Any Input would be helpful! Drought

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Mar 15, 2010
36
Catalina 320 Dallas
I have a 32 foot Catalina at a Marina in Texas. We have had drought conditions and I have a bout 18" to 2 ft under my keel before I land.
I am trying to prepare for a landing just in case we get no rain.So any advice is good.
The dock is a floating dock.It will be going down as the water level goes down.At some point if the keel lands,it will be time to try to balance the boat.Tying the lines to the dock and adjusting as the dock settles.I am looking at 1" line? Any ideas from people who have been there? Any ideas from anyone as far as line size,tie off direction,etc?
I am hoping the worst that happens is that the lake goes down maybe a couple more feet max but I would rather have a plan ready in case it is more.
Thanks
 

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
7,090
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
If there is a gently sloping shore nearby, like a beach, you could careen there; it would be on its side, but at least in a controlled manner.
 
Mar 24, 2013
59
Hunter 1990 Hunter 30 Kentucky Lake
Any chance they would allow you to anchor out deeper and tender to the boat until conditions improve? I would also check any other marinas and see if they have any slips open that are in deeper water. It's ashame whoever runs the lake wouldn't let the deep keel boat anchor near the spillway
 
Nov 24, 2012
586
I have a 32 foot Catalina at a Marina in Texas. We have had drought conditions and I have a bout 18" to 2 ft under my keel before I land. I am trying to prepare for a landing just in case we get no rain.So any advice is good. The dock is a floating dock.It will be going down as the water level goes down.At some point if the keel lands,it will be time to try to balance the boat.Tying the lines to the dock and adjusting as the dock settles.I am looking at 1" line? Any ideas from people who have been there? Any ideas from anyone as far as line size,tie off direction,etc? I am hoping the worst that happens is that the lake goes down maybe a couple more feet max but I would rather have a plan ready in case it is more. Thanks
Would 1" line fit your cleats.you might opt for a smaller but stronger braid. Check one of the catalogs for diameter/strength. Also factor in stretch.
 

reworb

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Apr 22, 2011
234
Beneteau 311 Ft Myers Beach
Is it a fin keel or a wing keel? A Catalina wing keel boat will "stand up" if tied to something. I used to have a wing keel Catalina that sat on the bottom of my canal at very low tide no real problem... at least for the short time the tide was so low. A fin keel I think you will have a lot of problems.
 
Nov 24, 2009
36
Catalina C-30 Lake Ray Hubbard
Just move your boat to a different lake. I am at Lake Ray Hubard. We are 20 Min. from Dallas. The lake will go down but not so much that we have problems. I am at Bayview marina and I never see than 10 feet of water under my boat.
 
Mar 15, 2010
36
Catalina 320 Dallas
I am at Hubbard and at Bayview

I checked and I have about 2 ft under my keel judging by my depth finder as of saturday. I am on G dock halfway down.The water at Hubbard is rapidly going down a few inches a day. I want to be ready when I ground.
I am happy to hear about the Catalina being able to stand up but I am not sure what keel I have anymmore. I think the offset is 5'3"
Thanks everyone for the responses
 

reworb

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Apr 22, 2011
234
Beneteau 311 Ft Myers Beach
A 320 fin keel draws 6'3" a wing keel draws 4'4". An offset on the depth sounder of 5'3" sounds like you have a fin keel, as the sounder is about +- a foot below the waterline.

If it were my boat I would not want to to be holding it up with with lines. Beside what is the lake bottom; will the keel sink into the bottom and get stuck. Sitting on the bottom waiting for the tide is one thing sitting there for possibly weeks or more is a whole different story.
 

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
5,074
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
Can't you just run the hose and refill the lake?
Sorry, I just had this vision; but I guess it belongs in a sailing comic....
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
A 320 fin keel draws 6'3" a wing keel draws 4'4". An offset on the depth sounder of 5'3" sounds like you have a fin keel, as the sounder is about +- a foot below the waterline.

If it were my boat I would not want to to be holding it up with with lines. Beside what is the lake bottom; will the keel sink into the bottom and get stuck. Sitting on the bottom waiting for the tide is one thing sitting there for possibly weeks or more is a whole different story.
?

The offset is the distance from your waterline to the location of the sounder. So it seems weird that he has an offset of 5'3". It should be 1 foot or so.

Jesse
 
May 10, 2008
392
Catalina 355 Boston
One word of caution if you do have a wing keel. The rudder is deeper than the keel because Catalina used the same rudder for both keels. I owned a 320 wing for 12 years and was always conscious of this when sailing in shallow waters....
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
One word of caution if you do have a wing keel. The rudder is deeper than the keel because Catalina used the same rudder for both keels. I owned a 320 wing for 12 years and was always conscious of this when sailing in shallow waters....
I think they changed that at some point. On my 310, the rudder is just short of the wing keel.

JK
 

reworb

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Apr 22, 2011
234
Beneteau 311 Ft Myers Beach
?

The offset is the distance from your waterline to the location of the sounder. So it seems weird that he has an offset of 5'3". It should be 1 foot or so.

Jesse
Not necessarily so. You can set the offset so the depth is read from the water line or you can set it to read from the keel bottom. When its set from the keel bottom you know how much water is below the keel, in this case zero would mean you keel is on the mud/sand/rock. When it's set to the waterline you could be aground and your depth sounder would still be read 6 feet. Just depends on what you want to know, depth of the water from surface or depth of water below the lowest part of the boat.
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
Not necessarily so. You can set the offset so the depth is read from the water line or you can set it to read from the keel bottom. When its set from the keel bottom you know how much water is below the keel, in this case zero would mean you keel is on the mud/sand/rock. When it's set to the waterline you could be aground and your depth sounder would still be read 6 feet. Just depends on what you want to know, depth of the water from surface or depth of water below the lowest part of the boat.
OK, I had never heard of setting it that way, but it makes sense.

JK
 
Nov 24, 2012
586
I set mine from the bottom of the Keel. I don't want to be doing mental math coming into a harbor in rough conditions
 
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