Yamaha 33 standing on keel?

Eric E

.
Aug 26, 2022
2
yamaha 33 Olympia
Is the 33' (1978) stable while resting on the keel? Keel resting on a rigid level surface(tidal grid). Moored securely to two piles alongside. See photo. Stated another way, is the boat stable fore and aft while sitting on the the keel.
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jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
22,099
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Eric. Welcome to SBO Forum.
The boat, a Yahama 33 has a Monohull fin keel. Depending on the lengths and base of the keel, it can rest on it but will not be stable. You would need to tie it up to a grid, and lean it against the pier, but it could slide out and be hanging from the ties. You would want to some how stabilize the keel perhaps using strong ropes tieing the keel to the pier to stop it from sliding.

If you lift the boat and set it on the hard, the yard will locate braces (jack stands) to hold the hull steady. They might use 9 or more braces to stablize the hull.
 
Feb 21, 2013
4,638
Hunter 46 Point Richmond, CA
It is not recommended to moor your fin keel sailboat SailboatData.com - YAMAHA 33 Sailboat on its keel. A fin keel is very narrow, essentially just a skinny plate made of wood or metal, but is only fixed to smaller, shallower boats. This type of keel MAY not provide adequate support for resting the sailboat. AND I would not get on the boat with the keel resting in the mud, etc.

On the otherhand, a bilge keel can and you see these all the time in locations where there is a wide tidal change and at low tide there is not water in the harbor, e.g., UK where I lived for 6 years.
 
Last edited:
Nov 21, 2012
677
Yamaha 33 Port Ludlow, WA
It is not recommended to moor your fin keel sailboat SailboatData.com - YAMAHA 33 Sailboat on its keel.
How ya gonna haul out if you don't rest on the keel? The jack stands only provide lateral support, all the weight is on the keel.
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The hull on the Y-33 is over an inch thick below the waterline, with a grid structure inside. Should be fine. I lived on it for a couple of weeks last spring.

Edit: note the substantial fore and aft shoring. I don't know if I'd try it on a tidal grid, which was the original question. Let us know how it goes.:biggrin:
 
Last edited:
Feb 26, 2004
22,896
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
I tried this once, and only once, and not on a tidal grid. Catalina 25, fin keel, up the Napa River out of San Francisco, tidal river. I anchored fore and aft, and carefully calculated the changes in water height. Anchored at high tide, calculated I'd refloat at around 1030 the next morning. Got up at six at calculated/actual low water. Boat was stable because about two feet of the 4+ foot deep keel was buried in the soft mud. This gave the stability required to keep the boat upright. The purpose of the exercise was to clean from the waterline as far down as I could get to. I only got to do one side before the water came back up. I was in my dinghy and used one of those double "stickie" suction cup things with a handle to keep me close to the boat.

The concept worked. The boat actually popped back up and floated again within 15 minutes of when I'd calculated that it would. Those little tide&current booklets available in SF are superb.

Would I ever do it again? NEVER. Simply too dangerous and I was young & foolish. Not young anymore...:)

For a real tidal grid it is doable with most any fin keeled boat. I recommend doing a LOT of homework and research about how to do it right. I'm sure there are tons of videos of people being caught in the act of not doing it correctly.
 
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Eric E

.
Aug 26, 2022
2
yamaha 33 Olympia
So, had a visit to the to the tidal grid. No Drama. Boat seemed quite stable (fore and aft) and seemed happy lashed firmly to the 2 piles. Your results may vary.;) Cleaned growth in thru hulls and knotmeter, cleaned mussels and barnacles on prop and shaft, new zincs, and serviced the MaxProp. No bottom cleaning or anti fouling paint (not allowed).
Noticed my keel is a different shape than the drawing attached. Is that a difference between the iron and optional lead keel?
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jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
22,099
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Where is the "Grid" located?
 
Nov 21, 2012
677
Yamaha 33 Port Ludlow, WA
I have the tall rig with lead keel. Keel looks like the diagram, not the photo. I have some bottom pictures from an early standard rig, but I'm a week away from retrieving them and I'm not sure if I have a photo of the keel profile.