Hello all
This is my first post here - and a cross post from another forum (where it was recommended I ask here). I have searched and (probably not surprisingly) I am getting lots of conflicting information on my question. But anyway here goes:
I am the new owner of a home on the east end of LI, on a cove off of the Peconic Bay. My home has a dock and will be getting my first boat, most likely used but open to all options. Size I'm looking at is up to 25', either a bowrider or a deck boat.
Primary use will be cruising around between the forks, Riverhead to Montauk (but no further) with friends and family. For those of you who know this area, the water can get a little choppy but it's usually fairly smooth and calm.
So far so good... the big issue is that the depth at my dock can range between 3 feet and 1 foot between high and low tides. On a Spring tide (especially a Perigean like a few weeks back), the dock only has a few inches of water at low tide but this only happens occasionally.... usually it's a foot or so at the stern end of the dock at low tide. The bottom is soft and muddy. People around the cove all have boats in this size range, many are outboards but some sterndrives as well. When the tide is low, some of their boats will sit in the mud and when tides are at their lowest, will even tilt a bit towards the dock. My neighbor has a 26' Cobalt sterndrive and she said that hers sits on the mud once in a while but isn't a huge issue for her. Across the way some guy has a large Hinckley and I'm shocked to see it sometimes sitting at a serious angle as it lies on the bottom! But for the most part the boats seem to be perpendicular to the dock but I know they are touching bottom.
Here is what I want to know....
1) is a sterndrive an option for me? Love these the best but worried about the low tide issue. What are the true risks here, because I really had my heart set on the I/O.
2) if I have a stern drive I guess I'd need to dock it in the fully trimmed (trailer?) position to keep the engine off the bottom during the low tide? How bad is this? The boat will be on the dry in the winter, and I don't mind keeping it maintained for a few bucks each year.
3) If a stern drive is not an option, then I have to choose I guess between an outboard and a Jet. Is it OK to dock the Outboard fully in the up position and have the boat sit in the mud (guess I don't have a choice)?
What else should I be considering? Thanks in advance for your suggestion and advice and looking forward to participating on the forums.
This is my first post here - and a cross post from another forum (where it was recommended I ask here). I have searched and (probably not surprisingly) I am getting lots of conflicting information on my question. But anyway here goes:
I am the new owner of a home on the east end of LI, on a cove off of the Peconic Bay. My home has a dock and will be getting my first boat, most likely used but open to all options. Size I'm looking at is up to 25', either a bowrider or a deck boat.
Primary use will be cruising around between the forks, Riverhead to Montauk (but no further) with friends and family. For those of you who know this area, the water can get a little choppy but it's usually fairly smooth and calm.
So far so good... the big issue is that the depth at my dock can range between 3 feet and 1 foot between high and low tides. On a Spring tide (especially a Perigean like a few weeks back), the dock only has a few inches of water at low tide but this only happens occasionally.... usually it's a foot or so at the stern end of the dock at low tide. The bottom is soft and muddy. People around the cove all have boats in this size range, many are outboards but some sterndrives as well. When the tide is low, some of their boats will sit in the mud and when tides are at their lowest, will even tilt a bit towards the dock. My neighbor has a 26' Cobalt sterndrive and she said that hers sits on the mud once in a while but isn't a huge issue for her. Across the way some guy has a large Hinckley and I'm shocked to see it sometimes sitting at a serious angle as it lies on the bottom! But for the most part the boats seem to be perpendicular to the dock but I know they are touching bottom.
Here is what I want to know....
1) is a sterndrive an option for me? Love these the best but worried about the low tide issue. What are the true risks here, because I really had my heart set on the I/O.
2) if I have a stern drive I guess I'd need to dock it in the fully trimmed (trailer?) position to keep the engine off the bottom during the low tide? How bad is this? The boat will be on the dry in the winter, and I don't mind keeping it maintained for a few bucks each year.
3) If a stern drive is not an option, then I have to choose I guess between an outboard and a Jet. Is it OK to dock the Outboard fully in the up position and have the boat sit in the mud (guess I don't have a choice)?
What else should I be considering? Thanks in advance for your suggestion and advice and looking forward to participating on the forums.
