Hunter 23 wing keel on bottom at low tide

[Freeblowing]

Hello,
I'm looking at various shallow draft sailboats right now, and trying to get the most boat for the money, so I'm looking at Hunters...
The water level in the slip that I have in mind goes down to 1'9'' at low tide.
With a draft of 2'3'', the Hunter 23's wing keel would be sitting in the mud at low tide.
Would this be bad for the boat? Do any of you keep your H-23 that way? Is the wing keel made of iron or lead?
I also need to have a kick-up rudder that is easy to operate.
Do either the Hunter 22 (centerboard) or Hunter 23 (wing keel) have an easy to use kick-up rudder?
THNXS

 

[derfus]

I don't know about the hunter but I've sailed my MagGregor 25 in some very shallow water. Draft keel up is 1' 10" and down is 5 '8" and at 6.5 knots is not too shabby. I have mover up to a bigger boat but there is times I miss the Mac.

 

[isaksp00]

I have an H23, bought it early this year - 1991 hull. It has an iron, not lead, wing keel. It is pretty solid. I think some of the early models had keel/centerboards.

I have a mooring about 150 ft offshore in a rock-lined man-made lake, and once just after casting off to motor to the dock I lost the outboard (I mean, power - it didn't fall off the boat) with maybe 15 kt onshore winds. Took about 60 secs of me trying frantically to restart the motor before it banged up against a rock, bow first. When I hauled the boat in mid Oct, I could only see a very minor ding - mostly just the POR paint affected - on the leading edge. So I wouldn't worry about keel damage.

That said, the flat bottom of the wing would be about 4" in the mud in a normal low tide. I have no idea if it is soft mud or rather firm - if firm, maybe there's some worry about the boat hull's weight being supported by the top of the keel? I think the 23 is around 2300 lbs, and of that about 800 or 850 is the keel. Also, I suspect you may not be able to get out of the slip at low tide, if that is an issue.

It does have a swing-up rudder, with a line and cam cleat (cam cleat may have been aftermarket on mine, not sure) that is used to pull and lock the rudder into the down position. I am not sure if you'd need it to "kick up" (I think the keel is deeper than the rudder), but if you mean "can I raise it while in the slip", yes - you pull the line from the cleat and it floats up.

 

[shemandr]

Not being able to leave or slip or return to it for about a third of the tide is a royal pain. I left an otherwise good marina for just that reason. We pay a lot for a slip and it simply doesn't work to not be able to use the boat at will.
The boat can probably take it. Plenty of Keel Boats sit in the mud on lowest tides. My Ranger did. It would lean over on the floating dock.
It is possible the wing will get stuck in the mud.
It sounds like if you want a bigger boat you need a deeper slip.

 

[Benny17441]

Shemandr mentions a good point; it is not so much that the keel may sit in the mud but it is how much the tide may curtail your sailing. I'ts not only having enough depth to get out but also having enough depth to get in. There is a lot of good daysails that may be lost as it may not be possible to do both within your alloted or desired timeframe. You may be better off going to a swing keel or a short keel centerboard combo.

 

[Freeblowing]

It's in soft mud.

I found some posts further down in this area of the forum about how some sailors rigged a lift/shackle system for the rudder.
I keep my Mariner 19 in a slip near there where the depth gets down to less than 12", and I've always been able to back out with the rudder up. I'm thinking I'll be able to do the same with a Hunter 23, providing I have the rudder up to get the boat backed out.

The Hunter 22 (center board model), with less draft than the H-23, will work better in this slip, but after 20 years of sailing boats with centerboards, I'm tired of fussing with them!

A deeper slip will require deeper pockets, that's why I'm looking at the wing keel boats.

Thanks for the comments

 

[MrUnix]

Others have mentioned the problem of restricted access, usually exactly when you want to go sailing or return for the day

The '85 H23 has a wing/centerboard keel that only draws 2 feet when up, 4 foot 11 inches when down. Later model H23s have the 2 foot 3 inch shoal draft wing keel. The H22 draws 23 inches (1 foot 11 inches) when the centerboard is up. Both, afaik, are iron, not lead.

As for the rudder.. the stock H23 rudder kicks up. Not sure about the 22, but I believe it is similar (I'm sure any H22 owners will correct me if I'm wrong!).

Cheers,
Brad

 

[Freeblowing]

Hunter 22 in a shallow slip

I thought I'd revisit this thread with some questions about the Hunter 22.
Does the centerboard rattle or vibrate while underway, or while sitting at the dock? If the centerboard gets noisy can that be corrected with bushings or shims?
Is the centerboard pin below the water line?
Do the centerboards on the Hunter 22 get stuck often?
Also, I found out that the centerboard lift line is in the cabin. Has that been a problem when singlehanding, which is what I do most of the time.
I haven't given up entirely on centerboard sailboats, and I have an option to keep my Oday Mariner closeby in case the other boat is stuck in the mud.
I wanted to make sure none of the moving parts of the centerboard assembly will corrode or wear prematurely if it sits on the mud part of the time.
Thanks

 

[inarathree]

I saw that no one has responded to this, and I know that is been a while but here ya go.

On my H22 my center board does rattle, but only while at the dock. No noise or vibrations at sail. Its because when I put the keel back together I didnt put any bushings in.

The centerboard pin is below the water line.

I havent had any issues with the line, or the keel getting stuck, or tangled.

I sail about 50% of the time single handed. I usually lower the keel as I am motoring out, or after I turn the motor off, and just before I pull the sails up. No problems.