Overloaded? Correct waterline?

[Idaho]

I have been trying to locate info on where the proper and correct waterline should be on my boat. I looked at the original owners manual, and searched the Internet, no luck.

Its a 1982 Morgan 416, Out Island ketch.

Does anyone know how to find the proper waterline? I want to make sure the boat has not been overloaded with spares and stores.

Over the years its possible the paint lines have been changed, so I guess the best indicator would be the exhaust thruhull, when the boat is balanced out as level.

How high above the water should the exhaust be? Is there a specific Morgan forum somewhere, to ask this question? Any ideas on where I might find this info?

[tkeithlu]

Your maximum draft is 4.16 feet. Given the shape of your keel that should be fairly easy to measure, assuming the boat is out of the water. You could compare that measurement with the point at which the boat is 34.00 feet at the waterline. If you have access to a crane with the ability of weigh, your dead weight of 27,000 pounds could also be a point to measure and compare.

I suspect that the usual answer is that ordinary spare parts, clothing, and food don't make much difference. Order of magnitude one inch of draft on your boat would be about 1,100 pounds of load. That's a lot of luggage.

[Idaho]

It costs $600 to take it out and put it back in the water.

Assuming it stays in the water, then what?

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by Idaho

It costs $600 to take it out and put it back in the water.

Assuming it stays in the water, then what?

Just do all of this during winter haul out. measure from the waterline down to the ground and then subtract any blocking/cradle height. Ultimately its not crucial on a Morgan Out Island. Trim will vary a bit based on what equipment is installed. E.G. Generators, tank configurations, etc. Mine sits a bit bow down as I still have the trim ballast in the port settee that is there to compensate for the generator ( that is gone on my OI.)

Best place to ask is to join the Facebook OI group. Search for "Morgan 41 OI Owners Group" we're a fairly active bunch so we can answer your questions

[Chotu]

I am with to do it later camp also. When you are already out of the water.

For now, just get rid of everything you don’t need in there. Even if you are above the DWL, you’ll notice the boat performs much better.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by Idaho

It costs $600 to take it out and put it back in the water.

Assuming it stays in the water, then what?

You'll need two people, a flat calm day, and a long fiberglass tape measure. You're going swimming. Measure the hull at the waterline. First, look on sailboat data and find the designed length of the waterline. If the length is supposed to be 34 ft., then any longer, and she's down on her lines. Measure from the center of the stem, to where the stern comes out of the water. This will give you a rough idea. Measure the other side, too, in case she is unevenly loaded. If they are different lengths, measure again, carefully, and divide by 2. Clean off tape measure before rolling it back up.

Please note, this will be a very rough measurement, but it will give you a very general idea, if that's okay with you.


Something else you could do is remove the stores and tools, and see if she comes up on her lines. Either way, you might be able to triage the objects and lighten her. Lighter will increase performance. Sell off the triaged out items, or re-cycle.

Ann

[Idaho]

The boat is packed with food, spares, and gear for offshore cruising to Easter Island, French Polynesia, and west to East Asia. I'm concerned its too much and need to determine the correct waterline while it is in the water.

Thank you for all the well-intentioned advice.

Waiting for winter haulout is not an option. Casting off on 09 Nov 22.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by Idaho

The boat is packed with food, spares, and gear for offshore cruising to Easter Island, French Polynesia, and west to East Asia. I'm concerned its too much and need to determine the correct waterline while it is in the water.

Thank you for all the well-intentioned advice.

Waiting for winter haulout is not an option. Casting off on 09 Nov 22.

Honestly, its a Morgan OI, It can take a a crap ton (to be technical) of stores, that's what its designed to do! Most boats provisioned for an extended trip like you are going to be down on their lines anyway, If lightening ship for the sake of lightening ship isn't an option I wouldn't worry to much about it.

[El Pinguino]

Exhaust and other through hulls that should be above water are above water ? All OK.

Exhaust and other through hulls that should be above water are under water ? Not OK.

Antifoul/ topside interface submerged? Not a good look when you reach the far side of the Pacific.

[Jim Cate]

^^^^^
Note how many long term cruising boats have their antifoul paint well above the nojzminal WL. On our first Insatiable it was up 8 inches from the scribe marks (that included some AF that was above the defacto WL to help keeping growth in that region under control).

Being a bit overloaded is your new normal when going serious cruising for most folks, and the performance hit is "collateral damage".

Jim

[Sailmonkey]

I raised our waterline 6” for cruising to account for loaf and to keep the hillside from going green

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

...I suspect that the usual answer is that ordinary spare parts, clothing, and food don't make much difference. Order of magnitude one inch of draft on your boat would be about 1,100 pounds of load. That's a lot of luggage.

I think you would be surprised.

We have inventoried everything on our boat which would NOT be on it a standard Serendipity 43. (We did this for rating purposes, our club adjusts our rating for weight not usually present on a standard boat).

Since we live aboard and we are set up for cruising, we have a lot of stuff, but not much that any boat going across the Pacific wouldn't have.

Our total, as listed, extra stuff adds up to 3491 lbs.

Our waterline is up about 4"

OP could list his stuff and the weights and estimate how loaded it is, and from that how far down in the water it is.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by wingssail

I think you would be surprised.

We have inventoried everything on our boat which would NOT be on it a standard Serendipity 43. (We did this for rating purposes, our club adjusts our rating for weight not usually present on a standard boat).

Since we live aboard and we are set up for cruising, we have a lot of stuff, but not much that any boat going across the Pacific wouldn't have.

Our total, as listed, extra stuff adds up to 3491 lbs.

Our waterline is up about 4"

OP could list his stuff and the weights and estimate how loaded it is, and from that how far down in the water it is.

That's a good point. Even if the stuff on board is light, cruisers typically have added equipment. How much weight it adds up to will vary both based on the people and what things were accounted for in the boat's design vs what is extra.

[TrentePieds]

Idaho:

What makes you think you even have to be concerned about it?

How do you define "correct waterline" and "proper waterline"? What, precisely, is "the waterline" of a boat?

I doubt very much that you would ever be able to find a "set of lines" for your boat. "The lines" is the designer's representation in two dimensions of the three-dimensional shape of the hull. This is not something that is normally published and certainly not in a "user's manual". Among the lines shown in "the lines" is something called the "design waterline". This line is merely a datum from which the designer proceeds in developing all the other lines in "the lines", and there is never any expectation that when the boat has been built and launched, it will float so that the "design waterline plane" will coincide with the water's surface.

What you MIGHT like to concern yourself with is something we call "pounds per inch immersion". This is the number of pounds of additional weight, e.g. cargo, required to make the hull "sink" enough to have an inch more draft than it has in the unladen state.

On a 34 foot water line with, say, a 9 foot "waterline beam" a rectangle inscribing the waterline plane of the hull will have an area of 34 x 9 = 306 square feet. Typically, the area of the waterline plane itself will be 55% of that, so you can take it that the area of the waterline plane is 306 x .55 = 168 SqFt. APPROXIMATELY!

A "block" having a surface area of 168 SqFt and 1 foot thick will, obviously, have a volume of 168CuFt. 168 CuFt of seawater weighs 168 x 64.5 =8,901 lbs. APPROXIMATELY! The block, if only an inch thick, will have a volume of 168/12 = 14 CuFt, and will displace 903 lbs of seawater. APPROXIMATELY!

So in your boat you can take it that for every half ton of clobber you take aboard, the boat will have an additional inch of draft. Take 4 tons of clobber aboard and you will be "down on your lines" by 8 inches. Take four tons of clobber off her and she will "rise on her lines" 8 inches.

And that is close enuff!

Whether a boat is "overloaded" has not a lot to do with her lines. It has to do with stability, and that is a much more complicated argument, and a novice sailor will do well by simply bearing two things in mind: Carry no more clobber than you absolutely HAVE to! And stow whatever clobber you MUST carry as low in the boat as you possibly can!

If you do that, I doubt very much whether you, as a novice, can detect by the boat's handling whether she is floating "to her lines" or whether she is six inches down :-)! So don't worry about overloading. Just carry no more than you absolutely must, and then concentrate all your effort and learning ability on learning to handle you boat's rig in all kinds of weather!

All the best to you :-)!

TrentePieds

[MicHughV]

Water line length and theoretical max hull speed, etc is all good and well on paper or in flat calm conditions, but once at sea it all becomes moot.

You'll be rockin' 'an rollin' up and down and sideways for your entire time out there, going thru' umpteen sail changes, etc, and another inch of immersion becomes meaningless.

Each day at sea, the vessel also becomes lighter, as stores are consumed, engine run time, etc, etc.