How big a boat can you have on the lake?

This is a rather complex question, and there are several things that place limits on the size of boat you can have on the Minneapolis Lakes:

  1. New for 2011 is a limit of 30 feet for boats. It is hard to image a 30 footer on the lakes, although there is a 27. You can find more info HERE. Beyond that, there are practical limitations:
  2. Trailerable: Legally, this means a beam of no more than 8 1/2 feet, and therefore a LOA of maybe 25 feet. 25 feet would be a BIG boat on Lake Harriet.
  3. Draft: Because you will have to launch using the ramp, you cannot draw a lot of water. Swing, shoal, and wing keels are most popular. High aspect, fixed fins will be an issue without some real creativity. We launch our Beneteau First 235 with 2.9 feet of draft without the tongue extension. You also have to look at how high your waterline sits at the axle. Lower is better. In general, the ramp is high quality, and the water gets deep quickly.
  4. Motor: The low HP output of the required electric motor will affect your choice of boat. Not only is displacement an issue, but perhaps more important is windage. An electric motor does not have the beans to stop lee slippage if you get sideways in a blow. Low freeboard helps here.
  5. Mast Height: The City of Minneapolis clips the trees near the launch ramp, but there are branches that touch my windex, which is some 38 feet off the ground.
  6. Displacement: I'm sure there is some limit on the displacement that the buoys are designed to handle safely, but I figure it is well north of 4000 lbs.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DNR map of Lake Harriet

Image
The Minnesota DNR publishes a bottom contour map of Lake Harriet. Although not really intended for ship navigation, it shows good anchorage locations and is handy to have on-board. It also shows that unlike Lake Calhoun, Lake Harriet is uniformly deep, and that means that is is mostly free of the nasty Milfoil that plagues its sister lake. The full-size map in PDF format is HERE . FYI, a map of Lake Calhoun is  HERE .  If you own a Garmin handheld GPS and are interested in a FREE depth chart of the lakes, be sure to see this post HERE .
Read more

Keeping an eye on swimmers

Image
Maybe it's just me, but it seems there are a LOT more people free-swimming across the lakes. I'm sure it is people training for the triathlons, and I didn't give it much thought until last night, when we almost ran over one. We were reaching at about 5 knots, sitting on the low side to induce some heel when we quickly slipped by a swimmer. We didn't see him, and he didn't hear us. I don't know who was more surprised, but I DO know who was in more danger. There was over 20 boats on the lake last evening. Under these conditions, swimming in the open water is just dangerous. I knew the MPRB was thinking about setting up open swim areas, but was pretty sure they had not done so. I called them, and they confirmed that open swimming was illegal, and pointed me to THIS page on their site. In addition, that told me I should call 911 to report swimmers. I'm not sure that I'll do that, but I would really hate to hit one, or even come close. I don't know ...
Read more

Motors - Electric only!

Image
One of the biggest challenges faced by cruisers on Lake Harriet is the prohibition of Outboards. Because gas motors are NOT allowed by the city, you have to use an electric trolling motor. In almost any sense this is a compromise, as a typical 50-lb thrust motor generates the equivalent of about 0.75HP. For anyone used to having their boat pushed around with a 8HP motor, this can be daunting. In practice, however, it is rare when it becomes a problem on Lake Harriet, as we all go back to mooring buoys, which we can sail to. The size of the lake allows getting to the lee side in a strong blow. The biggest challenge is power management. The motor will be the biggest draw on your boat's 12V system, and a dead battery means either no way to get home, or no lights for the evening sail. You have for factor in how you plan to keep it charged. See this related article on power management HERE. . Regarding size, choose a 50-LB thrust as a minimum, and look at 24v as opposed to less effici...
Read more