How to make waterline markers and why we think it’s such a good idea. Continuing on from our previous video on watching your weight, Shayne goes through the process of how we made the waterline markers for our catamaran. The idea behind this trick is to monitor how our boat is sitting in the water. It’s not meant to be a conclusive test, but rather a simple tool to allow you to visually monitor whether you are sitting higher or lower in the water than usual.
If you already have an idea where your boat should sit in the water, for example, the water sits 50mm above the bottom of the transom and 50mm above the bottom of the bow of your boat then you are already there. You know that you are at the weight you should be for your design. Some production boats will have this information in their boat specifications. If you have the opportunity to weigh your boat next time you haul out then by all means do so but be careful with travel lift scales they are notoriously inaccurate. Cranes and load cells are a better option however these are not always readily available and using this method to haul out a catamaran comes with it’s own set of challenges.
If you are like us, we knew we were overweight, then the first thing to do is start taking out the junk. All the extra tools and things that you don’t really need or want on your boat. Be realistic. You are still going to need some tools and spare parts while sailing and cruising. Set the boat up the way you are going to sail. If you want to monitor the weight compared to a totally empty boat then take everything off. If you want to set it up with bare basics then do that.
If you are like us, keep only the things you want for normal everyday live aboard cruising. These things are going to stay on the boat as you will need them for repairs or the comfort of living. We went for several test sails before we knew exactly where we wanted the boat to be in the water. How did we know? Well, that is a bit more intuitive.
We had some idea of the speed this design should do and when we could achieve those speeds easily we knew we were close. The boat also felt a lot easier to sail. The helm felt balanced and top speeds were easy to reach and maintain. The boat felt relaxed and not loaded up. It’s something that you as the skipper should feel naturally is right for you. Once you think you have your ideal weight then it’s time to put your markers on. The process is straight forward and having those marks as a reference is incredibly handy. It’s a simple trick and if you are at all interested in doing the same to your multi it is well worth the effort next time you haul out!