33 ft hunter tide grid capable?

[Fco]

My girl and I must b in love being happy together living on a 26 northstar for months, but having found a 1977 33 ft hunter in our price range we are very exited, but it aperently hasn't been out of water in over 3 years.
Question
can the hunter be on a tide grid to have a inexpensive peek and bottom paint, or does it's design not allow the entire weight of the boat to sit on the keel alone, if so how stable would it be, would the rudder touch?
Thanks

 

[Ed Schenck]

How do you do that? The boat can definitely sit on its keel. That is how we sit in the cradle or on poppits. But how do you keep it upright in a tide grid? And the rudder is maybe a little shorter but will be on the bottom if the keel sinks at all.

 

[Fco]

Thanks Ed for the only reply on this, as for how i can use my 1st "26 thunderbird" and my 2nd "26 northstar" boats as hands on examples on how if the bottom of the keel is flat just long and wide enough and of course flat, it will sit on a flat surface and with the keel being 1/3 or even up to 1/2 the weight of the entire dislacement of the boat, it will just sit there, of course you don't want to forget your bottom paint on the bow or stern.

The other reason I'd like to know how tough/solid the keel is mounted on the 1977 hunter is when I once accidentally hit a sand bar on a large ebb tide with the nstar I soon found myself standing beside her in just over knee deep water killin Time till the tide returned and off I went. Would I be telling the same story if I was on a hunter that day?

 

[Ed Schenck]

H33 sitting on keel?

I changed up the post title to maybe get some input from H33 owners. You did not state which keel. My shoal draft Cherubini has a much wider and longer bottom than the fin keel. The H33 is probably the same. But that puts the bottom of the rudder at the same depth. For sure my H37C would sit nicely on a flat rock if I knew how to balance it. Remember that the Cherubinis are older boats built before they knew how thin they could make them. They are thick, solid fiberglass.

 

[Ron McCoy]

Not good for Hunters as their keels are not full length. It may work occasionally when you have no other choice. However, that's placing a lot of weight on the hull/keel connection, especially if on hard sand.

 

[ish]

The other reason I'd like to know how tough/solid the keel is mounted on the 1977 hunter is when I once accidentally hit a sand bar on a large ebb tide with the nstar I soon found myself standing beside her in just over knee deep water killin Time till the tide returned and off I went. Would I be telling the same story if I was on a hunter that day?

Pretty darn solid. If all you're worried about hitting is sand, then I wouldn't worry... and I won't tell you how I know that.

 

[Fco]

i've now seen and fell in love with this sleek version 5.3 keel H33
and thanks to your feedback I will not be using a tide grid, but won't freak out if I happen to bump bottom..ish, moms the word

 

[SamLust]

Just for the record: The SHOAL DRAFT Hunter 33, 4 foot draft WILL stand on it's keel unsupported. I have done it with mine. I will also state that I did not have the guts to fully remove the straps or poppets. The shoal keel is wide and flat on the bottom, but not so much so that I would leave it like that. I would have no qualms about lashng it to a seawall in an area that went fully dry.

 

[Ron McCoy]

Sam,
You're right, most sailboats will "stand" on their keels - upright! No problem, done all the time - sometimes in a shallow slip! I believe the original question was about allowing the boat to settle on its side while the tide ebbed. Different dynamics at play in this scenario. Yea, tie it up to the seawall and you're still good. The point we're making is that a sailboat is not designed to rest on its side, especially if there's wave again rocking the hull and flexing the hull/keel connection. JMO.

 

[Ed Schenck]

I thought of that too Sam. But he was pretty specific with "..or does it's design not allow the entire weight of the boat to sit on the keel alone, if so ..". Still I have seen lots of different boats lying on their sides while being painted. Anything to save a buck I suppose.

 

[SamLust]

I've had thoughts of this pass through my head also. Back in the days of wooden ships and wooden legs they would "careen" the boats for bottom work, that is beach them, let the tide run out so the boat lays over on it's side. I've always assumed they picked nice sandy or muddy beaches on a wind free wave free day. The turn of my Hunter 33's bilge might be strong enough to take the weight if I could conform the sand quick enough to spread out the weight safely. Cheap as I am I might be tempted to try it, but with Forked River's max tidal change of less than a foot it's not likely to happen soon.

 

[ish]

For the same reason that I know that the keel will take a few bumps without structural damage, I can also tell you that the hull will NOT support the weight of the boat careened to one side... at least not reliably. Sam, if you really did manage to get the sand to conform properly to the shape of the hull, you might get away with it, but I'm telling you there ain't much margin for error there.

 

[SamLust]

Ish;

That's been my pretty much my feeling. I can't see that it would be worth it to me to sail up to the Bay of Fundy just to do a bottom job.