How long is it anyway?

So how long is a 34' CHB? Just for giggles today, I ran a tape on the dock next to my 34 Puget Trawler and not counting anchor beyond the pulpit, and skiff sticking past the end of the swim step, I got 35'6" overall length. Add the anchor and the skiff and its nearly 38'! No wonder my 35' covered slip barely keeps the driftwood out. Why do they call it a 34?

Waterline lenght or length on deck? Our boat was called a 32. Then they extended the hull to incorporate the swimplatform and still called it a 32 (our model). Then they called it a 32+. Now they call the exact same boat a 34. Our LOA is 34.5, so we just fit in our 35 foot slip (and our marina is very strict about boats not being longer than the slip). Nordic Tug did the same thing with the 37, which is now called a 39, and is actually about 39.5 feet.

We've recently started looking at the Bayliner 4788/Meridian 490. Bayliner says it is a 4788, Meridian a 490, but LOA is closer to 54 feet! Will need to find a new marina if we go that route, as ours won't take anything over 50.

Well, neither really. OAL from one end of the boat to the other including pulpit and step, but not anchors and skiffs. I didn't measure LOD but imagine it is under 34'. Perhaps the more important true length would be hull only from stem to stern, no pulpit, no step. None of this matters I guess, just curious.

I'm so called 48'... Last few times someone got out a tape I was 53'6 feet.

I know at one point that insurance requirements made a huge change when the water line was over 50'. It's also a lot harder to get in a slip when your over 50' and a bunch of places i go there is a 50/50 shot of ending up on the end of the dock or at the commercial dock. At one point i think there was a USCG requirement change at 50' but do not know if it is around or if it was a rumor.

This is an argument I ran into often when surveying as I charge by the foot. My policy for years has been to charge the LOA as per manufacturers or published specs. I don't care if they call it a 3600 or a 4788, whatever the spec sheet says whether 41' or 32' that's what I charge.

I have stayed at a local marina in transient moorage a couple times since owning my boat. Great place to stop and will be stopping there again tomorrow. I pay by the foot and always have said my boat was 43'. It is a North Pacific 43 after all. I was looking at the specs the other day and it dawned on me that the manufacturer says that the LOA is 44' 6". I called up the marina where I had prepaid the moorage for tomorrow and explained my error and apologized. The laughed and said not to worry (which I figured he would).

Sure wish our marina did'nt allow overlength. We've got an OB that measures 38' OA w his outboards swung up and that's the way he leaves it in the 30' slip. Those ourboards stick way out into the fairway. And I consider the fairway part of what I rent.

But they do seem to be fussy about anchors extending into the walkway.

Ours is nominally a 42, but with pulpit it gets to 44-something, and then with the optional swim platform it ends up at 46 plus a little. (And even though ours was originally delivered without the optional swim platform... the CG document says 46.2 anyway.)


And then our cantilevered davit makes the dinghy extend another couple feet behind all that... so we usually aim for 48' transient spaces at destination marinas.


I think that means a 34 can be anything the maker or the owner -- or maybe even the CG -- wants it to be.


-Chris

Do underwater hull-cleaners generally base their fees on overall length or waterline length?

My builder variously describes my boat as 35 and 36 in length. Specification for stem-to-stern length is 35'8". Add the folded-up swim platform and the forward pulpit/anchor adds more than a foot in overall length.

markpierce said:

Do underwater hull-cleaners generally base their fees on overall length or waterline length?

My builder variously describes my boat as 35 and 36 in length. Specification for stem-to-stern length is 35'8". Add the folded-up swim platform and the forward pulpit/anchor adds more than a foot in overall length.

Click to expand...

Well, unless your diver is cleaning the pulpit, I would imagine it would be just the hull.

A one time TF member advertised his IG36 as an IG40 (IG never made one),I think because LOA was 40ft. Integrity produced the 386, presumably 38ft 6",I think using the same IG36 moulds, but added a moulded in swimstep instead of the teak one, which increased LWL.
Unless marinas get tough seeking extra $, most marinas seem to charge on the nominal model length rather than getting out the tape measure.
And of course, it can depend on how cold the water is.

BruceK said:

Unless marinas get tough seeking extra $, most marinas seem to charge on the nominal model length rather than getting out the tape measure.
And of course, it can depend on how cold the water is.

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The city marina here gets two people with a tape and two plumb bobs. If there's a superstructure in the way (like a trawler) the measure to the window, make a mark with a grease pencil, and then continue from the other side. They measure from the absolute maximum extension of anything vertically up using the plumb line.

They just denied a guy a slip based on max width when his specs didn't include the rub rails, which put him an inch over max when measured. And remeasured, and remeasured again.

Nomad Willy said:

Sure wish our marina did'nt allow overlength. We've got an OB that measures 38' OA w his outboards swung up and that's the way he leaves it in the 30' slip. Those ourboards stick way out into the fairway. And I consider the fairway part of what I rent.

But they do seem to be fussy about anchors extending into the walkway.

Click to expand...

OB? outboard boat? How does he have that long a boat in the 30' slip? On C dock, they don't seem to mind the anchor encroachment at all. My beef, albeit a minor one I guess, is that my slip a 35' slip, has a big wedge built into one corner for the elec panel box, which means I don't get the full use of my slip and cannot back into it even if I wanted to with a big wide stern. When I asked for a discount on the slip they laughed. Sort of irks me because I pay the same as everyone else but only get a 90 percent slip. Oh well, I am on the list for a better one when (IF!) one ever becomes available.

BruceK said:

And of course, it can depend on how cold the water is.

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Ah yes, shrinkage!!

Legal definition of LOA that builders must use:
20 CFR 701.502 (b)(1)

“Length” means a straight line measurement of the overall length from the foremost part of the vessel to the aftmost part of the vessel, measured parallel to the center line. The measurement must be from end to end over the deck, excluding sheer. Bow sprits, bumpkins, rudders, outboard motor brackets, handles, and other similar fittings, attachments, and extensions are not included in the measurement.

Swim platforms that are integral to the hull (part of the hull mold) are included. Swim platforms that are bolted onto the stern are not.

However, Harbormasters only want to know how many feet of dock space they can charge you for, so they can--and do!--include anchors, pulpits swim platforms NOT integral to the hull and anything else hanging off either end of your boat.

HeadMistress said:

Legal definition of LOA that builders must use:
20 CFR 701.502 (b)(1)

“Length” means a straight line measurement of the overall length from the foremost part of the vessel to the aftmost part of the vessel, measured parallel to the center line. The measurement must be from end to end over the deck, excluding sheer. Bow sprits, bumpkins, rudders, outboard motor brackets, handles, and other similar fittings, attachments, and extensions are not included in the measurement.

Swim platforms that are integral to the hull (part of the hull mold) are included. Swim platforms that are bolted onto the stern are not.

However, Harbormasters only want to know how many feet of dock space they can charge you for, so they can--and do!--include anchors, pulpits swim platforms NOT integral to the hull and anything else hanging off either end of your boat.

Click to expand...

This is one of the many issues that builders ignore and there is no one on watch to keep them in line.

HeadMistress said:

Legal definition of LOA that builders must use:
20 CFR 701.502 (b)(1)

“Length” means a straight line measurement of the overall length from the foremost part of the vessel to the aftmost part of the vessel, measured parallel to the center line. The measurement must be from end to end over the deck, excluding sheer. Bow sprits, bumpkins, rudders, outboard motor brackets, handles, and other similar fittings, attachments, and extensions are not included in the measurement.

Swim platforms that are integral to the hull (part of the hull mold) are included. Swim platforms that are bolted onto the stern are not.

However, Harbormasters only want to know how many feet of dock space they can charge you for, so they can--and do!--include anchors, pulpits swim platforms NOT integral to the hull and anything else hanging off either end of your boat.

Click to expand...

That makes sense because if I discount the pulpit and swim step altogether, I then have about 33' 8", or nearly 34'. Magic! Thanks Peggie!