Is a monohull with a deep keel OK in the South Pacific?

[pbmaise]

My trimaran had a very deep spade rudder with depth about 8 feet. While sailing the South Pacific and SE Asia this was indeed a depth that caused me considerable worry. One big concern is anchorages tend to go from extremely deep to very shallow in an instant. You don't always have a nice gradual transition to work with.

When you get over to Thailand, be careful with a very deep draft in places like Phuket. There is a lot of shallow areas. You will still find places to anchor..just much farther away than more shallow vessels.

[sailorladd]

My 36 footer has a draft of 5 feet and I never had any depth issues when sailing to Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Cook islands etc...just make sure your depth sounder is accurate and in working order...

[merrydolphin]

Not much problem in the S Pacific. But my Cal ll 46 ketch mono only had a 5 foot draft. MANY have circumnavigated. A classic full time voyager. I could make near 200 mile days under sail and motor nearly 2000 miles at a decent clip. An amazing boat with 5’ draft. And there are other circumnavigators with shoal draft.
My Kelly Peterson 44 had nearly a 7’ draft. Took it all through the Bahamas. Including crossing the Caicos Banks. So don’t take this stuff too seriously.

[doug cusick]

More than 2 meters is goingi tbo be cyclone hole issue in many area especially fiji