On our boat we had a depth finder which showed how much water there was between the keel and the bottom of the canal. A very useful device in some places. Our boat (Lucie) had a draft of around 2 metres and so usually, there was plenty of water underneath us. That said, we did run aground on a sandbank in the River Thames before we went to Holland. The worse case scenario is running up onto rocks or the concrete blocks they often put in the water to protect the shoreline. Very bad news, especially if your propellors hits something solid and unyielding…
5 Responses to “The Boat”
How do they know that the canal is deep enough for navigation?
On our boat we had a depth finder which showed how much water there was between the keel and the bottom of the canal. A very useful device in some places. Our boat (Lucie) had a draft of around 2 metres and so usually, there was plenty of water underneath us. That said, we did run aground on a sandbank in the River Thames before we went to Holland. The worse case scenario is running up onto rocks or the concrete blocks they often put in the water to protect the shoreline. Very bad news, especially if your propellors hits something solid and unyielding…
Interesting! I grew up boating and around boat racing. A six foot draft is very deep!
It was. Our accommodation was below the water line…a good incentive for staying out of shallow water!
Indeed!