water draft, if you are planning to travel much along the US coasts, your "air draft" will also be an important issue vis-a-vis fixed bridges, which generally are in the 65' clearance range, if that. There are other yachts with similar accommodations that might serve you as well with fewer draft constraints that you might want to consider.

[pisail]

I have been sailing the Gulf coast of Florida and the Keys for over ten years running charter boats and would not consider any draft over 5'. My boats, 39' and 47' both draw less than 3'.

[SV Bacchus]

We lived in the Tarpon Springs area, just north of Tampa, for a couple of years and had power boats at that time. From the channel going into our neighborhood, channel was 5' btw, we would go out 5 to 6 miles to get into 8' of water.

If you go with the Hanse and stay in the Tampa area, you will only go west and south from there.