Any problems with sailing a 2.92 feet draft winged keel on the Great South Bay on Long Island NY

Aug 2, 2011
3
Cal 33 33 huntington
Preferable to have people who have actually sailed on the GSB but also want to know if such a keel configuration is appropriate according to the greatly reduced depth which I am not accustomed too very experienced on North Shore Rock Avoidance Priority and deep fin traditional keels. Experienced both as cruiser and offshore passage-making as part of a delivery crew. So looking for local knowledge of both is this keel shallow enough, ok if I do end up grounding (locals say it is inevitable NOT an IF, AND is it useable to explore the GSB meaning how feasible is it to "explore" given it needs a shallow keel to explore due to fact that to really explore the area one must be aware of how much of an area you can actually sail in and how much is just plain "off limits" AGAIN due to depth.

Clearly on this topic I am out of my element so any constructive feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thank you all,

Jason
 

Ted

.
Jan 26, 2005
1,254
C&C 110 Bay Shore, Long Island, NY
2.92 foot draft is perfectly fine on the Great South Bay. I've been sailing there for over 40 years with boats that have deeper draft. My previous boat had 5.25 foot draft and my present boat has 4.833 foot draft. Of course you will be limited in your exploration in some parts of the Bay. Anchor and use your dink to get into those areas. You'll find deeper water and a larger sailing area east of the Robert Moses bridge. The Bay bottom is sand and mud so grounding isn't going to do damage to your keel like hitting a rock on the north shore of LI. Where is your home port going to be?
 
Aug 2, 2011
3
Cal 33 33 huntington
2.92 foot draft is perfectly fine on the Great South Bay. I've been sailing there for over 40 years with boats that have deeper draft. My previous boat had 5.25 foot draft and my present boat has 4.833 foot draft. Of course you will be limited in your exploration in some parts of the Bay. Anchor and use your dink to get into those areas. You'll find deeper water and a larger sailing area east of the Robert Moses bridge. The Bay bottom is sand and mud so grounding isn't going to do damage to your keel like hitting a rock on the north shore of LI. Where is your home port going to be?
Thanks for the feedback
I am going to be keeping her in Lindenhurst at a Marina (small) and nautical charts indicate MLW to channel is 4 feet so I'm not worried about getting her out to deep water and channels I mostly just want to know there are places I can reach where I can really sail her. Think with keel configuration staying east of causeway I can do that with a winged keel while having drawbacks requires no action or thought on my part other than pointing ability obviously affects navigation. Sorry tangent. Sounds like ok esp. if I ground which locals say is when you ground NOT if you ground so peace of mind helps.

Thank again really appreciate the feedback .

Yes my fear of hitting rocks should be replaced by better learning to navigate with a winged keel boat. Sounds like fun and thank you.

Jason don't have ID's handy to do quote properly will figure that out as well.
 

BarryL

.
May 21, 2004
1,000
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409 Mt. Sinai, NY
Hey,

Listen to Ted. He knows his way around the bay!

Barry