Bilge keel question

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avebury

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Hi there,

I have a young family and we are considering the purchase of our first boat. I live in N. Wiltshire and would like to keep the boat in or near Swansea because I can sail for a few hours and then let the children play on the beaches in the Gower. My (stupid) question is this .. Assuming it is safe to do so can I let the boat dry out on any beach or are there only certain areas where bilge & swing keels can moor?
 
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Hi there,

I have a young family and we are considering the purchase of our first boat. I live in N. Wiltshire and would like to keep the boat in or near Swansea because I can sail for a few hours and then let the children play on the beaches in the Gower. My (stupid) question is this .. Assuming it is safe to do so can I let the boat dry out on any beach or are there only certain areas where bilge & swing keels can moor?

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Does this help ?

25-7-91.jpg


That answers the slide up and dry out bit ... (best if you have a look at low water before doing it with boat ... )

As to moorings ... I assume you mean proiper leave boat on mooring job ? That is down to harbour master and local regs. You can't just place a mooring where you like - check with Harbour masters office for mooring areas and prices / req'ts etc. They usually have a specificatuon for chains, sinkers etc. Or go to local club and get mooring that way - as well as the social advantages etc.
 
Any beach where you are confident that the bottom is sound and firm and where there are no waves when you dry out and you can be certain that there will be no waves when you refloat. Exposed beaches or unpredictable conditions are out.

Conditions for drying out may not be as frequent as you hope, anchoring off and using the dinghy is often preferable on beaches.
 
look for a pool behind a sandbank for the calmest conditions for drying out, walk around your favoured beaches to see what others do. Often there will be moorings in the best spot & you can borrow them for a short stop provided you don't leave the boat unattended
 
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Any beach where you are confident that the bottom is sound and firm and where there are no waves when you dry out and you can be certain that there will be no waves when you refloat. Exposed beaches or unpredictable conditions are out.

Conditions for drying out may not be as frequent as you hope, anchoring off and using the dinghy is often preferable on beaches.

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Hard to have non-wave days ... when waves are running a bit too harsh ... trick then is to wait till tide has gone out a touch and then nudge bow up to beach and touch ... leave engine on for a bit till keels are steady on bottom. Making sure tide has ebbed a bit - ensures that you get off again when tide comes in. What I do when tide comes back and boat starts to "joggle" as she starts to get a bit of lift ... is to start engine and have it fast idle astern - so that as soon as keels come unstuck ... she backs off without bouncing with each wave that comes in ...

To be honest above is good for calm days as well !!
 
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Hard to have non-wave days ... To be honest above is good for calm days as well !!

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The question was posed directly about the Gower - a lot of the Gower beaches are surfing beaches. I would say caution would be the best advice, they aren't like Priory Bay.
 
[quote... leave engine on for a bit till keels are steady on bottom. Making sure tide has ebbed a bit - ensures that you get off again when tide comes in. What I do when tide comes back and boat starts to "joggle" as she starts to get a bit of lift ... is to start engine and have it fast idle astern - so that as soon as keels come unstuck ... she backs off without bouncing with each wave that comes in ...

[/ QUOTE ] With all the sand and silt being churned up by the prop, do you any pump or prop shaft wear problems with that technique?
 
Most of the Gower Beaches are too exposed to dry out on safely.If the wind picks up while your high and dry theres nothing you can do but wait for the pounding you will get when the tide returns.

Its good advice to dry out in the middle of the tide as the water level rises and falls fastest then meaning you wont be bumping the bottom for so long before the boat is fully afloat or dried out.

There are lots of drying harbours within a days sail of Swansea so a bilge keeler is probably a sensible choice anyway but only for drying in sheltered places.
 
i can only agree with ken, after all he's the veteran of 10003 posts this one must be one of his three sensible ones /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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[quote... leave engine on for a bit till keels are steady on bottom. Making sure tide has ebbed a bit - ensures that you get off again when tide comes in. What I do when tide comes back and boat starts to "joggle" as she starts to get a bit of lift ... is to start engine and have it fast idle astern - so that as soon as keels come unstuck ... she backs off without bouncing with each wave that comes in ...

[/ QUOTE ] With all the sand and silt being churned up by the prop, do you any pump or prop shaft wear problems with that technique?

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Would be if I did it too early ... but leave it till suitable time and IMHO is not a lot different to some areas of heavy silt laden estuarys etc.
Anyway - my engine drags anything of and on the beach ... give me wheels and it'll drive ...

AND I did say it was MY way of doing it .... and in answer to L'Escargot ... I would assume that anyone with half a brain cell aint gonna beach on a heavy surf beach ... AND Priory bay can be real lumpy at times depsite it being tucked at back of IoW ...

Nit-picking ??
 
One tip I learned the hard way (obvious really) is to make sure that ALL the anchors you use are big enough.

A few years ago when I grounded at Bembridge to spend a couple of nights. The wind was blowing off the beach. I ran the nice heave bower up the beach & hauled it tight. I ran the two lighter hedges down the beach and hauled them tight as well. Over night the wind did a swift 180 and got up to F6 by the morning. On the rising tide, I found that the kedges were not holding. I'd no intention of comming off & being short handed didn't try but didn't want to get pushed up the beach and then have to wait until HW to get off not to mention risk being neaped.

A quick dash to the close by swindery resulted in a couple of much larger kedges. I ran those out & they held fine. Panic over.

So, even if you only intend to spend a short time, make sure you don't get blown ashore & have big a enough kedge(s).
 
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...Nit-picking ??

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No. Just pointing out you haven't taken the original post into account and your advice is inappropriate because you are basing it on a beach which bears no similarity to the ones in question - pretty big nits I would say. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I would liken the Gower beaches more to Compton Bay than Priory Bay.

It was quite a specific question for which you gave a very general answer to.

(AND Priory Bay is generally considered to be at the "front" of the Wight, general convention is that the "back of the wight" is used for the southern coast between Sandown and Freshwater Bays.)
 
Hi,
I've dried out in Oxwich Bay many times.You can also dry out in Saundersfoot and Tenby There are many harbours on the North Devon Coast where you can also dry out such as Ilfracombe, Clovelly, Lynmouth, Minehead etc. All have things to be aware of, particularly the weather; the ground swell and the wind direction. There are places where you can anchor such as Pwll Ddu and tie up in Porlock weir. Remember it's not the South Coast and you are facing the open Atlantic but there are places you can find shelter with local knowledge. There are many great beaches for the children to enjoy, just keep an eye on the weather.
Good luck,
Harry.
 
Drying out may not be the best way to get the kid on and off the beach. Depending on how big your tides are (quite big in the Bristol Channel?) you'll have some time waiting after grounding before the water's dropped enough to walk ashore. Equally after getting back on board without getting too wet, you'll then have a wait before the tide's risen enough to float off.

When we've dried out we usually still use the dinghy.
 
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...Nit-picking ??

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No. Just pointing out you haven't taken the original post into account and your advice is inappropriate because you are basing it on a beach which bears no similarity to the ones in question - pretty big nits I would say. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I would liken the Gower beaches more to Compton Bay than Priory Bay.

It was quite a specific question for which you gave a very general answer to.

(AND Priory Bay is generally considered to be at the "front" of the Wight, general convention is that the "back of the wight" is used for the southern coast between Sandown and Freshwater Bays.)

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/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
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