Beaching Boats

[tdonoughue]

In another thread, @haknslash said...

Beaching boats I'll never understand. You either risk scratching or damaging the gel coat or hard parts or you put in an ugly keel guard. And for what? So you can walk off the front of your bow? Just makes no sense for a fiberglass boat to me. I can understand if it were a pontoon and you didn't care about running it up the land but even then it just doesn't appeal to me at all. Any time I see someone selling a boat and they post a pic of it beached it's an instant NO from me and many people see it this way.

First, thanks for the view, @haknslash . It interests me and might be fun to discuss, so I have pulled it off into this thread.

My view: I got a keel guard, but mostly for protection against hitting any junk or running against a bottom accidentally. That said, having it I have occasionally beached, usually with friends' boats. And I haven't worried overly much because a) I don't do it often and 2) I have the keel guard. And it is darn convenient, frankly. I would not mess up my boat for that convenience (which I think is @haknslash 's point), but it is nice to be able to have the shore over there, my boat music and coolers right here, and be able to wade in the water here. It's just nice.

What is your view?

 

[OrangeTJ]

I used to beach my SX210, as long as it was a very soft beach. Did it primarily for the ease of the kids getting in and out via the bow ladder when they were smaller. I didn't really like leaving it beached because it seemed to always end up sideways as a result of incoming wakes and such. I have never beached my current boat and don't intend to, but it's a V-drive with tracking fins....and frankly was much more expensive. Additionally, wakeboat folks are almost fanatically "anti beaching" and any evidence of beaching can cost you big time in terms of resale or resellability.

 

[Babin Farms]

I like to back in at the sandbar or beach just close enough that the hull barely hits the bottom as the boat moves with the wake of boats going by. Bungee rope fully extended w/fluke anchor off the bow & screw anchor in the sand on the beach is the best way I’ve found for anchoring. I’ve been under the boat cleaning & waxing at home & see no excessive wear.
It also gets people’s attention when doing this thinking your going to ruin a lower unit.

 

[Elliott]

I never beach for two reasons: (1) potential damage even if I installed a guard and (2) the tide. I use my regular anchor off the front with an Anchor Buddy (big bungee cord) and a Sand Spike on the beach. This allows me to back in towards the beach and off load. Afterwards, I allow the Anchor Buddy to pull the boat back into deeper water as I play out the Sand Spike line. My boat is facing outward (protects against wakes and waves), and the boat can rise and fall (without me having to adjust my lines every 30 minutes) to match the 8 foot tides.

 

[Julian]

I don't beach....I did a few times....then crunch.

I was looking for a spot to pull onto an island of Goats (I can't for the life of me recall which lake we were on-might have been Lake Murray SC). There were lots of boats beached on the sand, so silly me figured....must be soft sand all along here....
So I pulled into a gap (very slowly) and instead of hearing nothing as we pulled in, I heard a quiet "Thunk".
The person in the next boat down said...."oh yeah....there's a rock under the sand there"

That resulted in a small chip....followed by a keel guard.

Now I don't trust sand that I see until I have my toes in it looking for rocks!

 

[buckbuck]

I have an opinion.

 

[tdonoughue]

I never beach for two reasons: (1) potential damage even if I installed a guard and (2) the tide. I use my regular anchor off the front with an Anchor Buddy (big bungee cord) and a Sand Spike on the beach. This allows me to back in towards the beach and off load.

So, honest question here: how do you know how far to back in? I have seen this method before and it makes sense to me. But how do you know where to drop the bow anchor and how far to back up toward the beach before you make a mess of your jets (or fins, for those of us who have them)?

Thanks!

 

[Babin Farms]

I’ll get close according to depth gauge, jump off the stern and drag it back to where I want it, set screw in the sand, tie it off to that then go set the bow anchor. If it’s too deep to walk out & set the bow anchor I’ll have someone toss it out as I’m backing in. In new areas the Key us to watch depth As you come in so you know what to do.
I like parking with the bow facing out so that the boat doesn’t get slammed by wake from other boats and the bungee gives it some give so it’s not getting jerked as the boat moves up and down and side to side

 

[Elliott]

While I was learning the beach we usually go to, I would have some one stand on the back of the boat to judge depth plus looking at my depth readings. The water is clear enough to see the bottom at 3-4 feet. If it is an unfamiliar area without enough clarity, I would just have the person in the back of the boat sample the depth once I am seeing 4s on the depth gauge.

As for setting the front anchor, I determine where I will back up to, and then I pull forward to reach a good depth to drop the front anchor before backing in to unload.

 

[Bluewater272]

Question for those of you that use the anchor buddy off your bow anchor when you back stern in to the beach - are you in tidal waters or something with a strong current? I've wanted to try one of those because it does get annoying shuffling the boat back and forth to match the tides, but I just can't imagine that the current wouldn't immediately suck up whatever stretch the bungee offers, and leave you in the same predicament.

 

[Dean P]

In defense of beaching (at least where I boat) it's all sand. I put the keel guard on just to make sure i don't damage anything (Like what @Julian alluded too). Backing up with jets is just not that great AND it kicks up sand the closer you get. Not good. Everybody situation is different but beaching (for the most part) is not that bad.

 

[Elliott]

Question for those of you that use the anchor buddy off your bow anchor when you back stern in to the beach - are you in tidal waters or something with a strong current? I've wanted to try one of those because it does get annoying shuffling the boat back and forth to match the tides, but I just can't imagine that the current wouldn't immediately suck up whatever stretch the bungee offers, and leave you in the same predicament.

See my posts above, I am using it in an 8 foot tidal zone with the current that comes with that much of a tide. The Anchor Buddy is well balanced to give you some stretch without just stretching out completely.

That said, I did have one time when the wind was high (I also have a T-top) at the maximum flow from the tide, and the Anchor Buddy was barely coping with it. It did its job, but I stayed close to the boat the whole time. It is like anything - conditions can overwhelm it.

 

[Babin Farms]

Question for those of you that use the anchor buddy off your bow anchor when you back stern in to the beach - are you in tidal waters or something with a strong current? I've wanted to try one of those because it does get annoying shuffling the boat back and forth to match the tides, but I just can't imagine that the current wouldn't immediately suck up whatever stretch the bungee offers, and leave you in the same predicament.

Don’t deal with tides. If there’s a current I will still use the same system & just bring the fluke to the rear towards the beach & find the sweet spot to hold boat straight.

 

[AZMark]

Question for those of you that use the anchor buddy off your bow anchor when you back stern in to the beach - are you in tidal waters or something with a strong current? I've wanted to try one of those because it does get annoying shuffling the boat back and forth to match the tides, but I just can't imagine that the current wouldn't immediately suck up whatever stretch the bungee offers, and leave you in the same predicament.

No current for me, but decent wind and surf boat wakes. If you set the anchor out pretty far so that you really have to stretch it to the max to get in to shore then it still has quite a bit of tension on it if you let it out 10-15 ft and does ok. It probably won’t last forever pulling it that much but they are fairly inexpensive.

 

[Babin Farms]

In defense of beaching (at least where I boat) it's all sand. I put the keel guard on just to make sure i don't damage anything (Like what @Julian alluded too). Backing up with jets is just not that great AND it kicks up sand the closer you get. Not good. Everybody situation is different but beaching (for the most part) is not that bad.

I usually shut it down in 3’ at the shallowest when backing in but I know our sandbar very well. If I’m unfamiliar I have beached bow first & spun boat around by hand. Like u stated, each situation is different

 

[SandfleaDDH]

I'm in San Diego where the tide moves pretty fast. Damn near every single time I go out on Mission Bay, I see a boat that has spent the better part of the night up on the beach, on its side, 10 feet from the water. I'm in the no-beach camp. If you don't want to get a little wet, boating maybe aint for you.

 

[suke]

I beach nose in, briefly, to get everything off the boat then float it to deeper water. For several reasons. 1.) If tide was to change I wouldn't be one of those people high and dry waiting for high tide to come back in 2.) passing boats won't constantly rock my boat against the ground

 

[cpthook]

I'm in San Diego where the tide moves pretty fast. Damn near every single time I go out on Mission Bay, I see a boat that has spent the better part of the night up on the beach, on its side, 10 feet from the water. I'm in the no-beach camp. If you don't want to get a little wet, boating maybe aint for you.

Thanks for the info on Mission Bay. I also go to Lake Perris a lot which is also quite wavy. The debate on weather to beach vs. back up off shore in a few feet of water is about 50/50 on each side from the discussions I've seen. I'm from SoCal so beaching is like breathing...but I also understand the other side. I broke down and got a guard for my boat after i started to notice the damage from beaching in wavy conditions. For newbies like me, the debate is helpful on both sides of the coin...pros and con's. I will say to any newbie 1st time boaters like me who want to beach... look at the damage I did to my keel in wavy conditions before keel guard in this short vid I made during install. I suffered no deep scratches thank goodness before discovering what I was doing, I just wished I would have installed the guard earlier.

KeelGuard B4/ After

 

[Rowdie]

I’m all about sandy bottoms but I still never beach the boat.

drop front anchor, back down till I’m shallow as can be or if there’s a little more wave action only shallow enough that the waves don’t rock the boat silly.

shut down, step into water, knee ish deep For the most part, pull rear anchor, sometimes all the way on shore. Done. From time to time if the tide is heading out I just drop front anchor further out and maybe go make one adjustment, pull in front, let out rear.

my 70+ yo mother in law can get on and off transom with ease.

 

[Bizywk]

I have an opinion.

I guess "Drive it like you stole it" is the lesson with this vid