A practice common in harbours that dry at low water, where boats sit on the mud or sand twice a day, and for scrubbing hulls or inspecting propellers without hauling out. Boats dry out against a harbour wall, on a grid, on legs or on bilge keels. Success depends on choosing the right state of tide, a firm bottom and checking that the next high water is high enough to float off.
We'll dry out against the quay on this morning's high and scrub the hull before she floats at teatime.
Check the ground before drying out against a wall; a lumpy bottom or a boat leaning outward can do more damage than a haul-out would cost.
Also heard as
- drying out
- take the ground
Related terms
Neaped
Stranded after grounding near spring high water and unable to refloat until the next spring tides return.
Dead low
The very bottom of low water, when the tide has stopped falling and not yet started to rise.
Top of the tide
High water, or the short period around it, as dock workers and boaters say it.
Making
Said of a tide that is rising, or of the fortnightly cycle building from neaps toward springs.