Minimum water depth for R29 to float from a lift?

[Someday*]

The plan is to put the new R29 on a lift behind the house.
I know the draft for the R29 is listed as 30”

My question is how deep will the water need to be for the Tug to “float” and the bottom of the lift to be clear of the bottom of the canal?

(I see the “R29 boat lift info” pdf in the attachement section to the left of this page but I can’t figure out the minimum depth I’ll need)

Thanks

 

[Someday*]

...I emailed the dock builder the same question and he said we need a depth of 4 feet.

 

[gwishon]

I deal with this every day. Our canals are quite shallow and at low tide there is frequently too little water to get the boat off the lift. The need to have the bunks installed sufficiently high so that the keel clears the lift crossmembers causes the need for more depth than the typical Florida center console or express cruiser. If the lift is lowered so that the crossmembers are just sitting on the bottom, you’ll need the thickness of the crossmembers plus the height of the spacers to which the bunks are attached to float the boat, at a minimum. (The keel will hang between and lower than the bunks, but this will get you close.) In our case those dimensions are 12” + 18”, or 30” minimum from the keel. Add the height from keel to waterline, which depends on how your boat is loaded, and that’s your answer.

If I’m planning a trip when I know the water will be low, I take the boat off our lift the night before and tie up to our dock.

Gordon

 

[Matty]

Just had some work done on my lift. I am on the intercoastal so a bit different as far as current goes. My cables got messed up so I had them replaced. To prevent the issue from happening again they are adding "cable keepers " and adding weight to the lift. The weights will be cement filled PVC pipe attached horizontally to the bunks. If there is a strong current or the lift is lowered so that it is resting on the bottom this should help. I think the other issue I had was that two of the pulleys were not spinning freely so they were replaced as well. Not quite your situation but thought I would throw it out there to consider.