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Real world boat draft vs. Online specs.


vanamp

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How do they calculate draft for boat specs. ? Full tank of gas? Ballast/no ballast ?

My 18 T22s draft is listed at 27" and I just measured the rock bar that I have to cross to get to my cabin right around 30"  (water is low this year).  I've unloaded my gear, so boat is as light as it will get and I have about a 3/4 tank of gas.

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Do the above as the boat is low on the water.  I would walk it.....  or go through at WOT....  you will only have 2” in and the prop...why not!

My brother-in-law walks his, his father just goes.....  My wife’s sister says he has more $ than we do......

 

 

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with 30 you will hit it eventually - just a matter of time.  An inch to the left or right will make the difference.  I'm going thru a channel with old bridge posts - know they are there but have never been diving to see where they sit.  Hit it with a previous boat once … lake level low … and it wasn't even the prop which hit it but one of the rudders (Epic had 2 …).  Last year with my 23LSV I hit in the same channel some rocks after 'evading' some kayakers … should have never done that in the first place but swinging the back end to give them room was doing it.

If the spec says 27" draft it is at least that (and that doesn't include yourself, your wife, your buddies, any dogs or gear like an anchor for that matter … oh right and don't even think that they put gas in it to measure).   Measure the draft of your boat with all that.

Simplest way of doing so is this:  Measure where the distance between swim platform and water with all of the above.  Take boat out of the water and measure distance from swim platform to ground.  Measure distance from bottom of prop (or rudder) to ground.  Deduct 2nd from 1st.  Then if you're really into it - measure distance from depth sensor to ground (or turn boat on - that should give you the same hopefully).  Deduct 2nd from that value … then calculate safety margin.  The more money in the bank - the less that will be.

If you need to put ballast in the front you bought the wrong boat for your lake.  Speaking from experience … that's why I no longer have a Bu … 

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Well, I made it safely across.  I could not walk the boat across due to wind and the rock bar is only a few feet wide so it would be tough to keep boat going in the right spot swimming it in.  I walked the bar and found a spot that did not have boulders and coasted over it.  

It looked close but I cleared it. By sight I'd have to say the draft numbers on the website are correct for a boat with one person and gas. 

We will have a jetski available next time I cross so that should help us find the best spot and tow it across.  It's a shame they don't have a channel or even the deepest spot marked.  It's about 1000' opening to the bay and the only 4 buoys marking big rocks. The lake is big and 100 feet deep in the bay our cabin is in.  Both boat launches are in small bays with shallow water out to the lake.  Water is really low so hopefully with a little rain I'll get a little more breathing room. 

Are there any devices to reduce draft?  I thought about inflating ballast bags and some how stringing them up to give boat a little extra float but was worried I'd just end up with rope in my prop. 

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ahopkins22LSV
3 hours ago, vanamp said:

Well, I made it safely across.  I could not walk the boat across due to wind and the rock bar is only a few feet wide so it would be tough to keep boat going in the right spot swimming it in.  I walked the bar and found a spot that did not have boulders and coasted over it.  

It looked close but I cleared it. By sight I'd have to say the draft numbers on the website are correct for a boat with one person and gas. 

We will have a jetski available next time I cross so that should help us find the best spot and tow it across.  It's a shame they don't have a channel or even the deepest spot marked.  It's about 1000' opening to the bay and the only 4 buoys marking big rocks. The lake is big and 100 feet deep in the bay our cabin is in.  Both boat launches are in small bays with shallow water out to the lake.  Water is really low so hopefully with a little rain I'll get a little more breathing room. 

Are there any devices to reduce draft?  I thought about inflating ballast bags and some how stringing them up to give boat a little extra float but was worried I'd just end up with rope in my prop. 

Do you only have to cross this once at the beginning and once at the end of the year? If so, I’d just fill your front ballast and as little fuel as possible. Check it a head of time like you did then either walk it or just bump in and out if tittle only leaving it in gear for a second. 

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33 minutes ago, 85 Barefoot said:

Anyone here remember Rutat?  Ronnie?  That thead I think with he and norcalibu was legendary.

Yes I do, that thread was on MBO. Rutat registered but never appeared on this site after we moved to TheMalibuCrew and NorCaliBu hasn't been here in years. I bet there's a site somewhere that has that thread archived.

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9 minutes ago, 67King said:

 

Wha yore nawt gonna.......

 

Ah shore am, boy

I had a Glastron like that in high school. Fun little boat!

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On 6/17/2018 at 9:57 PM, Monkeybutt said:

 

If you need to put ballast in the front you bought the wrong boat for your lake.  Speaking from experience … that's why I no longer have a Bu … 

Not sure what you mean by this... getting out of cove to main river here ... EVERYONE fills their bow and moves the people up there... It is not an uncommon practice.

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On 6/17/2018 at 8:57 PM, Monkeybutt said:

 

If you need to put ballast in the front you bought the wrong boat for your lake.  Speaking from experience … that's why I no longer have a Bu … 

Does a Supra have that much lower draft?  And why?  

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2 minutes ago, kerpluxal said:

Not sure what you mean by this... getting out of cove to main river here ... EVERYONE fills their bow and moves the people up there... It is not an uncommon practice.

I'm not saying it's uncommon … what I'm saying is that if that's the only way then you have a problem.  I was specifically looking at draft of various boat manufacturers late last year to figure out what works for me and what not after having made 'unfortunate' contact with solid matter buried in the lake/channel.  That being said - the 23LSV says 27" but I wanted a bigger boat.  Well the 25LSV or the 24MXZ both list 32" - so obviously a no go.  Centurions are pretty much around 35" give or take.  The lowest is the G23 at 24" and that is actually a valid number.  My Supra says 28".  Measured exactly as explained earlier … I'm ending up at about 26" with gas and people.  When fully loaded (factory plus 800lbs plus 4 dogs and 2-3 people) I'm around 32" … never go thru the channel fully loaded.

The OP bought a new boat (congratulations) but may not have considered that the draft from old to new boat may become an issue …

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59 minutes ago, UWSkier said:

Surprised your water is so low.  Our lake in northern WI has gone from being lowest point in history to highest point in a four year span.

the latest rain falls haven't been fortunate for me … we lost over a foot since we started early May (I live in the northern metro).  Last weekend the storms were south of us on Saturday and north of us on Sunday but we eventually got some thru the watershed of Rice Creek which extends about 50 miles north of us … so lake has come back up by 6" ...

 

34 minutes ago, TallRedRider said:

Does a Supra have that much lower draft?  And why?  

well for the fact that the Supra SL is 1000 lbs heavier than the 2017 23LSV … I didn't really trust the numbers from Malibu and the thread I opened for that reason was going for a while back and forth.  The one boat sitting really high in the water is the G … and someone did compare it to his 25LSV and said that he has to sit 30ft out from the sand bank while the Gs are just rolling up …  I'm not saying that the Supra would be able to do the same because I'm not living there.  What I can say is this:  I wacked on all my boats the props and with the Epic once even a rudder (that was expensive).  So not paying attention to draft in today's boat world may come to haunt you … boats are getting bigger and heavier … as said earlier Centurion is at 32 and 35 respectively - depending on the model.  Mastercraft is also around 30 - but when I measured I thought they're advertising on the low end.

So me buying a boat with 30+" draft would be stupid … but I have to admit - it didn't register at first - was looking at the 25LSV and was pretty sure that's what I'm going to get … until I paid attention to that one number ...

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18 minutes ago, Monkeybutt said:

boats are getting bigger and heavier … as said earlier Centurion is at 32 and 35 respectively 

Those are also unweighted numbers mine fully weighted is 45+ making it a horrible choice for anyone with shallow water concerns. 

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22 minutes ago, DarkSide said:

Those are also unweighted numbers mine fully weighted is 45+ making it a horrible choice for anyone with shallow water concerns. 

You never told me that part lol... Shallow water is a typical weekend for me... 1.5 - 2 ft in launch to out of cove.. once on river most is > 6ft and sections are > 10 ft.. 

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5 hours ago, UWSkier said:

Surprised your water is so low.  Our lake in northern WI has gone from being lowest point in history to highest point in a four year span.

I live in the twin Cities but our cabin is up north. I was surprised to see low water with how much snow and rain we had in the cities but I heard it was a really dry May up there. 

I'll be crossing it a few times this season but we will have the jetski in the water and will be a little more prepared.  This was our first cabin trip with the toddler and the newborn and we were not completely prepared for the low water. 

 

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