Who beaches stern first?

[Geiger41]

I was actually thinking about this. Where I would beach stern first has the tide pushing the boat either way depending if it is coming in or going out. Question is does anyone have any specific way to tie the boat from the rear to land so the tide doesn't spin it out. I don't think I can put an anchor in the front all stretched out because there may not be enough area for it along with other boats to miss it. Depending how many feet I need in front of me.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

You will want to use two anchors. We have a video on this on our YouTube channel.

 

[KXCam22]

I use a log or spike on shore to hold the stern from swinging too far. Mostly logs. In my routine I toss the anchor out and then reverse into shore. I have a number of loops in my anchor rope so once the anchor sets I can adjust how far the boat stern is from shore. Then I attach the anchor rope loop with a carabiner and then hop off the back with my attached shore line in hand, pull it tight and tie it to something. Cam.

 

[txav8r]

The Yamaha lends itself well to stern into the beach. But now in or stern in, I don't actually "beach" the boat. It is always floating. ALWAYS. a boat being moved on the softest of sand by the movement of the water, will eventually etch the gelcoat. One sea shell or rock, and you have damage. In constant level lakes, not much danger in keeping 6" under your keel or fins. In lakes or tides, consideration should be given to that to keep your boat safely floating. While you may be fortunate enough to be grounded without damage, but it is more likely you will suffer damage and certainly scuffing.

Bow first or the popular stern first, manage your depth and keep water between you and damage. Even with a keel guard, I would avoid beaching for more than a moment. And absolutely avoid running engines with less than 3' of water below your keel. That is not 3' deep, it 3' below your keel...which is closer to 5' deep than 3'.

Care for your boat, and it will give you years of service life, and return a greater value to you if you decide to sell it in the future. The hull built by Yamaha, is a strong, lightweight hull, but it is both thin and easily marred. It is not the thick and forgiving hulls of boats 20+ years ago. Those boats wet slow and heavy, although well built. Even if they could be beached, it
still scuffs them up. Avoiding that is easy enough and a Yamaha makes it easy.

I tried using an anchor buddy but windy conditions cause it to stretch and the boat moved too much. A second bow anchor or a solid bow line will lock it down. In rocky or other treacherous shore conditions, keep more under your keel.

 

[Trm1765]

I back towards the shore and cut the engines before I hit. Then I jump off the back and pull it manually to shore with the engines off. I dig my anchor into the sand with the rope going to a cleat on each side. That keeps the boat from drifting either direction because when the waves push it either direction the rope on that side will get tight and not allow it to turn. It works great. If the rope does get a little loose just make another lap around the cleat or the anchor and take the slack out of it.

It is great being beached stearn first.. first just because we can... and also it is great to be able to use the hose and rinse the sandy feet off and also to be able to hear and control the stereo from the beach...

 

[redthumper9]

I tried using an anchor buddy but windy conditions cause it to stretch and the boat moved too much. A second bow anchor or a solid bow line will lock it down. In rocky or other treacherous shore conditions, keep more under your keel.

I boat in the ICW here in NC. This thread has raised my interest in the anchor buddy and I may give one a try. With the continuous changing of tides, this thing would be a god send at the beach...if the current and wind is not too strong! For around $35, I'm going to have to give it a shot.

 

[Stacey in SC]

I had the same exact thought, thumper. I am also ICW and like the idea. One of the challenges can be in terms of scope for the bow anchor for us....you can't always use an ideal amount of rode because the channel between the two barrier islands where everyone parks is fairly narrow with a lot of boats maneuvering in and out.

Having the box anchor certainly helped a lot with the bow staying put better (we stern in as well)....and now that my old beach anchor has died a spike anchor is next.

Not sure what the anchor buddy will really do but would like to try one, possibly....let me know if you do and please post your results. If it wouldn't hold for Mel in a lake, not sure that is going to work for us in ocean winds and tides....

 

[redthumper9]

Our usual sandbar obviously has changing tides, but the current is not bad usually. Winds are sometimes an issue as well. I have an 8lb danforth with about 6 ft of chain and it holds the bow very well. I used to have another 8lb for the stern on the beach, but trying the shore spike this year. I hope this thing will work. It will save quite a bit of work during the day. ....especially using the danik hook on the shore spike.

 

[Rigger]

....especially using the danik hook on the shore spike.

You'll enjoy it for sure!

 

[txav8r]

Let me clarify Stace...it is when you have a crosswind on the boat when anchored, that causes the biggest issues. We all know how much wind surface our boats have. I have even had my ground tackle pulled loose by heavy crosswinds. It is those situations when the anchor buddy just made matters worse. Most of the time, it would work just fine. But for us, with no tide or changing water level, I don't have a reason to let the boat out to deeper water. The anchor buddy is a good concept and works in good conditions.

For us, 90% of the time, it is just us. And on our home lake, we are just on the bow anchor in deeper water, with no shore anchor at all. Our shoreline doesn't lend itself to being a "beach" and all our entertainment is on the boat. So we are in and out of the water from the boat, and not on shore except to let Chester take care of his second order of business occasionally. 10% of the time, on Texoma or other lakes that lend their beach to us, we stern in with a shore spike. And I have used the anchor buddy in those situations both successfully and unsuccessfully. In your situations on the ICW or places with tides, I suspect you have to adjust the boats depth from shore frequently. The anchor buddy might help when winds aren't from midship. I would think the shore spike would be a better second asset to you with the anchor buddy being a third. The large shore spike better served me. I exchanged a small shore spike for the large, as the small would not hold well in a sand beach, although it would be enough easily in a clay shoreline. The large is great for us, because I can put it close to the boat in deeper water when needed. It has a eye on the top to tie a fender to so it is marked when underwater. I have had ground augers of every variety along with a danforth to dig in at the beach. The best shore anchor I have ever had is a tree I could tie to...but they are never where you want them! The second best is the shore spike. Use a large diameter, hollow noodle, to put it in...it is a heavy piece of metal and the thin bag it comes in is hardly going to protect your boat. I just slide it into that noodle and throw it and my shore line in the clean out tray.

I think the idea of two shore anchor points might help in a crosswind. @Trm1765 has a good concept there to tie off to both cleats and that would work well in light and variable winds. It is the heavy crosswinds that make for a tough time for everyone. It is going to be bigger ground tackle and less play that makes that work better. There is one thing however that we all have in common here...Our Yammies make any anchorage or beach experience better!!!

 

[Glassman]

Word of caution....anchor Buddies can and do break. The tubing gets old and cracks over time. Then you are left with a saggy ol' line. Be sure to check yours out if it's several years old.

 

[Magic]

Word of caution....anchor Buddies can and do break. The tubing gets old and cracks over time. Then you are left with a saggy ol' line. Be sure to check yours out if it's several years old.

Good point. I should add to my posts above that the anchor buddy SUPPLEMENTS the anchor line, but does not REPLACE the anchor line. Ideally the ALMOST fully stretched anchor buddy line hits the rope anchor line in tension before the full elastic limit has been reached....

 

[Magic]

If the anchor buddy fails, the normal anchor line remains to secure the boat to the anchor at the point of nearly full anchor buddy extension....

 

[txav8r]

If the anchor buddy fails, the normal anchor line remains to secure the boat to the anchor at the point of nearly full anchor buddy extension....

If you set it up like this...

Not like this...

But I agree with @Glassman , I had one break too...and it wasn't old, it was the wind! It pulled the knot into the braided line and I repaired it for it to fail again. That is when I took it into West Marine and exchanged it for a new one.

 

[Magic]

Yep that's how we do it..... I will take pictures next trip

 

[Magic]

It's a "Buddy" after all, a friend to your anchor line, not one of those bad boy loners!

 

[Magic]

The tubing gets old and cracks over time. Then you are left with a saggy ol' line.

Sucks getting old, huh?

 

[cane.mba]

If you set it up like this...
View attachment 5684
Not like this...
View attachment 5685
But I agree with @Glassman , I had one break too...and it wasn't old, it was the wind! It pulled the knot into the braided line and I repaired it for it to fail again. That is when I took it into West Marine and exchanged it for a new one.

AHA! I've been trying to picture how this works! I was having a hard time wrapping my brain around a rubber band connecting the boat to the anchor!

 

[jdonalds]

Word of caution....anchor Buddies can and do break. The tubing gets old and cracks over time. Then you are left with a saggy ol' line. Be sure to check yours out if it's several years old.

Agreed. I have replaced my AB twice when the surgical tubing separated. Depending on how many hours of use it gets it might need to be replaced each season.

I have had problems with wind and the Anchor Buddy too. It isn't perfect in all situations. I left the boat on the Anchor Buddy overnight once but will not do that again. The wind came up and I had to deal with the boat at 3am.

On the other hand I've had 150' of 1/2" braided nylon anchor line on board for several years but haven't used it yet, always using the AB instead.

We use the AB for a lunch anchor or for stern beach anchoring. It's just the greatest thing except for issues with wind.

Another benefit is once the stern line is released the Anchor Buddy pulls the boat away from the shore so we aren't starting the engines in shallow water. With a non stretch anchor line you can always pull on the line to move the boat away from the shore but with the AB it does it for you.

 

[Glassman]

Sucks getting old, huh?

Getting old is actually fun, being old is a different story!


Sometimes I'll have to dive down and set my anchor in tricky surroundings....