[C320-list] Wing keel draft

[Dave Sparks]

     Finally, topics in which I have some real expertise - running aground
in a wing keel boat, and catching anchor lines on the keel!
    I have owned a wing keel boat for 18 years now: a Catalina 30 for 14
years and the C320 for 4 years. The cruising areas were the coast of the
Gulf of Mexico (10 years) and the Chesapeake Bay (8 years). These are
forgiving places to run aground in that the bottom is mostly mud or sand.
Consequently, one tends to push the limit in search of a new gunk hole and
running aground can become a common event. But these grounding are usually
gentle, in that you know you are pushing the depth limits and are usually
going very slow. I did sail my C30 from the Chesapeake to Maine and back 3
times. While in Maine, I did not go searching for shallow water!
     I've found the best way to get off a grounding is in reverse after
having all crew move to the bow of the boat. Sometimes it is possible to
work yourself out of the mud by moving weight to and from the bow. I have
had a couple of hard groundings on sand banks that get moved around after
storms, but I've always been able to back off after transferring weight to
the bow. I've never had to kedge off. On one occasion, the crew hopped off
the C30 and pushed. The draft of the C30 was 3'10".
     The marina where I kept the C30 required that all slips be vacated when
a major storm was predicted to hit the area. They had a boat that would pick
you up after you anchored in a nearby river and would take you back to your
boat after the storm had made landfall. I did this several times and always
one of the two anchor lines was wrapped around the wing keel when I went
back to pick up the boat. I had set the anchors at a 45 deg angle and when
the wind shifted 180 deg as the storms moved inland, the wing keel would
catch one of the lines. This had not happened to the fin keel boats. During
Ivan, I set the anchors at 30 deg and did not have a line around the keel
afterwards. That could have been a chance occurrence.

       David Sparks
       En Passant - #933



On 1/16/07, Warren Updike <wupdike at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> We've had hard and soft groundings here on the Chesapeake.  Last one was
> when we motored at low speed into a mud flat.  She came off easily with a
> tow; but, could not budge her under own power.  I think that when the wing
> get onto mud, there is a suction effect in play making it doubly difficult
> to get off.  I think a kedge would have worked as well; but, we were with
> other boats and one pulled me off.  If you're hooked on rocks or really hard
> bottom, my opinion is wait for the tide and pray your are at high tide when
> you ground.  Kedging or towing in that situation may cause damage.
>
> One thing to check when out of the water is to be sure your keel is deeper
> than your rudder.  It's good to know what to expect to hit first.
>
> Also, when aground, if your rudder is on hard ground or rock, you can
> definately feel it.  The wheel will tend to turn as the boat moves.  You may
> even be able to feel the vibration up though the rudder into the hull.  In
> that event, I would definately NOT try to kedge or pull her off.
>
> Warren & Pattie Updike
> C320, #62, 1994, "Warr De Mar"
> Frog Mortar Creek, Middle River
> Chesapeake Bay
>



-- 
David Sparks
dlsparks at gmail.com
www.dbsparks.com