Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

[Snobike Mike]

I'm wondering if there is some sort of product you can use only when beaching or in shallow water to protect the lower end from hitting the sand.

I was anchored in shallow water a few weeks ago and if there was a larger wave that came in due to a boat going by sometimes the outdrive would touch. The result is the paint is a little scuffed/marked and I don't want it to go all the way through.

I was thinking there may be some kind of rubber foot you could attach only when in shallow water to protect the lower end. I'm fine with taking it off before leaving so some sort of quick disconnect feature woudl be nice.

Thoughts?

 

[TiMe_1]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

Why not just raise the outdrive? Or am I missing something??

 

[Snobike Mike]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

The outdrive was all the way up in trailer/beach position.

The problem was when the water was still I was floating in about 2 feet of water so the hull/outdrive were above the sand.

When waves would come in the boat would rock and every once in a while the drive would touch eventually marring the paint.

I've never beached but intend to which I would imagine is even worse as the water would be shallower so the leg would be right at, if not in the sand.

Here is the boat in that bay.

Cheers.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

The paint on the bullet nose and skeg of the outdrive is eventually going to get marred or worn completely off no matter what you do. Look at just about any outboard or stern drive boat and you will see that most have at least some paint missing. The only way to prevent that is to repaint on a regular basis. Missing paint would be the least of my concerns. I would be more concerned with the sudden and abnormal loads that the outdrive had to deal with everytime it hit the bottom. That could cause real damage. Adding a rubber guard won't do much if anything to address that.

I think your only solution is to anchor out a little further where you have some confidence that the outdrive wont hit bottom under the current conditions.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

The solution:

I think your only solution is to anchor out a little further where you have some confidence that the outdrive wont hit bottom under the current conditions.

 

[Snobike Mike]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

I'm okay with that solution.

I'm now just curious on how those that beach live with it, or do they simply accept the damage to the outdrive as for sure unless there is a drop off right at the beach (whcih is essentially impossible), the leg would be in the sand.

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

Maybe the water is smoother where they beach ?
I did it a time or 2 on lake Michigan and the waves bopping my boat up on down and sideways was enough for me to realizing beaching wasnt going to work there and I was working on busting up my transom if a monkeyed with it more.

Arneson surface drive for the win I guess.

 

[180Fisherman]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

You are just beaching in a bad place. High traffic and wakes make for bad beaching unless the drop off is such that you can beach and still be in deep water at the transom.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

Another reason to LOVE an outboard. You can (in most cases) raise them completely out of the water, so in this situation, only the transom keel is bumping the bottom.

I would think that the outdives on I/Os would raise enough to keel the bullet and skeg no deeper than the transom keel, Am I wrong?

 

[Snobike Mike]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

I would think that the outdives on I/Os would raise enough to keel the bullet and skeg no deeper than the transom keel, Am I wrong?

No, the skeg/bullet is still a little below the bottom of the hull in full trailer tilt position.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

i beach all the time. just raise the drive. so it touches...oh well. over the years, you'll likely do more damage than sanding the paint off the drive. so to me it's kinda irrelevant. if ya want it black. ya can always paint it. i hear rustolem paint works real well, myself.

the pic speaks louder than words...
edit. ya shoulda seen the day i got blowed up on the beach sideways. i mean, 'on the beach' too. took 4 adults to pivot me useing the stern as the pivot point to point me out to sea and get me unbeached. that was a real paint killer for sure. left a hole 8-12 inches deep in the sand where i'd been pivoting the boat at. and yes, it was all the way up too, full trailer. it was also the least of my worries for the trouble i'd got into that day too..

 

[marine4003]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

And my wife thinks I'M anal...i applaud your diligence in boat maintenance.Scuffing the skeg isn't bad..its aluminum, so no rust..if the grounding system is working and there's good zinc's, no collateral damage will occur..just watch having the outdrive hitting the deck, THAT'S not gonna make the boat Gods happy.

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

mike; those skegs are realy tough. we happened on to a fellow a few years back that beached near us.
he ran his drive up and drifted in and beached as we pretty much do.

then he ran his DRIVE BACK DOWN. i asked the reason for this.

he said he liked to plant the drive in the sand because it kept them from drifting back. i replied that we used our anchor as a sand pin and that worked pretty good for us.
he came right back with- ya but this way keeps the stern from washing from side to side!!!!

by the by. i would never try this or recommend any one else do either

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

the problems with using the motor as an anchor is getting sand washed in the intakes, and stress where the motor joins the boat--and especially troublesome issue for stern drives.

To the OP--anchor futher out. Get one of the elastic anchor lines for this. As others said, worry about stress points; don't worry about paint (scuff marks on a motor are like grass stains on a football jersey--shows who the real players are.)

 

[H8tank]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

Get a skeg guard, there are many different types and styles, like this one: http://www.danamarineproducts.com/SkegGardSkegGuards.htm

Search google.

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

I have a skegguard and I dig the outboard into the sand, keeps the boat from moving and hasn't hurt a thing. Paint wearing off is part of ownership, get used to regular upkeep or anchor out in the surf...I recommend two anchors for safety if you go that route.

 

[Snobike Mike]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

Thanks all.

I am indeed super anal and I just hate having any marks on the boat anywhere including the paint.

She ain't no virgin anymore though as there are a few scratches on the skeg and marring on the bullet.

Oh well.

Cheers.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

Digging the skeg into the ground is a good way to snap a hinge pin (the area around it, not the hinge pin itself). That's a lot of angular force on an area made of pot metal(gimbal ring). Dual anchors solve the drift problem. The upsides of burying the outdrive don't outweight the downsides.

 

[collind]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

OP - Are you sure you are trimming all the way up? in trailer mode? on some boats you have the push the trim switch an extra click in to get it to go all the way up.... I'm really surprised you skeg is still below the bottom of the hull.

 

[jeff_smith_0423]

Re: Protecting lower end while shallow/beached

I'm okay with that solution.

I'm now just curious on how those that beach live with it, or do they simply accept the damage to the outdrive as for sure unless there is a drop off right at the beach (whcih is essentially impossible), the leg would be in the sand.

It's paint. It's going to wear. It's tough to get over the hump but eventually we all realize that it's a lot more fun using are equipment than it is to worry about things. Drives will need to be touched up or eventually refinished. It's just a fact of life.