The boat draft calculator is used to establish the draft of a boat, which is the distance between the waterline of a boat and the bottom of the hull. This is a nautical term which you should know about whether you own a boat or you like to take one out on the water every once in a while.

The reason for this is because the boat draft calculator allows you to establish an appropriate water depth in which to sail. If you are thinking of traveling in shallow waters, you need to be extra careful that the draft is smaller than the depth of the water. You need to make sure your boat does not touch the floor of the ocean, lagoon, or whatever body of water, in order to avoid any damages to the hull.

How to use a boat draft calculator

There are two ways to calculate the boat draft.

The first one is to do it manually. For this method, there are a few parameters that you need before using a boat draft calculator. First of all, you need to take the boat out of the water and measure the distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull of the boat.

Next, use a measuring tape to measure the width and length of the deck of the boat. Write all these numbers down somewhere so you do not confuse them.

Furthermore, calculate the area of the deck by multiplying the width and length of the boat. Now you have to get some information regarding the type of waters you are planning to sail in. Find out the unit weight of the water. The unit weight for freshwater is 62.4 pounds per cubic foot, while the unit weight for saltwater is 64 pounds per cubic foot.

Determine how many people will be on the boat when you plan to sail and divide the weight of each of these people as well as other considerable objects on board, by the unit weight of the water. Find out the exact volume of water displaced by adding all of the figures above together.

Now, divide the number you got for the total volume of water displaced by the area of the deck of the boat calculated in the beginning.

Lastly, add the results from the first step with the results from the final step and you will get the draft of the boat.

If this seems too confusing, however, you can use the second method which might be easier despite not having less control over the formula. Basically, all you need to do is find an online boat draft calculator and put in all the data it requires.

Typically, an online boat draft calculator will need the Waterline Width (Beam) in Ft., the Waterline Length (LWL) in Ft., and the Weight of the Boat, Motor, Contents (Displacement) in Lbs. After putting all the figures in place, you will get a draft in inches for both freshwater and saltwater.

Once you get the result, compare the draft of your boat with other boats on TheBoatDB. You can compare two boats simultaneously or even a few of them, by shortlisting some vessels for future references.