Specific Bahamas would you rather

[Muaddib1116]

I'm sure there will be a lot of responses saying "neither", but between two ~50' sailboats, one with a 6.5' wing keel and one with a 7.5' fin, which would you rather sail in the Bahamas?

[denverd0n]

Well, you're right. The answer is definitely "neither." There is a lot of shallow water in the Bahamas.


But if I have to choose, and given all the shallow water, I would go for the shallower keel. A foot of difference can be significant.


Either way, you are going to want a well-calibrated depth finder, and you are going to want to keep a close eye on it.

[sailorboy1]

If it is only for the Bahamas 1' can be a lot at the 5.5-7.5' depths. BUT a lot of that lost of places to visit can be offset with a good fast dinghy. I have a 6.3' boat and my courage gives out lots of times and I just anchor out further since the difference in dinghy time is minor.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Muaddib1116

I'm sure there will be a lot of responses saying "neither", but between two ~50' sailboats, one with a 6.5' wing keel and one with a 7.5' fin, which would you rather sail in the Bahamas?

Tough choice really. The obvious answer is the shallower draft, but the catch here is the wing.
Not sure what you overall longterm plans would be, but would choose the deeper fin for offshore sailing and suck it up for the little bit of time in the Bahamas.

As pointed out by sailorboy (and agree), you need a good dink/ob to get a better range if anchored out further in either of the 2 keels in question and for better exploration range.

[Muaddib1116]

As I'm making my plans and looking at boats, the Bahamas are only a small part of where I'd like to go, but by all accounts, they are amazing and worth visiting. And since I'll be starting in New England, they are a logical early stop on my way south and beyond.

[PLANET EXPRESS]

Would sail a 4.5 foot or less in Bahamas any more will exclude you from a lot of places and the ability to anchor close in.

[flee27]

At least when you run aground with the fin keel you can heel to boat over to get off. Not as effective with a wing keel.

Foster

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Muaddib1116

I'm sure there will be a lot of responses saying "neither", but between two ~50' sailboats, one with a 6.5' wing keel and one with a 7.5' fin, which would you rather sail in the Bahamas?

All other things being equal, having less draft is always better in the Bahamas.

But, no matter what your draft, 7,6,5,4,3 feet, there are always going to be places that you could go if you just had a foot less of draft.

And, that's certainly going to be true with a 6.5' versus a 7.5' draft.

Our last two cruises there, were with a five foot draft. The trip before that, was with a four foot draft. Funny thing was, we ran the 4' draft boat hard aground one day. We never touched bottom once in the five foot boat.

[jackonanthem]

We've cruised the Bahamas with a 5 foot keel and a 7. Missed a bit with the deeper draft, but not much. A good, fast dinghy and watching tides will get you nearly everywhere. The fin will be easier to get off if you do run aground and will probably be better for sailing windward when depth isn't an issue.

[a64pilot]

7’ is going to be tough, for instance your not getting fuel except in the dinghy at green turtle and quite a few other places, but I believe the most important part is if your here in Winter, with a 7’ keel your riding out a lot of Northerlies exposed, where boats with shallower keels can seek shelter. 40kt winds and the waves they bring isn’t going to sink you, but it can make for a miserable three days until the front blows through.

[rmeador]

My boat has a draft of 6'7" and I cruised the Bahamas last winter. There were a few times when we couldn't go places where we wanted to go, but in general it was fine. I got used to seeing the depth finder hovering between 2-3 feet for days on end (in the beginning, that was very stressful).

Pro tip: you can very accurately calibrate your depth finder by running aground.

I think it's more important to have accurate charts than a shallow draft. There are deeper paths through most areas, but just barely and it requires careful navigation. My Navionics charts were very accurate throughout most of the Caribbean, but not in the Bahamas. We ran aground twice in the span of 5 minutes near Spanish Wells and then hired a local guide to get out of there. He went through a route that my charts showed was 4', but it was fine. Later, we picked up some Explorer Charts and they showed exactly the route the guide took us. I think Explorer is the way to go for the Bahamas. They saved us in other places, too.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by rmeador

Pro tip: you can very accurately calibrate your depth finder by running aground.

Didn't know that was a "pro tip" lol.

This is how we calibrated our boat also. Others give us depths through channels/over bars that are way off, then challenge us that our d/f is off. Once they hear we set ours by "direct measurement", they then quickly change their tune.
Agree this is the only way to set the d/f.

[Muaddib1116]

Thanks for the advice guys!

[Ben51]

Originally Posted by rmeador

Later, we picked up some Explorer Charts and they showed exactly the route the guide took us. I think Explorer is the way to go for the Bahamas. They saved us in other places, too.

Definitely the Explorer Charts!
We have 6.5 to 6' 9" depending on water & Fuel on a fin keel. Have been sailing in the Bahamas for +20 yrs. Yes we run aground, but we do it gently and the fin helps us get off. A wing keel gets stuck a little harder.

Others have mentioned shorter keels but on a 50 ft boat that be questionable.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by rmeador

Pro tip: you can very accurately calibrate your depth finder by running aground.

Yes, that is usually the way we calibrate ours!