Boat lift- water depth needed.

[tosarental]

We are close to buying our 'first' boat (not counting a vintage jon boat)- a Sea Ray 205 sport- 2007, for primary use at our summer lake cabin. We'd like to get a lift for the boat, but we only have 22" of water depth at our pier. sand bottom that gradually gets deaper. lake is very consistent, so I don't see it dropping much. Specs say 17" with sterndrive up and 33" with sterndrive down. do we have enough water for a lift? What words of advice can you offer? thanks

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Boat lift- water depth needed.

Welcome to iboats.

Well....... I am willing to bet that the draft they quoted is w/o people and gear.

Is there anyway to get friends together and deepen that portion with rakes etc since it is a sand bottom?

 

[nimrod69]

Re: Boat lift- water depth needed.

With the boat lift cradle sitting on the bottom, it will occupy probably 12" of height between the beam and the bunks. That leaves you with 5". Aint gonna work.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Boat lift- water depth needed.

You might like to stick with an outboard motor. It will reduce the draw of the boat, by quite a bit. With an OB, you will still not have enough water for a boat lift, but will allow you more flexibility in driving the lake.

For Example, I have a creek near my house. With my 18' SeaRay Bowrider (4.3LX V6 Sterndrive) I used to tear up a prop or two each year by hitting bottom while trying to get on plane. The creek averages 3-4' deep, depending on tide.

I traded that SR for a 21' bowrider with and outboard. I now never come close to hitting bottom in the creek. The 'at rest' draw is pretty close, but a lot less when getting on plane.

 

[Tabes117]

Re: Boat lift- water depth needed.

Could you extend your dock, placing your lift in deeper water?

 

[SuperDaddy]

Re: Boat lift- water depth needed.

with only 22" of water, I'd worry less about a lift and worry more about just getting your boat in that shallow to begin with.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Boat lift- water depth needed.

Old boating adage: "When your draft exceeds your depth, you are most assuredly aground..."

That docking location sounds real iffy for your needs. Sure the numbers technically work with the outdrive up, but how about wave action, a heavily loaded boat, and getting back out of there again?

Many lakes will have restrictions on dredging or altering your shoreline so that's a consideration as well.

Perhaps consider an outboard, as has been mentioned. Usually you can tilt even big outboards completely, or almost completely out of the water thus reducing your moored draft to much less than you generally can with an I/O.

Also, you may have issues with clearance for the lift cradle. That specification you can get from the lift manufacturer. Have you considered a marine railway?

Now, by the time you take into account the tracks, cradle wheels and associated structure we need 24" or so under our boat but then we just installed a good 30 feet of track out into the lake to we got the depth we needed.

*Edit*
Here's a pic of the kind of structure you will have under your boat with a railway cradle.

Then just run the track you need to get to the appropriate depth.

 

[Expidia]

Re: Boat lift- water depth needed.

Another option is to just moor the boat 20 or 30 feet off the dock and use a dingy which is tied up at the dock to get you back and forth. This way you get to keep the I/O.

Having a dock to get in and out of the dingy from is still better than beaching the dingy.