Resting Keel on Bottom

[lehighsail]

I was just reading thru an old thread on Cruiser Forum about how much water under the keel is comfortable for you going in and out.
One of the posters commented that apparently he was OK with the keel resting on the bottom in his slip as it made the boat very stable.
Was he being sarcastic or is it really OK?
Thanks.

 

[sail sfbay]

You will find that a keel resting on the bottom in a slip will wear the anti-foulant paint much faster that the hull antifoulant paint resulting in more frequent haul outs for bottom paint...........AND you might wear away its barrier coat.

 

[JamesG161]

Not for me. Boats are designed to float for stabilty.

Working your Keel Bolts from "Load to No Load" frequently, is not wise.
Jim...

 

[sail sfbay]

Of course, this is done all the time with bilge-keel sailboats.

 

[Parsons]

Don't you haul your boats in New Jersey? Every year thousands of boats sit a full winter on cradles and jacks, resting on their keels, with supports on the sides to keep them stable. Boats are designed to take the bottom at rest. No problems at all, as long as you do not have high waves lifting and dropping the keel down onto a hard surface.

I've been in various shallow slips where the keel sits in the mud/silt through low tides. It does rub the anti-foul off the last few inches, but most growth is light dependent (even filter feeding barnacles congregate near the water line), so not much grows on the exposed barrier coat or gelcoat. I'm also not very worried about damaging barrier coat over lead - it's not like that lead block will delaminate! Perhaps worse for encapsulated cast iron?

As for being more stable, I disagree. We find that low tides are terrible as the boat rocks more - you can actually tell by the boat motion that it's low tide even if resting in your bunk.

 

[dlochner]

I don't think he was being sarcastic, although I would prefer to keep the bottom of the keel off the bottom. When the boat is on land, all the weight should be on the keel as the keel sump is the strongest part of the boat. In tidal waters, careening or allowing the boat to dry out with the keel on the bottom is a common practice. There are plenty of photos on line of boats careened.

Allowing the boat to gently settle into the mud in a slip as the tide goes out is very different from running the boat aground as the forces are different. And yes, some bottom paint be abraded away, however the bottom of the keel is a pretty small area in most modern boats and shouldn't be too much of a concern for most of us. The barrier coat on an externally ballasted keel is not as important as the barrier coat on an internally ballasted keel.

 

[Ward H]

Here are on the Barnegat Bay we scrub the bottoms of our keels quite frequently . I don't even put bottom paint on the underside of my wing keel. As said, very little growth in that minimal light.
On blow out low tides our boat has sat in the mud. It's soft mud and does dampen movement. If it was a hard bottom I'd be more worried about the forces on the wing when bouncing around.

 

[Tom J]

Depends on the bottom. In my old slip on the Gulf Coast of FL, my wing keel rested in the mud/silt at low tide, with no ill effects. Typically, in that area, the water is skinny, and its was hard to find a berth where the keel didn't touch bottom. In my present slip, in MA, there is a minimum of 30' under the keel at low tide, so no worries there. That being said, the bottom is sometimes a lot harder (rocks) in New England, so best to avoid contact.

 

[Len Ingalls]

Twice per day

 

[RoyS]

You need to be sure your sailboat does not lean too far over after it contacts the bottom. You can get your mast entangled with your neighbors.

 

[jssailem]

Spring tides will raise the dock to the top of the pilings and drop the dock til many boats are stuck in the mud.

I am fortunate to be far enough along the dock that I have not been stuck in the mud.

Some of the boats on our dock have been challenged (not able to move) during extreme low tide periods.
Their reaction.... Time for a dock party.

 

[lehighsail]

Very interesting points from all. I didn't think about the fact that during the winter the boat does sit with full weight on the keel. Only on rare occasion have I found the boat sitting on the soft bottom of the slip. There is not enough rough water movement in my marina to really bounce it around unless a storm is passing through so I guess I won't worry too much in the future. Thanks to all.