Hello fellow boaters. I've posted a couple of times on here before I was actually a boater, and now I am. What a difference a few months can make.
Anyway...
When I first moved onto my boat there was literally no rocking side to side. I could jump from the tow path onto the stern and would not really move a massive amount. Since we moved all our stuff onto the boat the rocking has become a lot more noticeable. Examples of noticeable rocking is certainly when you step onto the boat from the towpath. Also when you move from one side of the boat to the other.
We have one diesel tank port side of the stern which is holding around 150litres of diesel at the minute. We also have a diesel tank at the bow which is holding about 50litres.
the boat is not listing, its just a very noticeable rocking when moving about, as mentioned above. It levels out quite quickly though.
The boat itself is not a steel top, its basically a wooden top with aluminium exterior panels. Full steel hull. We bought the boat newly refurbished so my initial guess is we might not be ballasted for the weight of a full tank of diesel and all our belongings.
Would anyone agree that could be the cause of the now noticeable rocking? Does that mean I should be looking to add the weight of the diesel in both tanks + the weight of all my belongings above the waterline to the ballast?
In regards to the weight. Would I be fine adding the additional ballast? I'm assuming that the weight of my top as it is wood and not steel already weighs significantly less then a full steel shell. This surly would mean I'm not at risk of sitting too low? What should I be checking and how can I test it beforehand?
I'm happy to accept there will always be a slight rock and it is fairly enjoyable at times. However I can't help but notice there has been a dramatic change since moving our stuff onto the boat and we'd really like to get it to a less noticeable rocking.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Andrew