List to port

[pophops]

Our trad. stern 47ft boat was built by Stowe Hill Marine about 1989. We have owned her for 12 months or so. There is a noticable list to port which I think has been there since we bought the boat. I'd say that this side of the boat is about two inches lower in the water than the other side. It's been pointed out to me that most of the weight is on the port side i.e. engine and batteries, bed base and mattress, bathroom and pump-out tank, galley and dinette, with only the woodburner to starboard. Is this something we have to live with or could I correct it with ballast? If so, how much and where would it go?

[kienik]

When i bought my boat it had exaclty the same problem, and the previous owners said they just lived with it,

 

I didnt want to so i started to investigate the problem, my layout is the same as you describe, so

 

 

i checked the ballast on either side of the boat and to my surprise their was exactly the same number of sand bags on both sides of the boat, this was madness as the majority of fittings and equipment is on the port side of my boat too,

 

Simple job was move two sand bags to the starboard side and check to see how she sat in the water, hay presto i now have a boat that sits perfectly in the water and actually seems to handle better & "rocks" when i move to one side

 

i would check this with yours and try it out as it cost me nothing and has solved the problem

 

Nik

[rolimo]

your ballast may have shifted. you should have access points under your built in furniture.

if its not moved then maybe consider removing ballast from the port side so the boat sits better in the water.

[matty40s]

My diesel tank,washing machine, poo tank and bed are on the one side, offset by the morso on the other. When pump out has been done and fuel low, the boat is almost level........however, it lists to port as a rule. I live with it.

You could offset by ballast (concrete paving slabs etc) however, I tried this and would have needed a lot more concrete to make it effective, and the only place for it was at the rear where the engine is so I would get deeper at the back so gave up.

The full width water tank being full helps a bit.

[soldthehouse]

I normally lean towards the port but never before dinner and not until the ladies have retired to the drawing room

[PhilR]

Our trad. stern 47ft boat was built by Stowe Hill Marine about 1989. We have owned her for 12 months or so. There is a noticable list to port which I think has been there since we bought the boat. I'd say that this side of the boat is about two inches lower in the water than the other side. It's been pointed out to me that most of the weight is on the port side i.e. engine and batteries, bed base and mattress, bathroom and pump-out tank, galley and dinette, with only the woodburner to starboard. Is this something we have to live with or could I correct it with ballast? If so, how much and where would it go?

 

If your floor isn't fixed you could move some of the underfloor ballast to starboard. But I would always recommend having some moveable trimming ballast. 28ib and 56 lb weights are ideal for this. If it weren't for the trimming ballast on my own boat she would have a natural list to starboard. At the moment I have 6 X 56lb weights and 15 metres of heavy chain in a front locker on the port side. It is surprising how little room it takes up.

 

Phil

[Hieronymus Bosh]

Hi all,

 

We too list a bit to port, but i was wondering if anyone could tell me where to source the 28 & 56 lb weights that PhilR mentioned. I have a couple of these onboard already.

[magnetman]

Hi all,

 

We too list a bit to port, but i was wondering if anyone could tell me where to source the 28 & 56 lb weights that PhilR mentioned. I have a couple of these onboard already.

 

They used to use the 56lb weights for mudweights on the Thames in certain areas specially for anchoring the buoys used as sailing course markers - I know that because I've had a couple out on the magnet in the past.

 

You do need a bit of a ridiculous magnet for these however

 

Other than that always check in old antique shops and car boot sales they occasionally turn up.

 

Market traders use them but probably rather like them.

[Scooby]

Our 58 foot tends to lean to port when pumpout is empty,i usually just try balance it out with a few bricks,bags of coal at the front by just moving from starboard to port , cos it will change depending what your carrying, not really a big deal, you will never get it right...after a month the pumpout loo will be half full hence will need balancing again..when it does get full and we empty it, it sure does go back a long way to list to port again..

[bottle]

Ours is level except when the fridge and freezer are getting low and the food cupboards are full.

[Laurie Booth]

I normally lean towards the port but never before dinner and not until the ladies have retired to the drawing room

Excellent

[Keeping Up]

Our 58 foot tends to lean to port when pumpout is empty,i usually just try balance it out with a few bricks

On reading this I immediately thought "too much information"

[Hieronymus Bosh]

Thanks David,

I used to work in the music biz.. wish I'd taken more of an interest in the "stage weights" I used to lug around lol. *mutters.. Harry Hindsight , I hate you......*

[pophops]

Thanks for all your suggestions. Particularly the thought that we could maybe level things up by removing some ballast. That's lateral thinking for you!

Ray

[Naughty Cal]

Ours often leans to the port side, so we just drink some of the booze in the fridge

[Gunna Do]

Our trad. stern 47ft boat was built by Stowe Hill Marine about 1989. We have owned her for 12 months or so. There is a noticable list to port which I think has been there since we bought the boat. I'd say that this side of the boat is about two inches lower in the water than the other side. It's been pointed out to me that most of the weight is on the port side i.e. engine and batteries, bed base and mattress, bathroom and pump-out tank, galley and dinette, with only the woodburner to starboard. Is this something we have to live with or could I correct it with ballast? If so, how much and where would it go?

Hi,

Ours also listed so we spent quite a lot of effort on correcting this. We tucked a cut down paving slab under the cooker, added 56lb weight on swim, 5 gallon jerry full of water in a locker, anchor chain moved to starboard etc. Got her straight so decided to cut a wine locker in the rear floor and took out some ballast slabs while at it. We then ditched the water jerry and got our locker back. We think our list was caused when the previous owner added another battery. Unfortunately we couldn't shift this in order to correct the lean but it may be something that you could look at. It's always better to move the weight that you have rather than add more. Curiously we have removed most of the 'extra' trimming ballast over the last year. Must be all the cr## er we mean the trappings of modern life that we seem to gather around us!