This may be a really dumb question, but the person I bought this '77 Hunter 27' from, bought it himself from a person in distress and was looking for a quick turnaround...and he knows very little about the boat...(I got it very cheap from him, but I know he made money on the deal...anyway!...) He's not sure what the draft is and whether it's the standard keel or the shoal draft model, and without diving over the side (too chilly!), I won't know, either...is there any other way to tell just which keel I've got?
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Relative
Make one of your kids or other relatives go in the drink, amazing what they will do for a meal!
Make one of your kids or other relatives go in the drink, amazing what they will do for a meal!
No way
There is no difference except the keel itself. Even the mounting bolt pattern is the same. David Lady Lillie
There is no difference except the keel itself. Even the mounting bolt pattern is the same. David Lady Lillie
Ground the vessel and watch the depthsounder.
Also have one of your powerboaters friends standing by to pull you out. Remember the transducer is at least a foot under the waterline so if you ground at close to 3.3 you have a 4.3 keel. A 3.4 keel would catch a reading of around 2.4.
Also have one of your powerboaters friends standing by to pull you out. Remember the transducer is at least a foot under the waterline so if you ground at close to 3.3 you have a 4.3 keel. A 3.4 keel would catch a reading of around 2.4.
You Could ...
Just get a longish rod or broomstick or oar. Then gently ground the boat, put the rod/oar over the side, about midships, till it touches bottom and measure how much is wet. This will give you a reading to within a couple of inches and is probably more accurate than the maker's data or the echo sounder.
Just get a longish rod or broomstick or oar. Then gently ground the boat, put the rod/oar over the side, about midships, till it touches bottom and measure how much is wet. This will give you a reading to within a couple of inches and is probably more accurate than the maker's data or the echo sounder.
Rough Geometry!!
There is a better way to find out than grounding your boat. Geometry will tell you the answer. Take a 20 to 25 foot dock line. Tie one end to the toe rail about 3 feet aft of the mast. Now keeping hold of the other end let the center drop into the water and walk the end you are holding around the bow of the boat to the same place on the other side. Lower the end you are holding down to the toe rail so that the center of the line goes all the way under the boat. After the line has settled start to raise the end you are holding until it becomes tight. The line should now be pulled from the toe rail under the keel and back up to the toe rail on the opposite side of the boat. Next measure the amount of free line that you pulled up. If you are using a 25 foot line, the amount of free line should be about 8 ft for a deep keel (4'3") or about 10 ft for a shoal draft keel (3'3"). For a 20 ft line, the free end would be about 5 feet less than the numbers above. The boat with keel and a line run under to each toe rail makes two right triangles. So, a squared + b squared = c squared. The beam of the boat is about 9.25 ft at the point you are measuring. The total draft of the keel from the toe rail to the bottom of the keel is about 7 ft for the fin keel and about 6 ft for the shoal draft. I may be a little off hear as I am going from memory with my boat (1980 h-27) up in its cradle with my 8 ft ladder next to it. But I have run the numbers a couple ways and for the most part the amount of line used to go from toe rail to toe rail is about 16.5 to 17.5 ft for the 4'3" draft keel and about 14.5 to 15.5 ft for the 3'3" draft keel. a squared is half the beam squared so that is 4.625 squared which equals 21.39. Add that to the total depth of the toe rail to keel bottom of 7 ft squared or 49 for the fin keel and that equals 70.39. Now take the square root of that and you get 8.4 ft. for one side, now double that to get the total of the line from toe rail to toe rail. I know there are math purests out there that will say that you have to take the curvature of the hull into account where the line first touches the tangent of the hull. But I think for the most part it should be close enough. And besides. Unless you want to get wet or worse yet run your boat aground it should give you a rough estimate of which keel you have. Now the other thing you can do is just avoid any water that gets shallower than 5 ft on the depth meter. That is what I do and I know that I have the 4'3" draft but I am in fresh water and I keep WAY too much STUFF on/in my boat. So I am drafting a bit more than the spec. Sorry this got so long winded, Bad habit of most engineers when it comes to math problems. Pat. h-27, LARGO
There is a better way to find out than grounding your boat. Geometry will tell you the answer. Take a 20 to 25 foot dock line. Tie one end to the toe rail about 3 feet aft of the mast. Now keeping hold of the other end let the center drop into the water and walk the end you are holding around the bow of the boat to the same place on the other side. Lower the end you are holding down to the toe rail so that the center of the line goes all the way under the boat. After the line has settled start to raise the end you are holding until it becomes tight. The line should now be pulled from the toe rail under the keel and back up to the toe rail on the opposite side of the boat. Next measure the amount of free line that you pulled up. If you are using a 25 foot line, the amount of free line should be about 8 ft for a deep keel (4'3") or about 10 ft for a shoal draft keel (3'3"). For a 20 ft line, the free end would be about 5 feet less than the numbers above. The boat with keel and a line run under to each toe rail makes two right triangles. So, a squared + b squared = c squared. The beam of the boat is about 9.25 ft at the point you are measuring. The total draft of the keel from the toe rail to the bottom of the keel is about 7 ft for the fin keel and about 6 ft for the shoal draft. I may be a little off hear as I am going from memory with my boat (1980 h-27) up in its cradle with my 8 ft ladder next to it. But I have run the numbers a couple ways and for the most part the amount of line used to go from toe rail to toe rail is about 16.5 to 17.5 ft for the 4'3" draft keel and about 14.5 to 15.5 ft for the 3'3" draft keel. a squared is half the beam squared so that is 4.625 squared which equals 21.39. Add that to the total depth of the toe rail to keel bottom of 7 ft squared or 49 for the fin keel and that equals 70.39. Now take the square root of that and you get 8.4 ft. for one side, now double that to get the total of the line from toe rail to toe rail. I know there are math purests out there that will say that you have to take the curvature of the hull into account where the line first touches the tangent of the hull. But I think for the most part it should be close enough. And besides. Unless you want to get wet or worse yet run your boat aground it should give you a rough estimate of which keel you have. Now the other thing you can do is just avoid any water that gets shallower than 5 ft on the depth meter. That is what I do and I know that I have the 4'3" draft but I am in fresh water and I keep WAY too much STUFF on/in my boat. So I am drafting a bit more than the spec. Sorry this got so long winded, Bad habit of most engineers when it comes to math problems. Pat. h-27, LARGO
PVC
A piece of pvc pipe and a tee or 90 will do the trick. Just cut a piece long enough to reach the center of the boat from the side - around 5 feet. Stick it and the longer piece in the 90 elbow and mark footage on the riser piece. Pass under the keel and pull up till it bumps. Presto - correct draft measurment. Don't worry with glueing it, the fitting will hold the pipe just fine. 1.25" pipe or larger is better for less flex.
A piece of pvc pipe and a tee or 90 will do the trick. Just cut a piece long enough to reach the center of the boat from the side - around 5 feet. Stick it and the longer piece in the 90 elbow and mark footage on the riser piece. Pass under the keel and pull up till it bumps. Presto - correct draft measurment. Don't worry with glueing it, the fitting will hold the pipe just fine. 1.25" pipe or larger is better for less flex.
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