What draft is your boat?

[Captain Smollett]

What does your boat draw in "average" cruising trim? 

If you have more than one boat, you can vote up to 5 times. 

If you have a retractable keel (centerboard, daggerboard or swing keel), please indicate the draft with board UP.

In the comments section, please specify what water you consider your minimum safe water depth. (not talking about a keel braille situation, imagine you DON'T want to touch).

Also, please specify your minimum prefered depth of water to anchor, assuming a reasonably protected, calm anchorage.

For my part, I am voting for three boats:

(1) daggerboard open dory: 4" draft with board up; would be happy with any water deeper than a foot.
(2) centerboard cruiser: 18" draft with board up; consider about 2-3 feet my comfortable minimum.
(3) Fixed keel cruiser: 4'3" light trim draft; I don't like water any less than 6 ft.

[AdriftAtSea]

28' trimaran, which draws about 15" with the board and rudder up. 

She draws about 4' 6" with the board down.  I prefer to anchor in 3-4' of water as a minimum at low tide... but that changes depending on how sheltered the anchorage is and what the wind/tide/current situation and what the bottom is made up of.

[skylark]

Tanzer 28 fin keel, about 4-1/2 feet draft.  I try to keep in channels at least 8 feet deep but sometimes cut it closer.  I like to anchor in 10 feet, but often push it to 6 feet, however we have no tide, just river and lake level changes that usually take days to change.

Four and a half feet seems to be optimum here in Michigan, I wouldn't want any more.  When lake levels are down then you can't get to marinas or out of the rivers.

[CharlieJ]

Tehani draws 3 foot 3" empty, we figure 3 foot 6 inches in cruising trim.

I used to feel pretty good in 6 feet of water- UNTIL-

This past fall we sailed in company with another boat, and got caught out in a frontal passage. They went inshore and tied to a dock, we anchored in 6.5 feet. On passage of the front the winds did a 180, went to about 35 knots. and we were taking waves from all the way across the bay. Evenually they got big enough that we slammed bottom HARD on one wave, so we got underway.

I've dove on the boat twice now to patch the crack in the deadwood section of the keel ( aft of the ballast) with underwater epoxy and have the leak down to about 1//2 gallon per day. I can live with that until we can get her hauled and do a full repair.

I'm with Skylark- NOW we prefer 10 feet unless we are in a very very protected spot where we are certain we aren't gonna get wave action like that.

[Bubba the Pirate]

In A Mist is a Cape Dory 28; full keel draws 4'.   I'm sure loaded it will draw 6-8" more.     I won't know until I load her down the first time.   


TrT

[AdriftAtSea]

TrT—

FYI, the Cape Dory 28 has a pounds-per-inch (PPI) of about 700 lbs. So it should settle about 1" for every 700 lbs that you put aboard.  That figure includes fuel, gear, sails, motor, tools, etc. I hope that helps with your planning. 

[BobW]

Prelude's design draft is 3'4", but more like 3'8" loaded.

I'm more comfortable in 10' at low tide when anchored.  My eyes start getting big when I see 6' or less when underway.

[Norm]

Averisera draws 5.5 ft.  We haven't trimmed her out for a voyage yet.  Tomorrow we load her for the first time.  Since the boat is designed to be raced with 5 guys, I doubt our cruising gear plus crew will do much to affect draft.

Anchoring depth: I like a minimum of ten feet at low water.  In New England, North of Cape Cod, we have ten foot range to the tide and fairly deep anchorages so I don't worry too much, on average.  the problem with anchoring in deep water is dragging the darn anchor and chain up. 

A bigger problem is swinging into a rock at low water when the wind/curent shift and the scope is long for high tide.  I wake up and check/adjust regularly.  Tying up alongside a stone pier, fairly often, I am up all night shifting dock lines, even with long springs.  I call it fun!

[AdriftAtSea]

Rockport is called that for a reason... the stone piers there are tough on careless boats.  :D

[wildman]

The NImble 20 spec draft is 11 inches with the board up -- 4 feet and 7 inches down.  I'm sure Lazy Susan draws more than that as I make no effort to keep her light.  It takes 400 pounds to sink her an inch.  The hull is a modified sharpie and is virtually flat, so there is no minimum anchoring depth as long as the bottom/beach is suitable for drying out at low tide.  Paul

[AdriftAtSea]

While my boat is also designed to be beachable... I would avoid doing that as much as possible as contact with the sand will tend to remove your bottom paint, and then your fiberglass and gelcoat.  :D If I were planning to use my boat in that manner, I would haul her and add two layers of kevlar to the bottom and an exterior layer of epoxy thickened with graphite and collodial silica to help protect the hull from damage of beaching.

[bayracer]

Under normal conditions with my centerboard rig, comfortable trim I can sail with no more than 18 inches of draft.  In really shallow water 12 inches of draft and small amount of board allows good steerage.

I beach the hull and have never had any problem with breaking the barrier coat that I use called 2000E Interprotect from Interlux. I add this to the glass, multiple coats on all of my hulls, before applying any bottom paint. This is the same product that is used to seal fiberglass after the blisters show up, except I do not have that and have never had that problem with my hull. ;)

[Godot]

The spec'd draft is 3'10" IIRC, and for the sailing I've done I doubt I've brought it down to more than 4'.  I frequently sail in water 6' deep; after all I am on the Chesapeake.  I get nervous around 5'.  If I see 4' I'm already in action.  I have been known to cross a borderline depth area as long as I'm well heeled over, occasionally over trimming just to give an extra couple inches of space (at lowish tides usually so I have a chance of floating free eventually if I do get stuck).  I keep a chart handy whenever I'm someplace new, although the ground does shift in storms so the chart is not necessarily accurate.  Frankly, while groundings are a real pain in the butt to deal with; I've learned to accept that I'm going to touch periodically if I insist on spending so much time sailing in little creeks and small water. 

I tend to anchor in 6-10'; but tides don't seem to be as a big deal here as other places (a couple of feet I guess). 

I once got stuck out on the bay (my very first time out with this boat, in fact) with winds pushing 30-35 knots, gusting higher and 3-4' waves.  I was completely overwhelmed and couldn't make any speed at all closer than 90* to weather which means I couldn't really maneuver into a semi sheltered location.  Depth sounder reported 12' depth in a VERY unprotected area, and I threw the anchor over.  My fake Danforth held fine.  I did put out every inch of anchor rode, though.  And I slept amazingly well.

[Bubba the Pirate]

Thanks again, Adrift!   

[AdriftAtSea]

TRT-

De nada.

[Zen]

regular - 3.5

dressed - 4-5

[Joe Pyrat]

Pearson Triton draws about 50" average cruising trim, but this may change after the current projects are completed.

My minimum safe water depth kind of depends on the bottom profile, but I'd say on average about two fathoms.

My minimum preferred depth at anchor depending on the tide and swing, again two fathoms.

I'm use to fairly deep water so these minimums may change once I've spent some time in the Caribbean and get use to shallower seas.

[Frank]

Just a thought on 'draft'   I've always been drawn to shallow draft boats, be it shoal keel or centerboard. The old addage  "with deep draft you point better and just go aground sooner" may be true...but there is something to be said about not worrying as much about going aground,going where others can't,not needing an extension ladder on the hard to get aboard and the privacy skinny water anchorages bring. I'll give up a few degrees to weather any day for less water below. Charlies/Laura's boat is a great example....goodlooking lines,seaworthy and doesn't take much water. My kinda boat ;)

[Auspicious]

Auspicious draws 5'8" in cruising trim. I start paying attention when water gets below 10', slow down a lot below 8', and consider 6-7 feet to be "feeling my way." I generally anchor in 10 - 15' but some of my favorite places are 8 or 9' -- in those I pay more attention to wind direction (a Northerly wind can blow 2 or 3 feet of water out of the Chesapeake).

[CharlieJ]

 ;D ;D On the northerly winds.

A buddy of mine sheltered his Roberts 39 up a creek on the Eastern shore during a fall frontal system passage one time. Seems there was a bar at the mouth- he spent 2 weeks in there before enough water came back so he could get back out. ;D

He was NOT particularly happy about that.