Beaching spots for lifting keel boat - IoW

[Surcouf]

Good evening,
With the spring tides of the 1st of May weekend, I would like to try beaching my lifting keel sailboat somewhere on the North coast of the IoW.
Would anyone have some recommendation of good spots for that purpose? Looking at the map, Ryde sands could be a good candidate (no rocks)?
Any advice is very welcome.
Many thanks !

 

[fredrussell]

Can’t help with your question but I’d suggest not beaching it at high tide on springs - you may have to wait a fortnight to get it off again. I usually beach mine on neaps. Offshore breeze is helpful too, the moment you’re afloat it’ll push you out to deeper water.

…and apols if I’m telling you what you already know.

 

[Stemar]

Ryde sands could work, but you'll need a calm sea and you could still get badly bounced as ships go by. There's also the beach south of the entrance to Bembridge, but I understand that can be bouncy, too. Also the beach inside the harbour entrance, which is well sheltered - follow the eastern side of the entrance round. There's a cat there on Google Maps.

Egg sucking lesson: my preferred way to dry anywhere is to check that the tide has fallen further than the top of the tide I'm going want to leave on, and drive in slowly, dropping a kedge anchor as I go. When I touch, I keep slow ahead as the water drops, until I'm firmly aground. When I can walk ashore, I put the bower anchor out, setting it by hand. The low before I want to go, I'll recover the bower then, as I start to float, pull myself out on the kedge.

 

[capnsensible]

Many tides ago, I sailed a lot on a friends Prout catamaran. We would sometimes sail across to Bembridge and dry out on the sands inside the harbour to port. I think this is near the yacht club. Top spot.

 

[capnsensible]

It was this beach, north side before the sailing club pontoons were there if I remember correctly.

Bembridge Webcam on the Isle Of Wight

 

[Sandy]

Good evening,
With the spring tides of the 1st of May weekend, I would like to try beaching my lifting keel sailboat somewhere on the North coast of the IoW.
Would anyone have some recommendation of good spots for that purpose? Looking at the map, Ryde sands could be a good candidate (no rocks)?
Any advice is very welcome.
Many thanks !

Anywhere where the tidal range is greater than your draft with the keel up.

One of the great advantages of a lifting keel is you can go just about anywhere.

 

[Bobc]

Bembridge

 

[capnsensible]

Bembridge

There is a lakesailor imminent here, I feel.

 

[Neeves]

We always beach stern in (bow out). Your engine is more efficient in forward making it easier to leave. We touch and leave the engines gently in reverse and deploy a or 2 stern anchors prepared in advance, using spare rodes (primary old dyneema halyards) - tension with sheet winches. When secure, kill engines and then when dried out set the bow anchor. and remove stern anchors. On departure lightly tension the bow rode and keep it under light tension as you start to float off.

Depends what you want to do - we wipe down as the tide falls. Replace anodes when dry (you will be like us = the sail drive is on the beach - anything on the saildirve needs you lying on the seabed).

We dry out in a quiet bay - sometimes was stay overnight - depends what we have to do. We then lift the stern anchors just before we are due to leave.

We check tides for the best tides and try to ensure a subsequent tide is higher than the one on which we beach



Jonathan

 

[fredrussell]

We always beach stern in (bow out).

A good technique for a cat but if the OP’s lift keel monohull is anything like mine, the rudder lifts up too, and with the rudder up reversing is either very heavy work indeed, or just plain impossible. Nice looking boat by the way Neeves. I’m not a cat man (mainly because the only one I’ve sailed on is a Heavenly Twins 26, ye gads!) but that looks great.

 

[Neeves]

Thanks Fred.

I had not realised reverse would be so diifficult. Education never stops.

But if you beach and the tide lifts you off you then have to reverse out..... in order have water sufficiently deep to drop keel and rudder.

I had always liked Southerlys - but at the time they had no distributor here and importing was too much like hard work. The floating caravan hit the mark.

Jonathan

 

[Stemar]

I've always gone in nose first on my bilge keeler because I reckoned that I'd rather touch down on the keels than the skeg, as I figured the keels would stand up to being bounced at touchdown better, though an advantage of going in astern is that, on a sloping beach, the V berth is sloping the right way. We have been known to have to sleep heads in the narrow bit on occasion, which can get a bit crowded!

 

[awol]

Good idea, the Border Force will be watching the Kent coast, they'll never think of the Isle of Wight.

 

[seumask]

I have dried out at Bembridge just inside the harbour mouth on the east side many times in both Bilge keeler ( Westerly Fulmar) and lift keel boat ( Hunter Delta 25), which is a great spot as its usually very calm inside the harbour with no significant waves or swell that might effect Ryde a lot.

Some tips:
Make sure you wait untill an hour at least after high tide before you go aground as I have seen boats " Neaped" there and not able to get off for a week or 2! good to know the forecast height of the next high tides as well. You can usually put the anchors out fore and aft later when the tide is out and shuffle about on the next high tide if you need to. It is mud at the lowest edge of the beach, but mostly sandy
Genrally the beach was steeply shelving at the entrance and much flatter further in next to the sailing club.
On a bank holiday weekend your likely to find quite a few boats there.
If you can survey it before you go there at low tide do, this will give you a good idea of what the beach shape currently is.
We often went in rear first at the flatter end as the getting off the beach is much easier that way round.

It is a lovely spot with good walks and a Chandlry close by enjoy .

 

[alahol2]

A place we've dried out is alongside the wall at Newport, it's (usually) a gravelly bottom. Ideally you need two low tides. turning the boat in between, because one side is close to the wall.
Apart from inside Bembridge all the other beaches can be subject to wash.
I know it's not what you asked but Chi and Langstone offer far safer and more reliable drying spots.

 

[Slowboat35]

If your boat is anything like the Parker 275 I used to sail not only is steering extremely heavy with the rudder raised but with the keel right up the boat itself is all but uncontrollable as it is just as happy going sideways as forwards, or in any other direction for that matter and you don't have much say in the matter. Try it in deep water first!
Lay kedge.
Have a care using engine when aground or stopped in very shallow water. The design ought to prevent a prop-strike but it won't prevent the prop striking pebbles it's stirred up if you are a bit heavy in the throttle, and the donk'll almost certainly be ingesting a lot of silt with the muddied up- cooling water which may do your impellor/weed trap no good. Dont try using the engine to pull or push you off the ground, you will be feeding it sand-soup. Let it float first.
I'd be loath to take the ground anywhere I hadn't previously scoped out for obstructions, rilles, banks, rocks etc .
Before allowing the boat to settle check depth on both sides are equal or you may spend your entire visit uncomfortably on the huh!
Enjoy!
And expect much hilarity, comments and concern from passing vessels who not unnaturally will assume your groundng was unintentional.

 

[Stemar]

And expect much hilarity, comments and concern from passing vessels who not unnaturally will assume your groundng was unintentional.

I've heard a few stories of folk who thought that boat is much bigger than mine, if he can get through, so can I. Learn to recognise a Southerly, folks

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Bembridge is your surest bet, but other options are available depending on the weather, and power boat activity. This weekend is race weekend, midday Sunday the big boys are going round the Island. So Bembridge it is. My neighbour is driving, his boat does about 110, so general warning really.

 

[FairweatherDave]

What is the OPs motivation for drying out? A beach for the kids , maintenance, a mud berth and tranquility? And where are you sailing from. I like drying out in the Beaulieu river and Keyhaven as well as East head Chichester and inside at Bembridge. You can go aground in Wotton Creek but can't anchor. I'd avoid deliberately drying out on Ryde sands, nor was did I enjoy the bumps on hard sand . from ships wake despite the millpond conditions off Seaview (next to Priory Bay).

 

[Neeves]

I cannot fault the comments being made - take note and you will be fine.

Where we beach the only access is by water, so no spectators asking inane questions - but we thus need to be self sufficient whatever, we will need (when beached) we need to take with us. We do not suffer from wash - too far from traffic and the traffic is not large. Our beach is quite soft, so wash would not be the issue for hard sand, but it does mean we can do little with the bottom of the keels. Recently we have taken to excavating under the keels, progressively, say 2' at a time, and then back filling. So we carry an entrenching tool (but a garden spade would do). If you were worried about the seabed surface, and are going to beach often, you could invest in some of those plastic devices carried by 4X4s they use to help retreive them from mud (but they are not cheap). You obviously need to centre then correctly when still afloat.

Good Luck

Jonathan