2520 sitting on the mud at dock at minus tide, dangerous?

[panga]

Looking at buying a property with a 40' dock and thinking about possibilities of keeping 2520 tied up. Tomorrow I am planning to go down to the dock at low tide and get exact measurements on depth at the dock, or ~5 feet out from edge of dock. I have a feeling it is gonna be close on a minus tide. The canal is scheduled to be dredged in about a year, if no big hang ups with environmental reports, but could be longer realistically. Canal has not been dredged in at least 24 years, so it is in need of some work.

What do you guys think, if I were to make sure nothing hard on the bottom (big rocks, concrete, engine blocks...), would it be a big problem if the boat sat on the bottom for an hour at low tide on the few low low tides of the year. I have heard both schools of thought on this, no big deal if it is a well built boat, but if its a bayliner your gonna punch through the fiberglass, and the folks who say bad idea always??? canal is rarely used, no boat traffic pushing wakes into the boat while sitting high and dry, and not swinging on a mooring running into stuff on bottom, sitting still tied up??

What do you think, I was also thinking I could get those poles that extend the cleat off point out into the channel four feet or so, because the channel has its deepest point in the center getting shallower on the edges near docks. Besides this it would be very nice to have our own dock space.

Thanks

 

[GoodChance]

No big deal at all.

I had a slip in Lewes DE that would occassionally go "dry" on a blow-out tide. This was more typical in the winter than any other time of the year. For a year, I had a Parker 25 in the slip and never had any problems. A year later, I had a big 35 Duffy in the same slip and she drew 3x the water that the Parker drew; never had a problem with her in the mud either.

Noy sure what the concern may be with this issue. What would you be concerned about exactly?

If the boat can't sit on a blanket of soft mud for a few hours, I think that it could not sit on a trailer either. Nor could it be trusted offshore in a 3ft sea at 16kts.

I think that you are fine as long as there are no rocks on the bottom.

 

[miky2884]

Only problem i would see would be if you had any through hull transducers but even then as long as the boat isnt rocking you should be fine.

 

[Brent]

It is no problem for us in the Charlotte Harbor FL canals. Boat sits on mud with lots of shells but does heel over some and we keep the motor up. After Hurricane Charley, a lot of stuff was removed from the canals; sunk boats, garage doors, trees, lumber, lawn furniture, trash, pool screens, roofs, etc.
Mooring whips are on the wish list, just need 5 more feet out and problem solved or add an extension to existing dock

best

 

[panga]

Not really sure exactly what I was worried about. Mainly my through hulltransducer I guess. Anyway... I just went down at low tide and the entire dock was high and dry. So I think I will pass.
Canal didn't look passable at low tide.
thanks

 

[Brent]

Any big rocks, cement blocks, etc close to our seawall have been removed.
Who knows what is in the middle of the canal. It is usually 6' deep at low tide

 

[samsims]

I used to use a mooring ball that was dry at low tide, sandy bottom. Never any damage to the boat, but the biggest pain is planning around the tide to get in and out, seems like we always had to wait for the tide coming or going.

 

[ReelyNauti]

Why not put in a boat lift so its never in the mud!!!

U could also put in underwater bunk rails with pole markers so its always cradeled, provided your town allows you to sink a few posts in the ground