T&T: Ballast

[Truelove39 at aol.com]

Have friends over. Position as many as needed to achieve desired trim. If  
you've fed them enough alcohol, they won't mind if you ask their weight. Write  
down the sum.
 
Build as many wooden boxes as needed to achieve the required  weight and 
affix them to the hull. Fill with cement. That's the traditional  way. Easy to 
install and remove if you  want and they won't rust.
 
Regards,
 
John
"Seahorse"

> Our boat, Aqua Vitae, is a 43' Albin Classic trunk style trawler.  One of 
the things that we've always loved about her is the flare of her bow,  
and the way she takes head seas (she parts them, like Moses!) But at  
anchor or at the dock she has a tendency to be bow down on her  lines.
Tell me about ballast. . . how do we know "how much?" What kind do we  
use to make it easy but stable? Where do we put it (exactly, if anyone  
knows.) We don't want heavy stuff rolling around anywhere, but it would  
be nice to see a level waterline.
Any advice on ballast would be  welcome.





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