Keel

Hi,
was looking at a boat with a bilge keel,is it good for offshore blue water sailing? it has a low draft and its nice to have i believe but im not sure how good or what will be a different from other keel? anyone knows ?

thank you

 

What you compare it to? After all the biggest differences come from lateral area, how deep it's center is, aspect ratio and keel ballast. Not so much of the location thou it have some influence to the outcome..

 

Bilge keel is for comfort (anti-rolling) or reduced draft (tidal or shallow water). This boat may not be intended for blue water sailing.

 

bilge keels

In my current 31 ft twin keeler I've sailed to Mexico and back to BC as well as two trips to Tonga and back and 9 trips to the Charlottes and back, no problems. I wouldn't even consider owning a single keeler .Bluebird of thorn and many other twin keelers , many of my designs, have done extensive offshore cruising, including circumnavigating. Owners of my twin keel designs, who have done extensive offshore cruising, wouldn't consider owning a single keeler. They are ideal for offshore cruising, if designed well.
Brent

 

Thanks for the replies to all of you,
i was looking at aluminum bilge keel sailboat,im still not sure about it,i do not have experience of any sailboat,im interested in safety and comfort for blue water and low draft,maybe im asking for alot,i do not have a boat and i never had one,im just about to go on a sailing course and im searching for a boat i can live on,trying to find my first that will be my last boat and i like to make it on my first attempt ,im sure it will take time till im ready to cross any ocean but when time come i dont to sale my boat and search for another,that will get very costly. in 3 weeks i will be in the course and after i will be homeless,,im giving up my home and i like to find a boat by the time im done with the course,maybe before that if im lucky enough.....
have a great weekend

 

You're starting to worry me. Let's see now, no experience of owning or operating boats, no experience of sailing, and you plan to become a blue water sailor with your first ever sailboat after a sailing course and a bit of practice.

Not sure whereabouts in Canada you live, but it's likely you have access to excellent, relatively low risk sailing on lakes, you can join a club, crew in other people's boats, learn about boat types, handling, sailing, navigation, rules of the road, maintenance, safety, insurance and liability, yes and cost too, and perhaps find out if this is really what you want to do after all.

No, I dont think you are asking too much from the boat, but you are expecting an awful lot from yourself.

 

Hi ancient kayaker

i have huge experience, did a 2 week course about 9-10 years ago
i think im good to go
as for the lakes in canada,yes they are nice to see but i like salt water,im going to do a RYA fastrack in Gibraltar(i hope),and after i might crew on other ppl boats till i find my own unless ill find one before,i not worried about not enough experience for blue water,im sure i will find enough ppl with good experience that want to crew on other ppl boats and i can do that with "them" ,and if at the end for what ever reason i will think that life on a boat is not for me then what the hell,,will be a very expensive adventure ,and we dont take anything with us anyhow,so ill leave behind less,,,but i know and im sure i will just love it,i have a $1000 a month income ,i hope that will be enough,to live on a boat and not ever work again,,i heard its alot of work to live on a boat...
thanks for your mess kayaker

 

You can do it but on a thousand a month you better have a very shallow draft boat that sails well. You will not want to be spending time in marinas or under engine and these days spots in most anchorages are hard to come by unless you can anchor where everybody else cannot. Solar might be the best option for power and you might consider agm battery's for ballast as your boat will need to be limited in size if you expect to maintain it as well as live with in your budget.

 

-sounds like a plan to me! Good luck!

 

huge experience

kayaker
i have huge experience, did a 2 week course about 9-10 years ago ...
that was a joke.........

 

heard of ppl living of a couple hundred a month,not sure how they do it but i figure if some can do on a couple i can do on a 1000

 

Bilge keels on sailboats is still considered bleeding edge experimental and is only suitable for people who are very experienced and willing to take the risk (i.e. the Fastnet 1979 disaster). On powerboats a bilge keel is a anti-roll device and functions differently than a sailboat keel.

Sure, Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars are very exciting, but you would not want one as your daily driver. Likewise most things that make for a good race sailboat, makes a really lousy cruising sailboat.

 

When I had my yard in the Cost of Spain we used bilge keel of great area on the Lateen sail mounted fishing boat. these bilge keel are very traditional overthere, and practical. Sometime we put some ballast at the end of these long bilge keel, which was aproximatly 20% of the displacement, living enough buyancy for the catch. It was an interresting historical concept, and taken over by very good designer like Uffa Fox (I had the great honnor to spend a lot of time with him) and Holman and Payneto neme the few.I like this concept. In France it was the big thing in the 1950, it was on a lot of little cruiser, promoted by Jean Merrien.

 

Thanks for the input Charles Burgess and dskira,i would think it wouldnt be much different from a full keel,,but it was just a thought,i do not have the knowledge or the experience,i was reading of a skipper that crossed the ocean with Bilge keel and he was worried at first but after the crossing he said he would never go with anything but Bilge keel, but thats only one opinion,i guess maybe in the future i will find out for myself,for now i will stick with what i "know" that works
thank for your messeges

 

Having been around since the fifties, and crossed many oceans and done many circumnavigations, there is nothing new or experimental about twin keelers. They are well proven. I have many friends who have crossed oceans with twin keelers or done circumnavigations in them, and wouldn't want anyhting else.
A friend cruising BC on one of my 36 footers recently said " How does one spend more then $50 a month on cruising expenses here?"
It's always amazing to hear yachties discussing if it is possible to cruise on $1,000 a month, while cruising amoung people who live on a dollar a day.
$150 a month would cover my living expenses.
Brent