What Makes a Dry Boat?

[Little Otter]

I don't know why the rum is always gone, but it should be a law that every boat has atleast 2 bottles of rum for those occasions when we happen to see each other out there when we should celebrate.

[Cheechako]

When I use the term "dry boat" it is in regards to the design rather than whether or not the interior stays dry, hatches dont leak etc. Certain boats, due to their waterline displacement ratio, bow design, freeboard, beam etc, will stay much drier in a chop, in waves and especially going to weather or with a large following sea. Some good examples are given above. A Rawson 30 is a dry boat with a short waterline though... go figure!. It has a bit of "spoon" (i think it's called) or a slight flare outboard to the bow. A low freeboard, fine bowed Cape Dory of the same size would be a wetter example. (i would imagine... based only on sailing a CD25 though) My Contessa 26 was an extrememly wet boat... low freeboard, fine bow, short waterline, narrow beam... all combined to make it so. Sure sweet to look at though... Wet doesnt necessaruly mean "bad" to everyone. Some would claim that the extra weight adding freeboard, flare etc is not needed.... it's all a matter of comfort I guess.

[GordMay]

A “dry boat” often results from the Admiral’s command, precipitated by the Skipper’s abuse of “wet” stores.

[bobfnbw]

When I think of a wet vs a dry boat I think in terms of water inside the boat, not on it.
A dry boat to me is one that the bilges stay relatively dry, no ingress of water down the mast, via the chain plates, ports, hatches etc. A dry boat will be more comfortable down below, the bilge pumps will be happier, and mold will be a lot less. This is also a factor of ventilation, of which there are 2 kinds. When the boat is opened up and when the boat is closed. Endeavours have excellent ventilation when opened up with 4 large hatches, companionway, and 16 opening ports, but a lack of dorades makes for a poorly ventilated boat when underway in poor conditions.

When talking about a wet vs dry boat while sailing.... I think its first about design, and then who you sail her, and then add ons like dodgers, lee cloths etc. My old 470 was a wet exhilarating ride that I would not have changed for anything, but now, over 50, the last thing I want is a wet cockpit, so I went to a 40 foot centercockpit boat.

BTW the rum is gone cause we get cheap and don't buy enough of the stuff....

[GordMay]

I think it ought to go without saying, that a boat should be (more or less) dry on the inside. A proper boat should keep the salt water out, and the fresh water in.

I think most reviewers/designers would be referring to a boat’s sea-handling characteristics, when using the term dry boat. I suspect that this is the meaning that Franco was originally questioning.

Notwithstanding, since boat owners cannot do anything about our boat’s basic design; in our cruiser’s/liveaboard lexicon, the term probably most usually refers to interior comfort - heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) issues.

West System had a good article in their “Expoxyworks” publication
“Keeping your boat dry for livability and longevity”
➥ WEST SYSTEM | Projects | Fiberglass Boat Repair and Restoration - Keeping your boat dry for livability and longevity

Has anyone read Roger McAfee’s book, “Warm Dry Boat: A Handbook for Liveaboards” ?
Evidently, it deals with ventilation, heating, hot-water production, protection from rain and condensation, and the design features that make a superior liveaboard boat.

[Jim Mc]

In the land down under, [meat pies,holden cars and Vegimite] . A wet boat refers to how much splash one has to wipe from ones face in the cockpit.
Regards and [go Tigers ]----Jim.

[Amgine]

There are many many characteristics of a design which go into the equation of how much water, particularly spray, ends up on deck and - most importantly - in the cockpit. It's so complicated that designs I've looked at and immediately dismissed as too wet because they're extremely narrow, extremely low freeboard, and have far too much sail area have been described by their crew as dry as a bone 6' aft of the bow in all weather.

From my experiences there's no generalizations which can be consistently made. Round bowed, narrow, and low hulls tend to being more wet, but not always. Moderate beam, high freeboard, springy sheer, flaring bows, and light tend to be more dry, but not always. High displacement to waterline lengths may be wetter as they go through more of the wave, rather than over, but the same is true of a boat pressed down by too much sail. All of these are rules of thumb or general guidelines - each boat will have a unique combination of variables which affect how wet or dry the boat may be.

Btw: in my opinion a dodger can help a wet boat seem drier, but it doesn't really change the boat at all.

[theonecalledtom]

you see lots of boats in marinas that very rarely get wet....

[Franco]

Originally Posted by GordMay

I think most reviewers/designers would be referring to a boat’s sea-handling characteristics, when using the term dry boat. I suspect that this is the meaning that Franco was originally questioning.

Yes, this is the meaning that I was referring to. In particular, I'd be interested to hear from people with knowledge on the topic of comparing a boat that tends to cut through a wave versus one that tends to float over it, and how that affects the boats' ability to sail to weather.

[Amgine]

Weatherliness is not, unfortunately, the best measure because *both* boats which go through waves and boats which go over can be either dry or wet.

Based on your home water, Rio de la Plata, I believe you might be best served by a boat which is light, and goes over the wave rather than through it, and is dry. Depending on what you wish to do while sailing, my guess is a catamaran would be a very useful style of boat as it meets all these requirements and while not as weatherly as some it is able to overcome this by a greater average velocity made good to weather. When I was sailing on the Mississippi river I sailed an extremely shallow, light boat because the current was an important consideration in all my sailing, and in close to shore - where the current was less - the bottom was constantly shifting so it was impossible to avoid running aground on the soft mud and sand bars. When I did I jumped over the side, pushed off, and sailed away, but if I'd had a catamaran it would have happened even less often.

Unfortunately, we can only give some ideas, things to think about, on this forum. You know more about your circumstances, the specific waters to be sailed, your own experiences, and so on. Look around at the boats in your area which are regularly out sailing, talk with sailors who do the kind of sailing you want to do, because often there are details we can't know about that are specific to your region.

[chris_gee]

A lighter displacement boat will tend to ride over the waves and be more lively. Getting water running along the deck to some extent is less of a problem provided it can escape without coming into the cockpit.
What I find less pleasant is a sudden cold shower. This seems to arise from waves running up the bow section then being caught by the wind and largely hitting the windward part of the cockpit.
I once had a small runabout which was appalling for this in any chop and often arrived back very wet. I substantially eliminated this, well 95%, by fitting a rubrail on the first metre or so which deflected the water down.
My current boat has a rubrail on all but the first two and a half metres or so. I can clearly see the point a little over a metre back where the spray originates and think it would be a good move to extend the rubrail beyond that point as it currently covers the area where it has no effect from this point of view.
Most yacht bows have nothing to deflect the water in this way. Personally I find being doused by icy buckets of water a bit of a dampener.

[Masquerade]

I have combined the dodger and the bimini on my boat and created a fibre glass and polycarbonate structure with a hard top. This not only keeps me dry but keeps the son off. Having said that only a day ago I was sailing a couple of miles of Sydney heads in an extraordinarily lumpy sea coming from a number of angles to about 3 metres with about 15 knots wind. Bounced around and had some seriously large volumes of water surging over the bow. Normally the bow rides gently over most waves but the condition of the sea meant that I was falling off and into the trough as the next wave surged over. All too frequently a number of waves would gang up on me and attack simultaneously from the bow and the starboard windward side and the wall of water that would rise up would be then blown into the cockpit. Made a pleasant day less than pleasant. Right boat, right conditions... dry. Right boat, wrong conditions... wet. Oh... and to top it off it poured with rain on the way back and while the structure I built protected me from the frontal attack the wind blew the rain onto my back... A damp day.

This was the middle of winter in Sydney so by some standards it was not all that cold (17 centigrade). In summer when it is 35 centigrade a little bit of wet is good.

Finally... why is it always rum ? I generally like to carry whiskey or bourbon and have a few bottles of red that will not be harmed by a little agitation. And this then brings me to another question. Australians are very good at inventing things associated with booze... the list is long. Carrying bottles on a boat seems problematic unless you wrap them in bubble wrap or something you will have an unfortunately wet boat. I did meet one fellow who had a number of small wooden casks 'strapped' down inside the saloon but what else do people do to get wet wile inside their dry boats?
Colin

[Boracay]

Masquerade
If I remember the weather from yesterday there was a 3m swell, a 2m chop, the wind was blowing at from the east (across the current) at 30kts and there were heavy rain showers. I think there was a strong wind warning.

All this off Sydney Heads with the waves bouncing off those high cliffs. And you only got a little damp?

I got out of bed yesterday, checked the weather on 4 websites and went back to bed. That's the way I keep a (mostly) dry boat.

My wife won't even think about going out in anything over 15kts. And don't even mention rain...

[bene343]

high freeboard - small cockpit = dry boat

low freeboard - big cockpit = wet boat

[Bash]

...is that the further the helm is from the stem, the dryer the boat will seem.