Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

[jonmyrlebailey]

This is to moor a 19-22-foot boat offshore and paddle in to the beach. Please see my map link here. I am thinking of using a 3-man raft and an inflator/deflator to operate off boat's battery. The whole deal should be able to be deflated/inflated quickly and stow on boat without using much space.
http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh579/roysummers85/mooringoffCarmelBeach.jpg

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

How about just driving to the beach by land when you want to go to the beach, and when you go boating stay on the water with the boat?

What would you do if your anchor line broke or your anchor pulled free and your boat began drifting and/or being blown by the wind? how about some yahoos pulling up to your boat with another boat and stealing stuff off of it or stealing the whole boat?

I personally wouldn't leave my boat unattended on the water (too much can and does happen). I know there are people that do this kind of thing and never have a problem... but there are other people that do it and have big problems.

Part of the fun of having a boat on the ocean is cruising up and down the beach making all the people on the beach wish they had a boat.

 

[jonmyrlebailey]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

I am still a landlubber at heart. I will have to exercise my legs every so often. A 19-22 foot boat, chosen mostly for ECONOMY, is NO pleasure cruise for space and long-term on-deck comfort. Also, with two large dogs on a boating vacation, they will need some land/toilet breaks too every so often.

Using an inflatable boat to land in shallow water might not be too risky since big sharks cannot come in this shallow.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

I don't live anywhere near the ocean, so this advice is worth what you're paying for it. However, IMO there's nothing wrong with that plan, but I'd strongly encourage you to spring for a decent inflatable (not a Sevylor, Intex, et al) if you're going to go through with it. You might also consider a small outboard. A two or three horse would weigh less than thirty pounds and wouldn't be cost prohibitive. As for inflation you can buy a $140 twelve volt pump, or you can buy a cheapie (Coleman type) and finish with a good quality manual pump (K Pump, NRS, etc.). That's the method I use with my river rafts and it works well.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

2 large dogs on a 19-22 ft boat? Sounds like a very relaxing vacation.

I also would not consider trying to anchor a 19-22 ft boat offshore unattended, seems like a recipe for a pulled anchor and a boat on the beach.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

not as bad plan in warm water, calm days. You will get wet. Maybe you can find a way to keep it inflated and tied to the boat when you cruise.

You are still limited to flat days. Get many of them?

Practice, you and the dogs, in the raft in the surf. Might change your mind.

I wouldn't worry a bit about the boat unattended; people anchor and go off in dinghies all the time. As long as you know what you're doing.

Be sure the fabric is dog-proof.

Keep telling yourself there are no sharks in shallow water. To avoid the surf you will be starting in 6' deep I guess. But if the sharks find you, you have an extra dog to toss to them at least.

By insisting on ocean beach access, you are still pounding a square peg into a round hole. If you have a 19-22' boat, as you indicate, you are leaving from and returning to sheltered water, and not likely cruising down the coast from inlet to inlet, so why not focus on places to land in the inshore waterways without going to the ocean? Frankly, it sounds like you've already convinced yourself that you and your dogs aren't going to have much fun.

 

[spoilsofwar]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

By insisting on ocean beach access, you are still pounding a square peg into a round hole. If you have a 19-22' boat, as you indicate, you are leaving from and returning to sheltered water, and not likely cruising down the coast from inlet to inlet, so why not focus on places to land in the inshore waterways without going to the ocean? Frankly, it sounds like you've already convinced yourself that you and your dogs aren't going to have much fun.

I also don't understand the OP's obsession with going out into the Pacific, just to try to get back onshore...

OP, you live in Sacramento. There must be any number of boat-able lakes in your area that will provide the same boating enjoyment with drastically fewer logistical problems... Trailer the thing to Lake Tahoe or something.

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

Salt water trips are VERY expensive...............Compared to fresh water lakes. SALT EATS boats & all the metals.....Fast.

Dog ladder on the swim deck DONE. Salt water & dogs do not mix.......Compared to fresh water. You & the dogs will need showers if you splash in salt water .

Fresh water lakes you can find spots were there is a SAFE & easy tieup to walk ashore with a piece of 8" to 10" wide scaffold section or wood board. Store it up on the cuddy room ceiling. Boat friend does just that for his old dog. The scaffold was painted & had sand poured on the wet paint. Works fine & safe in the rain. Dog has no problem

 

[Don S]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

He doesn't have a boat, and I doubt he has done any boating on his own.
Look at the past threads he has started.

Jon, don't get me wrong, but if you try what you are posting so much about in your other threads, and have little or no experience, then you stand a very good chance of becoming a statistic, along with your family.

 

[emoney]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

Is this for a research paper? Not to be negative, but you're asking questions about scenarios that may not even play out. Google the word "dinghy" and you'll get a better feel for what you're asking, btw.

Most sailboaters use dinghies as their commuter vehicle. At the same time, don't know of too many 19' pleasure boats that can't get you anywhere you want to go. At least as it applies to places you "should" go. You're not planning some type of beach house heist, are you?

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

Salt water trips are VERY expensive...............Compared to fresh water lakes. SALT EATS boats & all the metals.....Fast.

C'mon Man . . . :facepalm:

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

Missing paint or a metal part in contact with salt water DOES make a battery & a electrometal plater. Freshwater has same problemsbut it takes much longer. We are talking about boats put in for a season or year round.
Used boats ? Are ALL sacrifical anodes in place. Are they in good enough condition ? Painted over ? common in saltwater. Are they the right metal type ?
If a boat ever has a lot of salt water inside the lower hull area. That can & will eat the wiring, lugs, washers, bolts nuts, DIY repairs are a sore spot with saltwater.

Etc.

Freshwater you could go years longer. Modern Copper wire is not as good as 50 years ago, & made in the U S A.

Life of a saltwater trailer not rinsed carefully compared to a inland freshwater trailer that is never washed at all.

 

[Water logged]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

I used to swim at that beach back in 59 when I was stationed in Monterey in the USAF and as I recall that water is normally kinda wild and definately cold. Not anyplace I would do as your suggesting. We never worried about sharks, but riptides were always a problem.

Glenn

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

SALT EATS boats & all the metals.....Fast.

. Salt water & dogs do not mix.......You & the dogs will need showers if you splash in salt water .

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.

And CAPITAL LETTERS (also known as shouting on the internet) does not make it more true any more than flapping your arms harder will make you fly.

On the other hand, if you are secretly a saltie and are trying to scare the crowds inland, keep it up! I'd rather not be boating around the kind of people who would believe you.

 

[jonmyrlebailey]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

Beach heist? No, just the most convenient way to access land from the sea: perhaps, a berth in a coastal harbor that I rent overnight. Salt damage? A 10-15,000 dollar second-hand boat is expendable for that purpose. A complete wash bow-to-stern and motor flush after a 3-5 day boating vacation should do the trick for boat preservation anyway. Boating on lakes? There is tiny Folsom Lake nearby but that is dinky and boring. Lake Tahoe is high altitude and my poor lungs cannot handle that with my asthma. Carmel Beach about 10 miles south of Monterey Bay right next door to Pebble Beach? I have swam in that during summer months. Beach hot and water cold as hell but not too wild. I still think a blow-up dinghy (a sturdy 4-man) is still doable. This is California, with nearly 1,000 miles of coastal shoreline you know, most of the exciting water places here are on salt water bodies or long rivers, not freshwater lakes, unless you are a water skier, which I am not. There are whales, sea lions and sea otters to possibly observe. The salt air is good for my respiratory troubles too. I am not a smoker, though. I may also use my boat on the coast during salmon fishing season too. The boat will be loaded back onto the trailer after use and flushed well.

And we are talking about my future boat too.

 

[jdlough]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

When I was in the Navy, I went to language school near Carmel, and I have to warn you...

The ocean there, even in mid summer, is friggen cold!

You do NOT want to get dumped in without a wet or dry suit.

Water logged mentioned riptides. Just outside Carmel, like along 17 mile drive (near Pebble Beach) there were rips, but I never notice any in Carmel bay. Just past the breakers there, long strands of seaweed grew. They would have been ripped out if there were shifting riptides. The waves at Carmel were always calm and regular, and the beach is flatish with the rock outcroppings very apparent, so getting in or out would not be much of a problem with an inflatable.

I often paddled in and out past the breakers with a kayak.
But I did that with a wet suit or dry suit, cuz as I mentioned, that water is friggen cold!

 

[jonmyrlebailey]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

My Labrador Retrievers used to thrive in salt water all day long at the beach and rarely got flushed with fresh water afterward and never complained.

 

[jdlough]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

Jon... I was typing the same time as you. I see you know the cold waters there.

I think an inflatable would be fine there, as long as you stay away from the obvious rocks.

If you want to visit some REALLY secluded beaches, head south a bit to Big Sur. Lots of tiny beaches in the nooks of them big cliffs, not accessible from land at all. Just follow the sounds of the seal and sea lion honks...

Oh yeah, one last thing that you've probably figured out for yourself:
Ignore cyclops2. That's what we all do.

 

[jonmyrlebailey]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

jdlough, I don't plan to head any farther south than Carmel Beach. I would berth in the harbor at Monterey overnight.

 

[jdlough]

Re: Is a small inflatable boat practical for ocean beach landings?

jdlough, I don't plan to head any farther south than Carmel Beach. I would berth in the harbor at Monterey overnight.

I've only only entered and exited Carmel Bay and Big Sur via kayak, no experience elsewhere, so take this for what it's worth.

I always went out on nice days, and the waves were more regular than the mixed up-coming-from-two-direction waves we get near me on the East Coast. Maybe there are bad days, but I hung out there a lot, and every day looked like a postcard. No surprises. Carmel Bay is about as nice as it gets for an ocean landing. In the worst case, if you manage to get dumped from your inflatable, you can walk the shallows up to the beach to the wine and cheese shops to drown your sorrows. This particular stretch of beach looks like it's designed by Disney not to hurt you (except it's FRIGGIN COLD!)

Crystal clear water, so you can see any rocks. Long strands of seaweed past the breakers, so you can see the lack of riptides.

On the other hand, I would avoid the temptation to beach a bit to the north, at Pebble Beach/17 Mile Drive. I've never tried it, but that whole area looks like a nice place to get bashed up real good. The waves come in sideways, and lots of rocks.

Berthing at Monterey harbor? You mean just a bit north around that Pacific Grove peninsula in Monterey Bay? Yep, that's the place. Don't bring food. Just money. Fresh seafood cooked right on the pier.
Good times......