Boats with Shallow Draft for Florida, Bahamas, Chesapeake

[BBill]

Originally Posted by FUNTOO

Looking at shallow draft sailboats in the 30-34' range (will be first sailboat) and hoping to get feedback from members with sailboat experience regarding my docking arrangement.

Home dock is 2.5' in April at the absolute lowest of low tides with relatively soft muck under that. Will I be able to safely dock say a 32' Pearson, Hunter, Catalina in this space? Or, will it destroy the rudder, running gear, keel? Can sailboats in this range handle such conditions? Would it hold itself upright at the low until the tide came back in without any damage? The dock itself could be an issue but I could use whips or even pvc to create distance from the dock that time of year I suppose.

Except for these Aprilish low tide conditions (we see only around 14-18 low tides that are this low), I'll have around at least 4' of water?

What do you think?

It depends on hard the muck is. I'm around 125 miles north of you on the east coast. Some canals around me have muck so thin it gives zero resistance. They look 2' deep but are 6+. When you try to walk on it you go up to your armpits...virtually cannot feel 4' of muck until it bottoms out on harder bottom. Try sounding at your dock with a long pole or walk on it to see how deep it is and how much resistance it gives. Might be no problem to float 3-4' draft.

One word of caution though. This type bottom stirs up with minimum disturbance and will clog your sea strainer or H2O exchanger in a matter of minutes. Seen it many times.

[Solafide]

Hello there. I own a cal 25-2 or 25mk2. I am in vermont mallets bay. it has only a draft of 4.3 feet. Now I mention this as I am preparing to voyage through the lock system up to the great lakes next summer and sail down to the gulf. Now I am looking to come out in New Orleans and spend some time in the water. I am thinking that there should be plenty of cover down that way by mid to late sept early oct. Any advice I will gladly accept it. I am always learning. thanks.

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by Solafide

Hello there. I own a cal 25-2 or 25mk2. I am in vermont mallets bay. it has only a draft of 4.3 feet. Now I mention this as I am preparing to voyage through the lock system up to the great lakes next summer and sail down to the gulf. Now I am looking to come out in New Orleans and spend some time in the water. I am thinking that there should be plenty of cover down that way by mid to late sept early oct. Any advice I will gladly accept it. I am always learning. thanks.

The usual suggestion is to head to Mobile via the Tenn-Tom canal.