Beaching - what? How?

[kilkerr1]

Hey all

"Oh, you've got a small bilge-keeler, you could just beach her at such-and-such a beach...".

Of what dark art do they speak? Beaching: doesn't this mean...well...holes? And then unseemly and unseamanlike sinkage. Or is it an everyday occurence for boats like mine - pointing Santa Teresa at a likely-looking shingly shore, 'revving up' and surfing onto land like the Hastings fishing boats..?
Sounds fun...

How does one beach? It fer sure aint in any of them books.

Cheers.


<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://kilkerr.members.easyspace.com/>Santa Teresa and other t'ings</A>

 

[Mudplugger]

In the day's when god was a boy, (it seems like that ) was the proud possesor of a slightly modified Bradwell 18... suitably equipped with two modest bilge plates running alonside the drop keel, in addition had one wife, two little ones, and a Labrador. Have had the pleasure of parking ( Mooring seems not the right word) at places up & down the east coast, Benefits: did not need a dinghy, The dog could go ashore at his convenience and so could the kids. However, one does need to be aware of whether the tides are making or taking off, and what time!.
Happy day's and learning all the time. Still am. Go for it.
T.W.

<hr width=100% size=1>Tony W.

 

[chippie]

I have a trimaran and not a bilge keeler and have beached her a couple of times for a scrub.
I always had a look at the beach at low tide to see what I was going to be sitting on. It always seemed like a bit of a gamble to just approach a beach with the tide in and then waiting for it to recede , at which point little can be done about it if things arent right.

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[ccscott49]

Beaching and careening, oh, happy days, antifouling between tides, one side first then haul her over on the next tide to do the other. Didn't normally beach her with a swell or waves coming in, not good pounding on a beach, need a nice sheltered spot, with good firm sand. I've even done Englander like this. My brother careened his boat, in the barrier reef, to antifoul, bilge keelers, easy peasy.

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[Mirelle]

Much depends upon the beach.....

Calm, sheltered waters, a place which you know from an inspection at Low Water is hard, clean, shingle and put her on one hour after HW (that's to be sure you will get off again!)

Open shingle beach a la Deal or Aldeburgh fishing boats, or RNLI beach launched boats - definitely not recommended. All sorts of things can and will go wrong very quickly, resulting in no more boat. One bilge keel touches before the other, she slews round in the surf and....

Anyonw who thinks otherwise should try beaching a dinghy in about six inch waves to get an idea of the forces involved.

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[Sybarite]

It may be nice and calm now when you beach her but what's is going to be doing in 12 hours when you refloat it.? It's not much fun bouncing up and down off the beach until it's afloat and clear. Never could understand the attraction of people wanting centre-boarders or bilge keelers so that they could beach them. Once you are beached your options are sealed for the following 12 hours or thereabouts.

IMHO of course.


John

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[AndrewB]

Back when I had a Kingfisher 20, I used to be really gung-ho about beaching - if I wanted to stop, I just ran up the beach and left it till the tide came back. Exposed places where I deliberately put it aground included Barrow Sands, Margate Sands, Goodwin Sands, Camber Beach (Rye), Bembridge, a dozen places in the Solent, outside Christchurch, Weymouth, Grand Havre (Guernsey), St Auban's Bay (Jersey), Chausey etc etc.

All this seems incredible now. They say there is a special class of guardian angels for foolish young sailors. Mine finally gave up on me when I ran it up Longy beach on the south coast of Alderney. An onshore F5 on the returning flood taught me a lesson I haven't ever forgotten, about what happens to a bilge keeler in breakers on hard, hard sand. Luckily Kingfishers are VERY strongly built.

Do it - but pick your spot with care. One advantage of a Kingfisher 20 is that it is very unlikely to fall over. With larger bilge keelers, an uneven bottom can be a real hazard.


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[gus]

Being able to beach can be a tremendous advantage, even if you only partly dry out. With appropriate attention to the weather and the tides, you are able to go where most boats can't.
I once arrived in Tobermory to find all the anchoring space occupied, every mooring occupied and nobody willing to share even though the forecast was for calm. I finished up parked on the beach in front of the Mishnish and so close I hardly needed the dinghy oars. It caused a bit of interest because I was anchored on the shore side of all the locals dinghies. All of 45' (over all) and three anchors out to hold my position.
So go for it! Think through the senarios of what could happen and plan accordingly. It is always better if you can see the bottom either at the time or at the previous low tide so you can pick your spot but the benefits of being able to readily dry out will add to your boating pleasure and save you the cost of a lift out to antifoul etc.

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[oldharry]

Most bilge keelers do it twice every day on drying moorings. There is no mystery or art about it except to make thrice sure that a change in weather is not going to give you a rough time getting off when the tide returns., and that you are coming down on a reasonably level, obstruction free surface.

Exposed beaches - specially shingle ones like Hastings - are a big no-no. The fishing boats that are beached there are specially designed for the job, and have the back up of a shore crew to haul them quickly up out of harms way.

For a young family in a bilge keeler, its a godsend. The beach is right on the front door, and the kids can stay there right up to teatime/bedtime. Just dont let them bring any crabs aboard - my lot stayed up to midnight once as I dismantled the boat trying to catch a crustacean escapee. No one - SWMBO included - would turn in till the wretched creature had been evicted!

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