Calculating safe water depth, under-keel clearance and grounding

With a one-metre wave, the keel dips half a metre deeper in the trough than it does on flat water. Add to that chart inaccuracies, low water driven by persistent wind and shifting sediment in river mouths. That half metre in reserve is not over-caution, it is experience.

Running aground is the most frequently reported cause of loss in boating. The consequences range from a buckled rudder blade through a damaged propeller shaft and gearbox to hull damage with water ingress, and the salvage costs come on top of that.

Under our policies, grounding is covered by the comprehensive hull cover from Basis-Plus upwards, including consequential damage to the drive train and the hull. Where grounding is suspected, we pay for craning the boat out for inspection: up to five hundred euros in Basis-Plus, without limit in Premium. Anyone who touches the bottom and carries on without checking risks being accused of making the damage worse.