Drying Out

[rob.lovelace]

Has anyone had a top hat dry out on it's side? I'd like to know the re floating characteristics of them before I think of doing it.

[woodsy]

Ive done it regularly . Never had a problem till I left the drain cock from my sink open. Lot of pumping out & drying out to do!

[rob.lovelace]

cheers tah

[Phillip]

Woodsy,

Could explain how you did it and how she came back up.

Photos would be good.

[Troppo]

I have experienced an unplanned drying out at 1770 on Central Qld coast. Motored in on a dropping tide, knowing it was tricky. Saw a line of anchored boats and thought that was the deep section. Wrong. Depth sounder readings and estimate of tide made me think the boats would dry out. Got stuck trying to find deeper water. When the tide went out further I saw that the line of boats I thought were anchored in deep enough water actually were moored and partially dried out at every low tide.

The line of boats at anchor fooled me to think there was enough water. That's me in centre back.

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As tide went down, Windchaser sat upright for quite a while. Then, quickly, fell to side. No dramas but lucky I was holding on.

Windchaser gently kept tilting over as tide went out. Eventually, this is how she lay. Put out anchor using kayak.

The tilt makes it awkward.

s2 boat trip 348.jpg (352.61 KiB) Viewed 4806 times

On her side, almost low tide.

s2 boat trip 343.jpg (358.83 KiB) Viewed 4806 times

Sandbar underneath can just be seen.

s2 boat trip 346.jpg (422.59 KiB) Viewed 4806 times

Eventually, to cut a long story short, I watched as the tide came in. The water came a little over the gunnels onto the deck but not by much. I was expecting much more but she just started to rise up with the water. The water level was nowhere near the windows nor was it high enough that I was concerned. In fact, she started to rise up earlier than I expected.

I did get a few drops of water inside from the stanchion fittings which were not adequately sealed but that was all.

Overall, while I was not able to go fishing as planned, nor was I able to motor up to the fuel wharf (paddled 1 km up on kayak and carried 2x 20 litres back), I was surprised how well the Top Hat coped with the drying out. Never looked like I was in trouble with water entry (different if there had been ocean waves) and basically all I had to do was wait around.

[rob.lovelace]

awesome Troppo thanks

[Phillip]

Thanks Troppo,

So all we really need to watch for is when they fall over onto their sides. Check for rocks etc!

There is not much depth anywhere in 1770, I found that I was not quiet on the bottom at low tide there
and I had anchored over on the northern side with all the larger boats and as close as I could get to the channel.
In fact I saw the ferry to Lady Musgrove Is go aground in the channel!

[woodsy]

Troppo has supplied the photos & a good explanation. All I would suggest is weighing down the side you prefer to lean to, so that no sudden drop occurs. I put 2 jerry cans on the deck & cinch them with my diving belt to a staunchion. Swap them over on the next tide to do the other side. KEEP THE COCKS CLOSED!!!

[rob.lovelace]

hey Troppo. was she loaded with stores or empty. I'm sitting pretty low in the water with all the cruising gear and stores etc.

[Troppo]

Woodsy's point about weighing one side to help the boat lean the way you want her to go over on sounds like good advice. I wonder if the same could be done by putting an anchor out to the side you want to lean on and as the tide drops just keep pulling on it. Why Windchaser flopped to the side was because she was sitting dead flat and the bottom of the keel is flat so she just balanced for a time. When she flopped, it was no big deal as plenty of water still under the side but it did catch me by surprise.

When Windchaser went dry she had a reasonable amount of stuff on board. Had a few 20 litre drums of water as well as the almost full internal water tank, about 3 weeks supply of food, massive spare anchor and chain.

Initially I was concerned about drying out but after it was all over I wondered why I had been anxious as she took it so well. Apart from the initial jerk to the side, the boat gently went down and when the tide turned, she gently came up. At the time when the tide turned, I was worried about it, and was watching to see how far up the water was going to come. The water didn't come up anywhere near where I thought it would. In fact, I was so focused on where the water level was on the side of the boat and thinking it was going to go higher that I missed when Windchaser started rising up. I got puzzled as nothing seemed to be happening then looking carefully I could see she was on her way back up. Made me think that even with drying out, the boat is very well designed.

Troppo