Can you let a R21 EC go dry

[Lead Chucker]

Hi all im new here. I have been doing some research on these little tugs, I want one and am looking. If you let a R 21 EC go dry on a sand bar when the tide comes up will it float before it fills full of water?

 

[SGIDAVE]

Hi all im new here. I have been doing some research on these little tugs, I want one and am looking. If you let a R 21 EC go dry on a sand bar when the tide comes up will it float before it fills full of water?

Hello LC,

Welcome to Tugnuts!

The 21EC has a nice deep keel which when on the hard requires the boat to list WAY over. I don't believe it to be a serious problem - it should float back up to normal position when the tide returns.

dave

 

[sheral]

Call me crazy, and I will definitely defer to Dave on the science of letting an R21-EC go dry on purpose, but isn't that risky business? Considering that the raw water intake would be vulnerable to sand/debris etc? Here on the island, lots of guys will pull their boats up on the beach, or let them beach as the tide goes out, but they're usually aluminum fishing and work boats with outboards on them....

 

[SGIDAVE]

Call me crazy, and I will definitely defer to Dave on the science of letting an R21-EC go dry on purpose, but isn't that risky business? Considering that the raw water intake would be vulnerable to sand/debris etc? Here on the island, lots of guys will pull their boats up on the beach, or let them beach as the tide goes out, but they're usually aluminum fishing and work boats with outboards on them....

Hello Al,

Yes there are risks.

The 'usual' way this is done is to stop the engine while there is still plenty of water under the raw water intake. Then you wait....tide goes out...boat is on 'dry' ground for a few hours...tide comes back and boat floats, you restart engine, ensure adequate raw water flow, then motor away.

It's not a 'grounding' maneuver where the boat is driven onto a bar or such.

Certainly be careful...

dave

 

[CAPTCRUNCH]

In my worst-case mind's eye I can see the boat laying over as she dries - because of her shape, the sand bar's shape, or just bad luck - and then filling/sinking as the water returns.

 

[SGIDAVE]

In my worst-case mind's eye I can see the boat laying over as she dries - because of her shape, the sand bar's shape, or just bad luck - and then filling/sinking as the water returns.

Well, the 21EC has a "deep" keel although nowhere as deep as a sail boat's keel, so the amount of 'lying over' is not as severe as you may be thinking. My belief is that the 21EC hull, when lying on the hard, would FLOAT when the tide returned rather than fill with water. But, alas, I could be wrong...

This hull has been around for how long? 15 years? more? Anyone heard of one not refloating when lying on the hard and then the tide came back in? This is common practice (for scrubbing the hull, etc) in latitudes where the tidal range is large.

dave

 

[Red Raven]

Captain Mac (Factory Delivery instructor for Ranger Tugs and previous R25 and R27 owner) said his boat would often sit on the mud at his slip in Cultus Bay at low tide. He said it was not a problem. I would think the R21 would be fine as well. You could ask the factory to confirm.

 

[tlkenyon]

OK, I am from non-tidal South Dakota, but I gotta imagine that if the boat did not take on water as the water level dropped, it should not take on water as the level rises. Of course, it is maybe too late by then...

 

[sheral]

Call me crazy, and I will definitely defer to Dave on the science of letting an R21-EC go dry on purpose, but isn't that risky business? Considering that the raw water intake would be vulnerable to sand/debris etc? Here on the island, lots of guys will pull their boats up on the beach, or let them beach as the tide goes out, but they're usually aluminum fishing and work boats with outboards on them....

Hello Al,

Yes there are risks.

The 'usual' way this is done is to stop the engine while there is still plenty of water under the raw water intake. Then you wait....tide goes out...boat is on 'dry' ground for a few hours...tide comes back and boat floats, you restart engine, ensure adequate raw water flow, then motor away.

It's not a 'grounding' maneuver where the boat is driven onto a bar or such.

Certainly be careful...

dave

makes sense. thanks 🙂