Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

[Johnshan1]

I will be camping for 3 days this weekend and I need to figure out where I can put my boat.<br /><br />This will be on Sebago Lake, which gets pretty rough where I will be on the big bay. I would like to know what the best thing is to do:<br /><br />I dont think they will let me keep it beached, nor do I really want everyone around all my stuff in the boat. <br /><br />So do I simply drop ancore and then tie a rope to shore or what? They have moorings but I would bet the farm they are already spoken for.<br /><br />Thanks for any thoughts.<br /><br />-John

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

I should also say the boat is a 15' center console, I use a standard danforth ancore with 4' of chain on the end.

 

[datawire]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

I'm sure all campgrounds and beaches are different - but we used to keep our pontoon beached at night for up to 2 weeks at camegrounds in Arkansas. We now have a 22' Deckboat and are about to take it on it's first 10 day camping trip. I bought a "Portable Dock" from Overtons, that is made for just the purpose you are talking about. Have not tried it yet, but it looks ideal. I also found an old house trailer tie-down anchor I plan on screwing into the beach to tie the bowline to. Hope this helps, but if they won't allow you to keep your boat beached... none of this makes any difference.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

Anchor with bow away from the shore, pointed into any incoming waves.

 

[Oldsaltydog]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

You can do as ROSCOE recommends, but around here many people put a second anchor up on the beach in the opposite direction as well. This would help if the wind direction changes or if there is a lot of current.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

EBG is right on it..

 

[Kesh]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

yeah, what we normally do here is: the bow faces the incoming waves; anchor from bow, making sure it holds well; if it is lose, then move the boat and try to set it again... until it holds firmly. This is the best position when waves become medium/big and the boat tends to stay well oriented with the wind; the bad part is that people board the boat using the stern platforms and ladder and if the waves are rough you need to be careful to avoid somebody to be hurt by the moving boat (either the platforms or the leg of the outboard can hurt people in the water near the transom)<br /><br />Then a second line goes from stern cleat to shore; there you can use a second anchor (we have two onboard) and by hand you make it hold to the sand firmly; we normally find one or two big rocks to secure the anchor in the sand and to AVOID PEOPLE HURTING THEIR FEET (the rocks are very visible!) with a hidden anchor in sand...sometimes a big piece of wood/tree also serves the same purpose.

 

[rml]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

I am very familiar with parts of Sebago... On clear days, the winds tend to kick up from the west around 2:30pm (I set my watch by them ). If you're going to be in the Northeast part (near Sebago Lake State Park) right now it's anywhere from 6-10' deep and is a very sandy bottom. We usually anchor for only a few hours using a small danforth w/ 5' of chain, which digs in nicely and holds our 24' cuddy (~5500lbs loaded). Plenty of people run a second line from the stern to shore or drop a second anchor. Have fun!<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br /> --rml

 

[salty87]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

the anchor buddy works really well...http://www.anchorbuddy.com/<br /><br />i'm sure you could devise something similar for less $$. turn it around so the bow is facing out and secure at another point on the beach.

 

[jmeydenbauer]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

I'll second the anchor buddy idea ... it works really well. We had the boat in the water for 3 days on our last camping trip. We have a Cuddy Cabin which is a pain to beach ... too tall to climb over the front and the stern would be in 5' of water so we needed it backed in for boarding. <br /><br />What I did was to drop my anchor & anchor buddy @ 40-50' from shore, back up to shore and tie the stern to a shore anchor. Let out the stern line and let the anchor buddy pull the boat away from shore.<br /><br />When we wanted to take the boat out, I would pull the boat in by the stern line and board. The anchor buddy would pull us away from shore where I could warmup the engine then connect the stern line to the anchor buddy with a 12" anchor float attached. I had another float on the stern line also. This way I didn't need to pull and reset my anchor every time I went out. When we came back in from boating, we just grabbed the anchor & stern lines with a boat hook and reattached the 2 lines then pulled the boat to shore by the line connected to the shore anchor.<br /><br />Very sweet setup when you can't really beach your boat like some of the bow-riders can.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

Thank you guys for the great advice, my main concern is that I dont lose the boat during the night (or anytime for that matter)!<br /><br />I will be at sebago lake state park and your right RML, its very easy to get a hook set out there, but boy it can get rough. I think I will use a second ancore hooked to shore and see how that goes, thanks everyone.<br /><br />-John

 

[Mollyog]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

A question about anchor buddy.<br /><br />When you approach shore to unload/load, how do you keep the keel from getting scratched?<br /><br />We used to beach our old watercrafts for ease, and our friends beach their boats and just tie up at shore. However we just bought a new boat and don't want to scratch up her new gelcoat. Also when backing up, is it risky to hit prop on rock/aground? Is the answer to just end up in water waist deep?

 

[jmattor]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

Hey there John, The guys are right on about the beach buddy..guess where I got mine? That's right, Boater's World!<br />Anyway, hook another 200' or so to the Beach Buddy, after you drop anchor and set, then run the line down the gunwale to whichever end you decided you want facing towards the beach and cleat off there and run the rest of that line to the beach. That way you can still pull the boat in and let it out, but you also have line attached in case you have to re-set fast.I always put a small bouy at the anchor end for easy pick-up.

 

[jmattor]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

Molly, I'm in the same sitch (New Boat).<br />When you come in, coast gently up and have someone ready to hop off the bow to stop the boat before it hits ground. It is actually quite easy, even if you are alone, just cut the engine and come in slow. Of course, weather, current, etc. all come into play here.<br />I have a 23 footer too so I know that spinning it once you're in isn't all that hard.

 

[Bass Runner]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

As far as scraching the keel just throw in a old tire and stop short of the bank throw it at the edge then pull your boat up on it walla no damage.

 

[MFG197]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

when you tie up to the shore anchor point make sure tension stays on that line, that will keep the bow anchor set. I like to tie to a tree if available.

 

[airman]

Re: Whats the best way to tie a boat up at a beach?

No one brought it up so I'll warn you of the most common newbie mistake - not putting out enough scope for your anchor. Put at least 3x and preferably 5x - 7x the water depth. When I first anchored, I thought 25' of water meant 35' of anchor rope. I'm lucky I still have that boat!