drying out between tides at Little Shoal Bay, Northcote

[Neilk 0]

Any advice/comments on letting a twin keeler or a big centreboarder (e.g. Shoalcraft 30) take the hard every day? I like mooring at Little Shoal Bay, Northcote. At age 66 it suits my pocket, energy/strength levels, access to boat and ease of maintenance. I now want to upsize from Coronet 20 to... if I can find one, a Shoalcraft 30. Failing that, something with twin keels. The main negative is the ferry wash every 20 minutes. I'd welcome suggestions re boat choice, technical stuff, whatever.

[Guest]

While the price is good I'm knot to sure the wake action you mention is desirable in any way. Just thinking if a ferry or boat wake arrived at your boat at the same time as some bad weather generated wave near low tide your vessel could experience some very solid thumps on the bottom.

 

I'd pop down there in the weekends and chat to the existing residents. Some have been there for a long while so will know the answers to your question well.

[ex TL systems 63]

hi I have had lots of multihulls there and the daily sitting on the hard is fine if the contact area is not wearing away. The best solution I found was on my Wharram cat where I had a "shoe' on each hull which was ply around 8 x 1 ft and covered with sheet stainless. this would be polished as the boat setlled or lifted on the tide and protected the hulls totally, not sure what a shoalcraft 30 is like but if the contact area is glass it will wear away over time, not a big deal if you accept that you will either repair it as required or built up a rubbing surface with extra glass beforehand. Some of the guys there used kevlar but as it wore it would leave a furry surface that was hard to clean. I think the best way would be to somehow fix stainless steel in that contact area and keep an eye on it as it will eventually need replacing or come away. A bilge keeler will be easier to manage as the hull is always clear of the mud, and wear will only be on the keels and perhaps the rudder. The ferry wake thumps can be worrying if you are on your boat at the time but none of the boats seem to be damaged. Best if your mooring is fore and aft facing the bridge as that is the direction of swells and wakes. You probably know that as I think your Coronet 20 has been there a fair while?