Ain't My Problem Man

[Gym]

Really, it's not my problem. It's my friend's problem. I'm hoping somebody here has a solution. Here we go. My friend bought a new World Cat. Here are some pics.


The problem is the bridge he needs to pass under to get to the open water. He was told the height at mean high tide is 8 feet. In actuality it is only 6.9 feet. That allows him to get under the bridge at low tides but anything much above mid to high tide he's stuck. The radome on top is on a hinge allowing it to swing down so that's not an issue. The frame work for the top is way too elaborate to install knuckles to fold the top down and the top is too heavy anyway.

My suggestion is to install ballast bags, fore and aft to drop the boat down in the water. A 4 to 6 inch drop would solve all or most of his problems. I'm thinking (2) 800 lb bags or (4) 400 lb bags would do it but could use some advice/guidance with this as I don't use this equipment. These would most likely be temporarily laid on the floor to be used as he would only need this for this one bridge. Any other thoughts or ideas would also be appreciated

 

[Murf'n'surf]

How much are you needing to sink into the water? 12"?

 

[KXCam22]

I am not sure ballast will do it. I had to pass under a bridge this summer. With no ballast we cleared by about 3". With full ballast (1600lbs) we cleared by about 4". I expected more but I guess the ballast primarily sinks the rear of the boat and not the middle. Being a cat it might work better. Easy to test with some borrowed bags and a grease pencil at the water line. Cam.

ps in theory he could just pump water into the boat bilge and then bilge pump it back out.

 

[Englewoodcowboy]

Control flooding the bilge is his only option outside of getting a new top designed. He could install a bronze through hull fitting with a ball valve in each toon on his boat and flood them. I would only create a rig so it has a double protection with a cap or plug to screw in after the valve so when it is off it is capped. On the toon drains, they make a one way check valve so it lets water out not in and they will drain when going in plane, this will help to speed up the rcovery time faster than relying on the bilge pumps. This would not be a procedure to take lightly, anchor or dock prior to bridge, flood as necessary to gain clearence then idle through, once cleared turn on the bilges, once able to get on plane, do so till empty.

 

[lashburn1]

Ummmmm?? Sell the Boat and Don't look back..
Ballast will not save that mess...
DEMO a Boat before buying it in Waters like this...

 

[Gym]

How much are you needing to sink into the water? 12"?

Not sure yet @Murf'n'surf . I'm suggesting we mark the hull fore & aft with 1 person and half tanks. Then load people on board 2 at a time (adding their weights) and keep marking the hull to see how much weight sinks it to the necessary depth. I did think about a control flooding of the bilge @Englewoodcowboy so that is a cheeper possibility than the ballast bags. I also told him if he just bought a Yamaha he could do a sub move to get under the bridge. Thanks for the ideas. I will pass them along and may get involved with the solution.

 

[BigN8]

Make a hard right as you go under the bridge and lean that sucker over!

 

[Gym]

Ummmmm?? Sell the Boat and Don't look back..
Ballast will not save that mess...
DEMO a Boat before buying it in Waters like this...

Unfortunately the boat is brand new. He bought it out of state so a demo in our waters was not possible. He was told our bridge was 8 feet above mean high tide but I looked it up on the charts and found it was only 6.9 feet.

@lashburn1 Currently he has to get up early to catch the low tide, take his boat from his dock, go under the bridge and leave it at the courtesy dock. Then later in the morning go back to the dock and leave from there. Returning home can be a crap shoot. Just looking for a solution for next season.

 

[octavio3311]

Looks like a nice boat.
Too bad about the clearance troubles.

 

[Englewoodcowboy]

If he goes with the control flood idea he may want to increase his bilge pump size as well. I think that would be his cheapest option all around.

 

[Julian]

I think he has 3 options:

1. deal with the tides (a royal PITA)
2. Spend a bunch to put in some sort of power top lift/lowering mechanism
3. buy a shorter boat

I can't imagine pumping enough water in the boat to lower it 1-1.5 feet on a regular basis! I think you'd need that much water (equivilant to what you want to lower the boat) in both pontoons....I don't think I'd be wanting to pump my hull 1 foot deep with water on a regular basis.

 

[DieselCamel]

Really, it's not my problem. It's my friend's problem. I'm hoping somebody here has a solution. Here we go. My friend bought a new World Cat. Here are some pics.

View attachment 28433 View attachment 28434
The problem is the bridge he needs to pass under to get to the open water. He was told the height at mean high tide is 8 feet. In actuality it is only 6.9 feet. That allows him to get under the bridge at low tides but anything much above mid to high tide he's stuck. The radome on top is on a hinge allowing it to swing down so that's not an issue. The frame work for the top is way too elaborate to install knuckles to fold the top down and the top is too heavy anyway.

My suggestion is to install ballast bags, fore and aft to drop the boat down in the water. A 4 to 6 inch drop would solve all or most of his problems. I'm thinking (2) 800 lb bags or (4) 400 lb bags would do it but could use some advice/guidance with this as I don't use this equipment. These would most likely be temporarily laid on the floor to be used as he would only need this for this one bridge. Any other thoughts or ideas would also be appreciated

Nice boat going to looking at these hard this up coming boat show season

 

[SCSTWG]

Nice boat. Can he find a place to dock it where he would not have to go under this bridge? If not, I say that he sells that bad boy and takes his lumps. perhaps the palce he bought it would take a trade on something that would work for him.

 

[Gym]

If he goes with the control flood idea he may want to increase his bilge pump size as well. I think that would be his cheapest option all around.

Yes, I agree with that. I would also add additional pumps. Possibly 2 pumps per toon as a back up.

 

[Gym]

I think he has 3 options:

1. deal with the tides (a royal PITA)
2. Spend a bunch to put in some sort of power top lift/lowering mechanism
3. buy a shorter boat

I can't imagine pumping enough water in the boat to lower it 1-1.5 feet on a regular basis! I think you'd need that much water (equivilant to what you want to lower the boat) in both pontoons....I don't think I'd be wanting to pump my hull 1 foot deep with water on a regular basis.

Thanks @Julian. His issue really only boils down to 4-6 inches which I think is doable with ballast. We will experiment using human ballast to see what weight & balance we need for the correct outcome. He also looked into mooring possibilities but the Harbor Master told him there is a multi-year waiting list. He did tell my friend he would look the other way if my friend struck a deal to rent somebody's unused mooring, which there are several of.

 

[Gym]

Nice boat going to looking at these hard this up coming boat show season

Yes, they are nice. He has twin 200 HP Yamahas pushing a 27' toon hull. Great deck layout with a flat panel display for all the electronics. It rides pretty nice in choppy seas due to the toon hull layout.

 

[Scuba_ref]

I think he has 3 options:

1. deal with the tides (a royal PITA)
2. Spend a bunch to put in some sort of power top lift/lowering mechanism
3. buy a shorter boat

I can't imagine pumping enough water in the boat to lower it 1-1.5 feet on a regular basis! I think you'd need that much water (equivilant to what you want to lower the boat) in both pontoons....I don't think I'd be wanting to pump my hull 1 foot deep with water on a regular basis.

Option 4. He could move!

 

[Gym]

Option 4. He could move!

Yeah, I showed him a 3.5 million dollar house for sale on the other side of the bridge but he thought that idea was a little over kill. I told him I need more friends with expensive taste.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Find a house on the other side of the bridge that he can rent their lift/dock.

 

[OrangeTJ]

It seems to me that in order to get the boat to go down 4 - 6", he's going to need weight equivalent to the volume of water it would take to fill each toon with 4 - 6" of water along it's full length and width. That's a lot of ballast bags and it seems like it would take for-freaking-ever to fill and empty them.

I do hope he finds a solution, as that looks like a seriously sweet boat.