How to beach a boat.

[agallant80]

I have never beached my boat before but I see alot of people doing it. I have a 21 foot Stingray bowrider. I was wondering what the advice would be. Where should the trim on the outdrive be etc.

 

[81_chapparel194]

Re: How to beach a boat.

heres the way I beach MY boat.. not saying its the correct way but it works for me. if im in a idle speed zone i just idle up as close as i can and trim all the way up or atleast raise my skkex above my keel so that the skeg isnt touching the bottom.. then i stretch my anchor line about 15 - 20 feet and dig my anchor into the ground so she doesnt rock and float down the beach. if there are other boats near by i will throw out a stern anchor also to keep the back of the boat from floating into the other boats from the wake bouncing it around. i have seen people come in fast and beach half of the boat up on the shore, i do not like that. just nose it up and pull out my anchor onto dry land. now when i had jet skis i would most of the time run them comppletely up on the beach out of the water, however i killed the engine just before i reached the beach.
*disclaimer*
this is MY method and not intended to portray the correct method (provided there is a correct safe method)

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: How to beach a boat.

Personally, I do not like to beach my boat. Wave and wind action just grinds the bow into the sand, eventually wearing the gelcoat. Of course, you could always spend the hundred bucks to buy a keelguard.

My preferential method is to anchor just offshore and put the bow into the waves then run a line from the stern to a shore anchor. Anyone who doesn't want to get their ankles wet---TOUGH LUCK!

Secondly I would anchor from the stern and run a line to shore but this allows large waves to break over the transom.

When I was a kid with a tin boat and 5 horse engine I though it was great fun to run at shore full tilt and at the last second kill the engine and tilt it up. My friends and I had contests to see who would be the first to get the entire boat on shore

 

[doyall]

Re: How to beach a boat.

... Where should the trim on the outdrive be etc.

It all depends, but generally the uppermost safe operational limit would be the minimum I would have the trim. Frank Acampora has a point, get a keelguard if you are going to beach much. Well worth the investment.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: How to beach a boat.

Just remember ....whatever you beach needs to be "un-beached" and 21' is allot of boat!

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: How to beach a boat.

I beach all the time without issues and mine is 26 ft. I ease in with trim about half way up, once the bow touches gently on the sand, I power up some to pull the bow up and out of the water slightly. I very rarely even half to worry about wakes throwing her sideways, but if there is alot of traffic I will throw a rope on the stern cleat and bring it to shore and tie off either on a sand spike or tree to keep it from swinging, usually has to be on the up stream side if on a river. Of coarse always a bow anchor also.

The hard part isn't beaching, its getting the boat unbeached easily. I use the motor, in reverse, throttle slowly up until the water around the boat starts to swirl, then turn the wheel side to side until the swirling water releases the bow from the beach.

 

[Fed]

Re: How to beach a boat.

I use my stern wake to lift the boat onto the beach.
It's all in the timing, head straight at the beach fast enough to create a good stern wake then at the right moment pull into neutral, switch off & hit the trim up button. The stern wave will lift you gently onto the sand.
It might sound tricky but it really is quite easy.

 

[Part-time]

Re: How to beach a boat.

Now I don't know where you are but if you are somewhere there is tides just don't forget to reajust for rising or dropping water levels.
And I'm with bob_vt on this one... a 21 footer does not go back in easy.

 

[D1vemaster]

Re: How to beach a boat.

I have never beached my boat before but I see alot of people doing it. I have a 21 foot Stingray bowrider. I was wondering what the advice would be. Where should the trim on the outdrive be etc.

If your an ocean boater watch the tides, I got to spend a marvelous evening waiting for the tide to come back in, followed by a midnight run back across the bay. 4000lbs of boat needs some pretty good water to float.

Lakes are different, not much traffic you can idle in trim up , beach and just let her sit there. (soft sand and you've been there before) Rocks tend to ruin your day. The safe way is to always get wet, go over the side and walk her in.

Oceans you should always leave your bow to the waves, so go out a ways and set an anchor, back in to a reasonable depth and walk a line to shore. Tie it off to something or bury an anchor. There have been plenty of boats swamped by anchoring at the stern. The bow will ride over any wave comes in , the stern will be pulled under.