Oceanis 44 CC tilted 3.5deg to port! Why??

[XtaSea]

Have been looking for a bluewater cruiser for a circumnavigation, for a very long time. The choices within my budget are slim so now revisiting some prior prospects.

There is this beautiful 1998 Oceanis 44 CC. Owners have done a lot of upgrades to prepare it for a circumnavigation. They swear it is built better than the Hallberg Rassy of those years. I really like the boat and the many add-on features.

BUT.

The poor thing is tilted to port side by about 3.5 degrees.

The mast looked perpendicular to the deck. Didn't notice any anomalies with the standing rigging.

The halftub on the port side has been converted to a laundromat. Also quite a bit of provisioning and substantial dive & camera gear stowed on the port side.

The keel looked ok when I dove under, but it is not a conclusive observation. May be a grounded & bent keel?

May be port side deck or hull has soaked some water?

What else could it be? What else can tilt a 12 ton boat 3.5 degrees?

[rslifkin]

Imbalance in where heavy equipment is mounted or heavy items are stored can do it. Even on a fairly heavy boat, it doesn't necessarily take a ton of weight in the wrong place to cause a list.

[XtaSea]

One other piece of background info:

I mentioned this boat while talking to a refitter at a nearby boatyard, and his response was "oh yeah, that boat have always had that tilt".

A speculative guess would be that the entire amount of add-ons I saw on the port-side would equate to the weight of ~2-4 average persons. And a majority was close to the center line. Starboard side had a lot of stuff too.

Is a 12 ton boat really that susceptible to uneven loading?

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by XtaSea

One other piece of background info:

I mentioned this boat while talking to a refitter at a nearby boatyard, and his response was "oh yeah, that boat have always had that tilt".

A speculative guess would be that the entire amount of add-ons I saw on the port-side would equate to the weight of ~2-4 average persons. And a majority was close to the center line. Starboard side had a lot of stuff too.

Is a 12 ton boat really that susceptible to uneven loading?

Initial stability varies between designs. So some will tilt that first bit more easily than others. My 13 ton powerboat will definitely move and tilt a little as you move around the decks. Not much, but enough that a few hundred pounds in the wrong place might be noticed.

[hpeer]

So go to the boat with someone else and have them move from side to side while you look. That way you will know roughly how much she heels for a given weight.

We have a 40,000 pound boat and I had a starboard list of about 2”. I moved some storage around and now she is level. I can tell where my Wife is sitting as I approach the boat.

I don’t know how to relate that to 3-1/2° of list. But it gives you a quick idea of how much weight/force you are talking about.

[Finalee]

Several of the boats I've owned had lead bricks added to a side to level her off.
Not uncommon.

[MicHughV]

It's funny that you mention this....I was shopping for a Beneteau 423 and went to look at one on the west coast of Florida. At the dock, the first thing that jumped out to me, was that the boat had a prominent list to starboard.
I checked everything, mast was straight, etc, etc....it was puzzling.

Turns out that a diesel generator is installed under the starboard cockpit locker, which induces the list. This can be done as a factory install or done later. Read on.

A few months later, I found another Beneteau, same setup, diesel generator under starboard cockpit locker, but this time....no list....puzzling.

I bought the boat, and a few days later was rooting around and solved the puzzle. Behind the nav desk (on the port side, at the widest part of the hull) was glued several large bars of lead to the hull. Obviously placed there as a counter weight to the generator.

That boat had a factory installed generator, which likely explains the lead, as there is no way the lead could have been added at a later date, as the interior furniture placement would have prevented that.

So, my guess is that the Oceanis 44 may have had an after market generator installed and no counterweights ???

Hope this provides some food for thought.

[XtaSea]

I may have to revisit this beauty. If loading is the issue, I could move 4 scuba tanks to the edge of the starboard gunwale, and perhaps have a custom fuel/water tank built somewhere.


I showed the photo to a former racer friend and he thought it was easy 15 degrees, partially with humor. Looks that obvious. But an online protractor shows 3.5 degrees. The angle of the shot is far from perfect, so a purpose-taken shot is needed for a more accurate measurement.

[XtaSea]

MicHughV, that's a very good point. Wouldn't have thought of that.

[SV Siren]

Does your boat move when you step aboard? I would venture to say yes. Depending on the boat sometimes it takes less than you think to throw off trim. Rearranging heavy items from one side to another has been pretty common in my experience.

[MicHughV]

some other thoughts to consider....
the Beneteau's typically have very flat wide bottoms, typical French design..., I think this is conducive to easy listing to one side or another as you you have a wider moving arm....not only that, but my boat has the 5'6" draft keel, and I think this shallower keel design is also a factor.
The Bennie 423 has the fuel tank under one cockpit locker (s'board side)and a water tank under the other cockpit locker (port side"......they are both around 55 gallons, give or take, about 450 lbs of weight, give or take....I can always tell when the water tank is empty, as it gets used up the most, as the boat will take on a very slight list. I say slight, because both lockers have all sorts of cruising junk in them, and it's hard to tell what is causing what.
interestingly, the Bennie 473, a slightly longer boat, places the genset under the lazarrette locker in the stern.

But that noticeable list you mentioned is similar to the Bennie I first saw. I mean, it was noticeable. Out of a sea of masts, you could spot it instantly.

[MicHughV]

a few other things to consider.....the placement and weight of the outboard for your dink....and outboard crane if you have one, and the dink itself....plus the all too common array of solar panels over the davits....these all start adding up......

[double u]

make sure to measure the list again by placing a spirit-level directly on as many "floors" of the grid as possible, turn the level around too...

[XtaSea]

The dinghy & outboard were off, as I was on it taking the exterior photos.

The large solar arch/davit setup looked very beefy and well centered.

There was a good sized teak storage box to the aft-port side of the mast. It was said to hold fishing and snorkeling gear. It is possible that it had scuba weight belts as well.

After they bought this boat, they kept adding all the new gear, and rarely removing the existing stuff. So it now has dual chart plotters, dual radars, dual auto pilots, dual charge controllers, dual solar wiring, etc. The wire bundles were a sight to see. I haven't seen that many wires even on some twin engine yachts with all the bells & whistles. I hope it never gets struck by lightning, because it would be a master disaster to repair the wiring.

Revisiting seems like a real good idea. To see where the genset is, and to look for presence/absence of lead blocks.

My main fears are damaged keel and water logged hull/deck.

[rslifkin]

If the dinghy hangs on davits, you can partly balance things out by orienting it so the heavy end is on the light side. If you buy and decide to remove some of the extra stuff, that'll give you some opportunities to balance it out as well.