Taking the ground

[Seagem]

I have a Sun Odyssey 42i with a fin keel and bulb, 2.1m draft. I am considering the possibility of drying her out against the harbour wall to inspect the hull/change anode between tides.
Can anyone tell me if this is possible with this model or offer any advice please?

[MalcolmP]

I have been wondering the same thing with our shallow draft 39i, but have not yet done it, however don't envisage a real problem based on my experiences with previous boats including a SO34.2 which I regularly dried out without any problem

Something to be aware of with wide sterned boats though is the substantial weight aft which will tend to make them settle stern down, I would suggest it is wise to shift very heavy items out of the stern lockers/cabins such as outboards/ dinghy's and possibly even empty the stern water tank

Co-incidentally YM have just done an article in the March issue which gives the basics

Do let me know how you get on

[Seagem]

On Monday 5th March 2012, I successfully leaned her against the wall at Conwy Harbour, North Wales without incident. I took your advice and removed as much weight as possible from the cockpit lockers and aft cabins and what would not fit in my car went in the saloon and forward cabin on the starboard side to encourage her to lean in. It worked a treat and she settled against the wall at the right angle without having to do anything else. I was able to wash off the bottom and replace the anodes between tides. I will try to upload some photos. Thanks for your advice!

[windinyoursails]

We have dried out against poles with our SO37 a couple of times now but I do worry about the stress and weight that is transferred to the keel joint. She also sits back on the rudder. Should I be concerned? It seems to be a practice not recommended by the manufacturers. Any thoughts?

[hoppy]

It seems the SO40 can be dried out without the need of a harbour wall or poles ;D



Not that I will ever try it

[Seagem]

windinyoursails, I think the trick is to move as much weight from the boat as possible, especially forward and aft. If yours settles on the rudder I would suggest that there is too much weight aft.
Even when the boat is lifted out and put in a cradle, the majority of the weight is on the keel and the rest of the hull supported by the cradle. If you take as much weight out as possible and especially forward and aft of the keel you will reduce the stresses on the hull.

[MalcolmP]

With the wide sterns and lots of lockers to store things the CoG is inevitably well aft. When we were lifted recently I asked the the travellift guy and he said there was at least a ton extra on the aft strops. so well worth shifting as much heavy gear well forward

Re the rudder, as the shaft is vertical it should be able to take a smooth compression load OK, on our previous SO34.2 we had legs and dried out quite a few times and weight was taken by the rudder without any damage (it was the shallow draft version - so rudder is only a bit shorter thna the keel)

[sailbleu]

I have the same keel and I can tell you , it's not that wide so it can absorb alot of side balancing (or whatever you call it) .
If that were me taking ground this way I would prefer to choose a side and accept the scratches on the hull for what they are
I'm sure that guy didn't move an inch for several hours , I know I wouldn't.




This can happen when the mooring line breaks and your boat gets caught by severe current.



Pictures taken nearby Faro Portugal , these mooring are private property. the owner managed to get his boat afloat after a few days without structural damage (apparently)

Regards

[jdl01]

The advice from our distributor, when using a floating lift or blocking up on the hard, is to firmly tie down the bow so that it cannot rise up and to ensure that the balance point on the keel is the area right under the fin - not the aft portion of the bulb, as this will stress the forward keel bolts.