What's the shallowest water you will go in?

[tdappleman]

knowing the OBX I don't know how anyone can boat there and not sweat bullets all the time. There is only two feet of water in the entire sound a a super narrow and shifting boating channel. Do you guys ever go out of the sound into the atlantic via the Oregon outlet without running aground?? Looking at the shifting sands on the sound side and the violent waters on the cean side of that outlet it is a pure stroke of luck to not ship wreck there ... Hats off to anyone who masters the outer banks !!!

You get used to it... the birds standing up in the middle is usually the best visual.... avoid those spots!:grin: The channels are well marked but we usually take a short cut from the ramp over to the Bonner Bridge - that changes very rapidly and is maintained by locals who mark it with almost anything which floats. I do have to say the props get an occasional polish from the sand/mud on the bottom - but at least we don't have to worry about rocks too much - the crab pots are probably the biggest obstacle - I love the ones with nice black buoys on top!!!:smt021

 

[JV II]

You need to go run your boat aground one time to get over your fear. Running aground is one of those "when" not "if" things.

I've heard you say that before and thought, not going to happen, I boat in mostly deep water. Got throught the entire season without it happening, then last week while idling along at 5mph in the middle of the Charles River I came to an easy stop on a shoal. I still had 4' under the transducer and the props kept on spinning. I was easily 1000 yards from the shore. I just trimmed all the way up and backed it off. No problem.

Knowing that I'm on nothing more than a sandy bottom, I will coast right up to the beach, using momentum and having the drives up. We often spin the boat by hand, stern in and walk to right up until the hull is practically resting on the bottom. Two anchors and it stays right in place. Down the swim ladder into 2-3 feet of water and off to the beach.

It helps if your approach is not riddled with shoals or if you know the area.

 

[Beer Thirty]

My boat sits in around a foot and a half of water when the lake is at normal level. the trailer button is the only way i get close to the dock.

 

[rblatter]

Reading all this reminds me of one scary moment. At seven in the morning heading East on the Ottawa river, we are looking for the red marker, doing about 25mph. (did not own a gps) Water depth is about 16ft. Could only see one fishing boat in the distance. I happen to glance at the depthsounder and 2ft shows up. Panic, or no experience, slow down real fast...boom hit bottom. I had a 290 with twin 4.3l. Now both sterndrives are in the up position and will not go down. So, first thing is call...the dealer, he tells me to look at the props, they are just fine. Then he tells me to try to bring down the drives, they go down about six inches, and up again and down again, until the drives go back into the down position. So, nothing broken, everything is fine, because of the sandy bottom. Now the admiral is trying to keep me cool, because I noticed that the fishermen were tied to the red marker, and I really want to fly by six inches from their boat.... I did calm down, and gave them a load of cr... Now own a gps, and went by that spot many times, and never grounded again. 3ft is my minimum, but sometimes there is six to ten feet of water, but lots of weeds that put off the depthsounder.

R.Blatter
310 Sundancer 2001
Bravo III 5.7l

 

[rblatter]

Forgot to ask, what hapened to my sterndrives... I understand that hitting sand protected my props, but forcing the drives in the up position, should have broken something? Anybody have any idea what went right...

R.Blatter
310 Sundancer 2001
Bravo III 5.7l

 

[Ken@dockside]

Forgot to ask, what hapened to my sterndrives... I understand that hitting sand protected my props, but forcing the drives in the up position, should have broken something? Anybody have any idea what went right...

R.Blatter
310 Sundancer 2001
Bravo III 5.7l

I have a customers 270SLX in the shop right now that hit something at 36mph. It drove the Bravo III drive straight up and hit the underside of the swim platform. (yes theres fiberglass damage) I have never seen a drive ripped out of transome ring before. When it forced the drive up, the back pressure in the trim pump lines blew the pump apart. That was just part of the damage, total cost will be in the $12,500 mark. Hard to belive, but not a mark on the front side of the drive. Cant tell what it hit.

 

[le cras]

My 250DA is fitted with removable beaching legs.
This is because we have a tidal range of 10 Meters (30ft) and beaching is more convenient.
Trimming the drive right up 30 ish inches tailored 18inch but I will not run the engine with the drive tailored obviously.

Usual rules apply drop anchor early allowing for swing and pull nose in to shore. Drop second anchor or mooring line if wanted really close to shore.
When leaving just wait till she floats and pull on the rear anchor rope to pull the boat into the depth required.

Problems Warp can be a bit long and a nuisance to other boaters the French tend to use the same approach but some tie a marker buoy vertical from the anchor, but this just adds another thing to dodge in the water.

 

[steviep53]

Reading all this reminds me of one scary moment. At seven in the morning heading East on the Ottawa river, we are looking for the red marker, doing about 25mph. (did not own a gps) Water depth is about 16ft. Could only see one fishing boat in the distance. I happen to glance at the depthsounder and 2ft shows up. Panic, or no experience, slow down real fast...boom hit bottom. I had a 290 with twin 4.3l. Now both sterndrives are in the up position and will not go down. So, first thing is call...the dealer, he tells me to look at the props, they are just fine. Then he tells me to try to bring down the drives, they go down about six inches, and up again and down again, until the drives go back into the down position. So, nothing broken, everything is fine, because of the sandy bottom. Now the admiral is trying to keep me cool, because I noticed that the fishermen were tied to the red marker, and I really want to fly by six inches from their boat.... I did calm down, and gave them a load of cr... Now own a gps, and went by that spot many times, and never grounded again. 3ft is my minimum, but sometimes there is six to ten feet of water, but lots of weeds that put off the depthsounder.

R.Blatter
310 Sundancer 2001
Bravo III 5.7l

You have to love those fishermen, I guess they didn't have an anchor on board and the marker served that purpose.
I remember a few years back when the water level on parts of the Rideau system was very low, I would have liked a min of 3 ft, but in places it was much less, didn't hit anything thankfully.

 

[Fishnut]

1.6 feet I start trimming hard and watch the sand shoot out the roostertail, at -- it's time to abort the present course.

Story. One day we are headed home along Sanibel Island and I was following another boater. I had never taken that route before and I didn't know until later that he was drunk. Anyway we are screaming along at 27 knots when we come to an abrupt halt. I looked over the side and we are in about 12 inches of mud and weeds. Trimmed up the motor and pushed the boat for 400 yards until we got in knee deep water and resumed to deeper waters.

Lesson learned, never follow another boater just because he looks like he knows what he is doing. Second, never take more stuff then you need because you may need to push it. I was beat like a dog after that outing.

 

[hack4alivin]

Wow, I would never think anyone would feel comfortable taking 320 is such shallow depth. Do you really need to be in such shallow water? :huh:

The shallowest I went with 240 about 1.6' - 2'. But, that's only because I know I can trim the drive up to trailer position. With my 320, I'm not going anywhere shallower than 3' for sandy bottom only. If the bottom has rocks, my limit would be 5-6'.

Alex.

That is the depth reading from under the boat. We do this all the time in Maryland. With 1.5 reading on the depth gauge you are still in 3 feet of water, which is where we like to get for swimming.

Now you certainly would not go through areas like that on plane, but in the Chesapeake Bay you can easily find such depths far from shore. I guess this is why Gary said “when not if”. Prop repair business gets a lot of work here.

 

[Bridog]

I have been in 2.5-3' of water plenty of times. If needed, drives up in trailer posistion. Make sure you keep RPM's around 1k or below in that posistion.

 

[Bridog]

Check your engine manual, I'm pretty sure it will have a warning about running the engine with the drive trimmed full up, let alone having it in gear. You'll trash your gimbal bearings in short order if you do this on a regular basis. Even at RPMS below 1000, it is strictly forbidden in the manual (at least every stern drive boat manual I have owned contains that warning)

This is why I added below 1000RPM's. I agree that you should never use your drive trimmed up all the way if it can be avoided, however, in some cases you can. One of the few advantages of stern drives (in addition to being faster and more fuel efficient) is the ability to raise them if needed. This is one of the reasons I went with stern drives. We boat in very shallow water and I can tell you this trailer feature has gotten us out of a mess a couple of times. Again...I agree they are not to be used on a regular basis. As far as the manual is concerned here is what is written. POWER TRIM. Power trim allows the operator to adjust the sterndrive angle while underway, to provide the ideal boat angle for varying load and water conditions. Also, the TRAILERING FEATURE allows the operator to raise and lower the sterndrive unit for trailering, beaching, launching, LOW SPEED (BELOW 1200 RPM ENGINE SPEED) AND SHALLOW WATER OPERATION.

 

[skolbe]

Are we talking - about the depth gauge reading or actual water depth? I like to be in 4' of water. Which leaves about a foot under the boat.

 

[surfinjoe]

Yup, we've been to the Moot (Muscamoot Bay).... Biggest party on any lake bar none! I believe that we hold the Guinness Book of World Records title for the biggest raft off. Lotz of big boats in 2-3 foot of water!


"Boaters lined up their vessels in Lake St. Clair this weekend in an effort to set a world record for the most boats rafted together at one time on a fresh water lake.

More than 1,600 boats came together in Muscamoot Bay on Saturday for the second annual Lake St. Clair Raft, event co-organizer Brian Elliott told the Times Herald of Port Huron. The crowd started early with hundreds of boats already gathered before noon at the bay, which is known as a gathering spot for boats every weekend during the summer.

With a makeshift midway between the two rows of boats on a sandbar, the crowd attempted to walk through the 3- to 4-feet-deep water from end to end, a feat some said would have taken hours.

More Than 1,600 Boats Tie Together, According To Organizers

Boaters lined up their vessels in Lake St. Clair this weekend in an effort to set a world record for the most boats rafted together at one time on a fresh water lake.

More than 1,600 boats came together in Muscamoot Bay on Saturday for the second annual Lake St. Clair Raft, event co-organizer Brian Elliott told the Times Herald of Port Huron. The crowd started early with hundreds of boats already gathered before noon at the bay, which is known as a gathering spot for boats every weekend during the summer.

With a makeshift midway between the two rows of boats on a sandbar, the crowd attempted to walk through the 3- to 4-feet-deep water from end to end, a feat some said would have taken hours."

14 feet is the average depth on Lk St Clair! There is a big bay where "there is always a party" and you pretty much have to go in on plane in 3 ft of water... Anything less than 5 and I get nervous! I'm jealous of the depth, but at least I would have a chance if I dropped my sunglasses in the water!:grin: