Hi all, I have just acquired a space sailer 20 from my family and am a total novice at sailing. We're looking at putting it in a Marina (not looking for advice on mooring vs marina as we currently have it on a mooring and the position of the mooring isn't suitable due to wash from other boats and ferries and have had the boat break the mooring due to this. Had a full service of the mooring less than 2 months ago).

my question is does anyone know the draft of the fixed keel space sailer 20? I have the specs for the boat which I have found online and it states the max draft is 1.07 m I feel this seems really shallow would love some insight.
Thanks!

I think the 1.07m is right. Have a look here.
sailboatdata.com/sailboat/spacesailer-20/

This site says 1.1m. Not much difference.
sailboat.guide/swarbrick/spacesailer-20

If you want to be absolutely sure gently move it aground on mud on a low tide (so you can definitely get off again!) and measure with a stick. I did that with the 35ft boat I have now which had ambiguous data. Now I'm totally confident. Seeing is believing :-)

Where is your mooring? Having something break after a recent service is strange. Did the mooring fail, or did the rope or chain come off the cleat?

It's in a bay but close to the edge of the bay before it goes out into a wide river/ocean which is very busy with ferries etc. The yacht has come off twice in 2.5 months, we're puzzled, the harbour master at the yacht club were members of is puzzled and so is the mooring contractor who looked over the mooring before we put it on and then did a full service when it came off the first time so all ropes/swivel have been replaced. The only thing they can come up with that wash from the other boats is to much for the size of the boat on the mooring and it's bobbing up and down/spin ing around too much.

And to add the first time the rope wore through, this time the splice came unravelled.

Sounds like an uncomfortable mooring site. I can understand a mooring line chaffing but splices just don't unravel. Perhaps you can go to a bridle type arrangement ?

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woko said..
Sounds like an uncomfortable mooring site. I can understand a mooring line chaffing but splices just don't unravel. Perhaps you can go to a bridle type arrangement ?

My mooring is in the silty bay at Williamstown in Port Phillip Bay, where old hands tell me the swing mooring is an advantage because the constant movement slows the build-up of weed and barnacles etc. It's also true that when a storm hits, it's the marina boats that get damaged or in several instances that I've seen, sink. Your mooring experience sounds like bad luck, but if all the tackle is new and you fix the top-rope etc it should be fine. The Spacesailer 20 has a ballast ratio of 37% according to sailboatdata, so it's not a feather-weight. Curious.

Definitely not a good place for a mooring. Wind or sea against tide is going to produce confused steep seas, which will indeed knock most boats around. Entrance to Broken Bay near the top of Pittwater is a classic example.

A compensator could be of use? I have never had to use one but others here might have experience with them?

www.theboatwarehouse.com.au/anchors-chain-fenders-buoys-mooring/mooring-lines/forsheda-mooring-compensators/

Spacey 20 Draft is 3ft 6inches. This is from memory of the original plans that my Dad had.

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sailergirl24 said..
It's in a bay but close to the edge of the bay before it goes out into a wide river/ocean which is very busy with ferries etc. The yacht has come off twice in 2.5 months, we're puzzled, the harbour master at the yacht club were members of is puzzled and so is the mooring contractor who looked over the mooring before we put it on and then did a full service when it came off the first time so all ropes/swivel have been replaced. The only thing they can come up with that wash from the other boats is to much for the size of the boat on the mooring and it's bobbing up and down/spin ing around too much.

I think the costs of a marina are going to kill your enthusiasm pretty quickly. I would suggest checking the length of the riser. Nylon rope for the riser and don't go too large a diameter. It needs to take a bit of shock. Mooring contractors always make the risers too long and expect the owners to shorten them down to the correct length. Yours may be too long and on no wind days on the change of tide the yacht may be spending time with the riser caught on the back edge of a cast iron keel in your case. When you have a really high tide the riser needs to be just lifting the swivel and the first bit of chain off the bottom. In this mooring situation the riser needs to go over a bow roller right on the pointy end and have a length of fire hose over the section that moves on the bow roller. A decent eye splice that is finished off correctly and a couple of feet of smaller rope to tighten up the loop where it goes over the mooring cleat so it does not pop off. If you don't have a preventer on the bow roller use a piece of rope to lash the riser to the roller.
My yacht is on a mooring in a strong tidal river/estuary and is subjected to much rougher conditions than you will get on an ocean mooring. Especially right now with a Westerly gale where for several hours the boat sits sideways with the wind overtide and the waves go over the cockpit. When you leave the vessel always ensure you secure the tiller fore and aft. Most of the yachts here that come off the moorings are from chafe on the bow roller and the back edge of the keel and just recently the riser wore through on the bow mounted anchor.