In praise of shoal draft

[Frank]

After crewing on friends keel boats for 4yrs, I bought my 1st sailboat in 1981. It was a 17ft cuddy cabin with a centerboard and geez I loved gunkholing around in that lil boat. Funny....33yrs later I still love gunkholing around. Shallow draft boats are so much easier in so many situations. The ICW, the Florida Keys, the Chesapeake, Bahamas....the list goes on. So many more anchorages open up to you. Waiting for high tide is less important. There is less stress. Short cuts open up to you. At times you are faster to destinations with a slower boat simply because you don't have to go around a shallows. I love taking "don't rock passage" rather than "the Whale". Skimming past deeper draft boats waiting for high tide at the entrance to Hope Town and picking up one of the last mooring balls while they wait outside, unable to enter, is always fun. There are simply so many situations where skinny water capabilty is a treat. We all have various priorities for boats. Shallow draft is real close to the top of my list. You may loose a few degrees to windward but man oh man...the rest of the time cruising, that shorter keel is a blessing. I think shallow draft is truly underated in real world cruising.

[CharlieJ]

 ;D ;D ;D

Having delivered a 6 foot draft from Norfolk to Jacksonville, and  6 '6" draft form Texas to Isla Mujeres, I LOVE my 3'6" and sometimes wish it was 2 foot 6

[Mario G]

With just 4.2 we have gotten in and through areas I would have hated not being able to.

[Crazer]

3' 6" on a 30 footer is going to be fun when we finally get to the Bahamas  8) Never mind when we make it to the Pacific or...

Keel/cb boats are underrated, at least these days. They were quite popular back in the day, when Pearson and Bristol built a number of larger full keel boats with centerboards.

[Jim_ME]

Shallow draft boats are so much easier in so many situations. The ICW, the Florida Keys, the Chesapeake, Bahamas....the list goes on.

...sometimes wish it was 2 foot 6

I hear ya. I sure enjoyed the [my former] Typhoon 19 which does have about a 2.5 foot draft full keel. Many places up here have fairly deep water, but there were times when it came in handy. It was especially nice for trailering. [That is a fairly deep full keel for a boat that sized, and with its typical keel/hull form and modest beam, ample displacement was quite capable and comfortable sailing to weather.]

With just 4.2 we have gotten in and through areas I would have hated not being able to.

I noticed that James Baldwin limits his Good Old [Small Voyaging] Boats List to boats with draft of 5 feet or less, for many of these same advantages, no doubt. 

[Jim_ME]

3' 6" on a 30 footer is going to be fun when we finally get to the Bahamas

I was recently looking at an ad for a Pearson Wanderer 30 and admiring its full keel design with 3.5-foot draft myself...and thinking exactly the same thing. It's a beautiful design, and also at the ideal 10k pound displacement limit that Baldwin also advocates for (though he stretches it for a few exceptions including the Allied Seawind and even the Westsail 32 at double that--but still with a draft of 5 feet) [I might have included the Alberg 35, with its 5.2 foot draft and 12600 lbs...although it breaks two of his parameters so may be the reason he didn't? You have to draw that line somewhere I suppose...]

[Frank]

Upon reflection, my deepest fixed draft on any boat I have owned and cruised was my Ariel at 3ft 8in. Most have been in the 2's "board up" (or fixed).  I think even 5ft would stress me   :D  There are simply so many times it comes in handy. If I'm sailing a CB in shallow water, I leave the board down slightly. If I touch bottom, crank up the board and back out. Sea Tow hates me. ;)

[jotruk]

I had a compact 16 with a very shallow draft but it tracked very nice. If it had been a little larger I probably would have keep it. I did have a 24 foot bayliner, it did not sail worth a d***. I spent more time sailing backward and side ways as I did forward. I would love to get a 19 or 23 foot compac with there shoal keels from what I've seen and experience they would be a great boat.

[CharlieJ]

Even my Cross 35 trimaran only had 3'10  draft.

I cruised the Bahamas often in company with a boat with 6'6". Boy was HE glad he had a dinghy with an outboard., cause he had to anchor a LOT further out than I did.

Oh and Crazer- add the old Morgan 30 to that keel/CB list.

[Captain Smollett]

Shoal draft.  I hear ya.

We ran aground several times this weekend in the CANOE, even near high tide.   8)

It's not too bad, though...even when fully aground, you climb out and walk, pulling the (lighter) boat.

4" draft, baby.  Gotta love it.  Well, we were loaded for camping (paddled out to Bear Island) and four aboard so in "cruising trim," maybe 6" draft.  8)

Gotta watch the tides, but that's so you don't paddle against the flow.

[Travelnik]

My Nomad has 2'4" draft, and with 2 keels and a skeg, I can sit upright if I get caught on the ground at low tide.  8)

[Jim_ME]

...add the old Morgan 30 to that keel/CB list.

Another keel/centerboard design that I've always admired is the Tartan 27. I've looked at a couple, but never owned one. It's one of those designs that seem perfect, a very practical dinette layout, nicely proportioned hull/old-style stepped cabin trunk with dorade vents, clean lines with a slight sheer... A draft of 3.2 feet would also be a great feature for those shoal areas.

The Wanderer 30 is so similar in form...like a larger version. Bill Shaw was part of the Sparkman & Stevens group (as someone recently observed) and that may explain the similarity... 

[Crazer]

3' 6" on a 30 footer is going to be fun when we finally get to the Bahamas

I was recently looking at an ad for a Pearson Wanderer 30 and admiring its full keel design with 3.5-foot draft myself...and thinking exactly the same thing. It's a beautiful design, and also at the ideal 10k pound displacement limit that Baldwin also advocates for (though he stretches it for a few exceptions including the Allied Seawind and even the Westsail 32 at double that--but still with a draft of 5 feet) [I might have included the Alberg 35, with its 5.2 foot draft and 12600 lbs...although it breaks two of his parameters so may be the reason he didn't? You have to draw that line somewhere I suppose...]

Meant to post this earlier, but here's my old girl (a Wanderer) with fresh bottom paint. She looks so sleek out of the water, and in! The shoal draft is great, and as you pointed out, she's just about the perfect size.

[Frank]

Very nice lines!!  Pretty and shoal draft....sweet !!

[Jim_ME]

...here's my old girl (a Wanderer) with fresh bottom paint. She looks so sleek out of the water, and in! The shoal draft is great, and as you pointed out, she's just about the perfect size.

Yes, definitely a handsome sailboat.

Feel like I should clarify that when I wrote previously "...also at the ideal 10k pound displacement limit..." what I meant was that it was at the upper end of yet within the generally ideal (in Baldwin and others' opinion) range of from about 25-feet/5000 pounds to 30-feet/10,000 pounds. For his two circumnavigations Baldwin chose a Pearson Triton 28 as his boat, which has a base displacement of about 8,400 lbs. There are several here that have a Pearson Ariel 26 at a base displacement of 5200 lbs, and others with a Rhodes Meridian 25 at a bit less than that, and they would I'm sure say that their boats are also ideaL for their needs (which can include a range of factors). One of those factors for many may be to choose smaller (seaworthy voyaging) boats since they are generally more economical to own and maintain. Given that this is one of the core themes of SailFar, I wouldn't want to leave an impression otherwise.  :)

[Crazer]

Very nice lines!!  Pretty and shoal draft....sweet !!

Thank you!

Jim, sorry, I too gave the wrong impression. She's the perfect size for me but I know I have a much bigger boat than most(?) people on this forum! I have no special attachment to the 30 ft/10k lb. size except that it works best for me.  8)