Ungroung a Wing Keel Boat

Ross · Sep 16, 2010

I have long thought that a wing keel and a Bruce anchor have a lot in common. The best advise I can offer is don't sail near the thin spots at or near high tide.

Rick D · Sep 16, 2010

You're not going to find any; liability issues from any such publication.

rpwillia · Sep 16, 2010

One possible suggestion

There was a discussion a few months ago on this board and I recall the consensus was to have the crew go forward and back, and or just wait for the tide to lift the boat. One thing I can definitely state is that you don't want to depend on the expertise of TowBoatUS to figure it out - they are power boaters after all.

Buck420 · Sep 17, 2010

RobertLangdirect said:
Its not as if I haven't found shallow water in my boat. When I had a hunter 25 with an outboard motor, it was easy for me to unstick my boat and sail back the way I came to get out of trouble. Now that I have a P-31 -- well getting stuck can mean waiting half a day or more for high tide, putting our two heaviest crewmembers on the boom, and with the help of a 400 HP tug, pull the nose sideways to break free and head for deeper water, as well as mark the chart to show where the newest flat is on the river.

Its easy with the P-31's fin keel. But now, I wonder, what about a winged keel? Wouldn't the wing act as a danford anchor and bury itself if we drag the boat sideways? Wouldn't the geometry of the wing actually require us to LIFT THE BOAT to get over the corner of the wing before we would roll?

With all that asked, IS THERE ANY MANUFACTUER PUBLISHED DATA on unsticking, ungrounding, or un-no-longer-floating a wing keeled boat? Many thanks in advance and I know there are any number of times we have had the issue, but for now, I am looking for published accounts, if you know them, and manufactuerer data.

Many Thanks

Robert,

This question comes up once or twice a year... and I agree w/ Rick and rpwilla.
What's worked for me, (more than once

) is ..
If you can't back off after a minute or two of trying (while turning the rudder back and forth), then ... leave the engine running in reverse ~2/3 full RPM, straighten the rudder, have all crew go up on the fore-deck and, in unison, run back and forth from side to side, pausing at each side of the boat for a second or two. The idea is to get the boat rocking and break the suction under the winged keel. It's worked for me (and others) on a number of occasions (once, in the Bahamas, far from any help).
If that won't get you off, and the tide is going out, call Tow Boat US or you'll be sitting there till the next high tide.

Alan · Sep 17, 2010

Send ALL weight forward as far as possible. Move everything you can put your hands on. Also move all weight out of the stern. This lifts the keel giving you the best opportunity to back away. Hanging anything off the side of the boat will only dig the flukes of the keel deeper making it more difficult. Be sure the rudder is centered when you do this.

I realize this is not 'published data' but it comes from first hand experience which trumps 'published' any day.

Bill Roosa · Sep 17, 2010

Don't try and fix it, avoid it

I find that the thin spots do not "sneak up on me." I have never been surprised that the water was getting thin. To preclude running hard aground I

SLOW DOWN

Just kiss the forward edge of the keel on the shoal and back off to take a slightly different route over it.

The high tech solution is forward looking sonar. These are great once you learn how to read them. Use the helm to pan back and forth as you approach the shoal then pick the deep spot. The trick is being able to form a 3-D image in your mind of what the sonar is telling you. Particularly important when entering a curving channel with an entrance bar. The channel curves so you get a cross section till you get around the corner and can see further down it. Never use just one source of navigational data!!

Course that is cheating and not in true gunk-holer tradition of "feeling" your way in.

Having a good prop is helpful, folding props are the worst in reverse, feathering props are the best and straight props are somewhere in between. I have a straight 2 blade now and really miss my three blade feathering on my old boat. It would yank me off of most shoals without issue in spite of the fact that there is an anchor attached to the keel.

Alan · Sep 17, 2010

Of course prevention is better than cure. Not running aground is the best alternative but it does little for the guy that's already there. I have my depth alarm set at 3' below the keel. When it goes off I know to pay attention to the changes in depth and the rate of change. Slowing down is a prudent course to minimize any contact. But after all that the weight transfer to the bow is a tried and true solution that costs nothing and usually does the job.

seadaddler · Sep 17, 2010

Don't

Don't swing the boom out side ways with weight on it,you could bend the wings and has happen to a few who have tried.
I would do as Alan said or wait for the tide.
Nick

Rick I · Sep 17, 2010

I've had a boat with a wing keel since 1988. Still have that boat-a 1988 CS36Merlin with a Hydrokeel (Patented wing keel). And I have run aground many times in my trips up and down the waterway and even once in the Bahamas, where reading the water is fairly easy to do. In most cases by the time I ran aground I was already going slowly (looking for water). I have gotten off every time except once without any assistance. Just go in reverse and wiggle the boat from side to side. The only time I needed help was at Bakers Haulover in Florida. A Hunter 27 was kind enough to give me a pull into deeper water. In my mind a wing keel is no more difficult to get off than a fin. The secret is to be going very slow when you run aground.

Witzend · Sep 17, 2010

Kedge off with your anchor. Just make sure you travel with some means of floating it out to deeper water.

Rick I · Sep 21, 2010

Pulling the boat over by the mast happens quite often. I have not heard of a mast breaking, have always expected the halyard to snap but haven't even heard of that. Here's a picture of a Beneteau (over 40 feet) being assisted by a local power boat to get off a bar in Normans Cay. He got him off too! This was a charter boat. The keel is probably the usual Beneteau shoal draft with the stub wings on it.

Alan · Sep 21, 2010

You have to ask yourself 'what the hell was the skipper thinking?' The darker water of the shoal area is clearly visible even from this wide an angle. Couldn't he/she see the bottom?? The water is so clear in the Bahamas you can see the bottom at 50'.

Rick I · Sep 21, 2010

That bar in the middle of Normans is very clear. This was the first time I've seen anyone stuck on it. It's a charter boat out of Nassau. They clearly were not familiar with reading water in the Bahamas.

walmsleyc · Sep 21, 2010

Spanish Town, BVIs

All attempts to go backward, sideways didn't work. After a significant amount of time, the boat sort of bounced through the reef, and into the channel that leads into the harbour. The surf was significant, and the boat heaved fully from one side to the other throughout most of this process.

Chris

Ross · Sep 21, 2010

On heeling the boat from the mast head. The pull will be on the shroud and the mast will simply be the compression member in the system. The wind heels the boat for hours at a time and sometimes knock it nearly flat by pushing on the sails.