Looking at 41 Hunters and one we were going to look at has a fin keel. Big concern if this length is a bad idea for the northern bay around Baltimore and Annapolis. Don't want to constantly be worried about depth. Anyone with that length keel in that area?
Keel 5' winged VS 6.5' Fin in Chesapeake Bay on a 41
- Thread starter Paula
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Forget anything over 6 feet. Depends on if you want to go up the side creeks, but still, I'd not go over 5 feet. A lot of channels are dredged to 6 feet, MLW, but with continuing winds, they can be a foot lower than that. This winter's winds, I've been aground frequently in my slip- 4' 9" draft.
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Everyone who sails the Chesapeake knows how shallow the bay can be. Everyone who sails the bay goes aground now and then. The question you have to ask yourself is how often is too often? After sailing the bay for over 40 years, I love to gunkhole and I think a draft of no more than 5 ft is optimum. So, as with most things having to do with boats are concerned, " it all depends...." Plug in your sailing parameters and you'll get the answer to your question.
Thanks to all that entered info that agreed with what I expected. I feel better now. The NJ boat is out, and we will focus on 5 foot or less. Any more comments are welcome. Ahoy!
Something to consider when looking at a boat of 38 or so feet or more in length overall, at least on the Chesapeake, is home port slip availability. Many marinas were built in an age when 35 feet was considered a big boat so they’ll have lots of slips in the 25-35 foot range with only a handful of larger slips. And sometimes those big boat slips will be way out at the end of a long dock or on a T-head. Marinas in touristy areas that cater largely to transients seem less likely to have this problem, but those are also the most expensive places.
This hasn’t been a major inconvenience and isn’t a reason not to buy a boat of the size you’re considering, just a caution to make sure you know where you’ll be keeping your boat and that they’ll have space for you well in advance of taking delivery.
This hasn’t been a major inconvenience and isn’t a reason not to buy a boat of the size you’re considering, just a caution to make sure you know where you’ll be keeping your boat and that they’ll have space for you well in advance of taking delivery.
Paula;
Many Hunter dealers to include me (retired) generally did not order the fin keels here on the east coast due to shallow waters. Having represented the Carolinas as a full line dealer, I never ordered a fin keel but shallow draft or wing keel. You think the Chesapeake Bay is shallow, try the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds of North Carolina and you will understand. Generally the deep draft boats went to the west coast and in some areas of New England and overseas of course
Many Hunter dealers to include me (retired) generally did not order the fin keels here on the east coast due to shallow waters. Having represented the Carolinas as a full line dealer, I never ordered a fin keel but shallow draft or wing keel. You think the Chesapeake Bay is shallow, try the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds of North Carolina and you will understand. Generally the deep draft boats went to the west coast and in some areas of New England and overseas of course
Amazingly enough when we told the dealer we didn't want to look at it due to the draft, he said the owner said it it 5' winged keel. We know that is not what it had said, as we both commented on the draft. Anyway, we may go take a look at this one. Thanks for your help everyone.
Isn't published draft based on a boat floating on its LWL (Load Water Line)? That's loaded with crew and gear. Maybe not for a ocean crossing, but certainly for a weekend of gunkholing.
Manufacturers specify 'dry weight': boat with empty tanks, no crew, no provisions and the quoted draft reflects that. There is no way that a manufacturer can know what an owner will load onto a boat, so their draft is relative to an empty factory stock boat. If someone wanted to know my boat draft, it is 5.0 feet. The factory says it is 4ft. 9 inches. It is not. On occasion it may be 4' 10".
Yes there is. Its call the LOAD, and load water line. That is actually where published draft is based. Load is full crew and typical provisioning. Not light displacement, with is just sails and rigging and fluid in the motor.
When at Light displacement Kestel (First 36.7) floats 2 inches above her LWL, where the bottom paint is. We load up for a long weekend, she gets closer to her listed displament and her LWL, and her published draft of 7.25.
All I can tell you is that my B411 hasn't seen her Beneteau-specified 4' 9" draft since the day she left the factory. She currently displaces more - 5' with what it takes to make her a proper cruising boat. I suspect the Hunter 41 is similar.
;^)
Well for sure I hear you, boats used primarily for cruising very quickly load up, With spares of spares, Just-in-case stuff, and pure create comforts that end up just stating on the boat!
Boats that race at a competitive level need to be quickly brought back to Light Displacement mode. On Kestrel we keep all non-race gear in specific area for crew to take off the boat... while I do things like swapping the plow+chain for a fortress and lighter rode. She floats 2-3 inches above her LWL when done.
Lots of peeps don't realize that a boat's rated 'displacement' means loaded with gear to get her to float on her LWL.
To help competitive sailors understand the REAL weight of a boat, the term 'Light Displacement' is now a CE specification, the boat with upwind sails, rigging, motor fluids and nominal tankage.
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Oh, I used to sail with a racer. First job was bringing the cabin doors down from the storage unit along with all the galley ware, tools, and provisions. I used to annoy him by packing my gear in a massive dive bag with sleeping bag and towels and acting like it weighed 200 lbs.
We used to have a crewmen who brought on a bag for day-racing. It must have weighted 25 pounds. So we instituted a policy that the crew-member with the heaviest bag each day had to empty it out and do a show-and-tell for everyone. Well this guy lost every time, and had things like a handheld VHF-with spare battery! (on the boat), first aid kit (on the boat). 2 tethers, 3 layers of clothing, sea boots, etc etc. OK for a long off-shore, but we were going to go bang around the cans! He no longer sails with the boat.
