Boat Shoes

[Deleted member 478]

No, not the sort that you slip your feet into, but rather something that you fit to the bottom of your catamaran's keels to prevent them from sinking into the sand when you beach your boat for an anti-foul touch-up.

I beached my boat a few weeks ago and very fortunately for me, the sail drives hung over the edge of the sandbank because the keels sunk into the soft sand. If they had not hung over the edge of the sand bank, I shudder at the thought that perhaps they may have had to act as a support. This made me think about building some beaching shoes that I could dismantle easily.

Have any of you made something similar or perhaps have another trick up your sleeve for beaching on soft sand?

 

[fireball]

Do you really mean you took a wrong turn on your way in (missing the pub) and thought of a quick excuse for grounding, then realised you were lucky that your legs had stayed afloat?

 

[sarabande]

seems to me there are two ways round your sinking problem :

one to increase the underwater surface area in contact with the sand

'tother is to reduce the mass of the boat, which will need more magic than even Stingo possesses !


The problem with shoes is that they will need to be large, and hence have storage problems. I'd also be worried that if they sink in, you might have a problem releasing the grip.

So, you need something which increases the bearing area, and yet which doesn't add even more weight or storage. Ergo what about a couple of big fenders for each hull , tied loosely in the middle to produce a U-shape, with long lanyards at the free end.

Operational sequence. Prior to landing, pass the fenders from for'd under each hull, until they come up against the leading edge of the keel, and make fast at the stern. As the tide goes out, adjust fenders tightly under the hull. A decent sized fender will have a bearing surface of say, 30cm by 100cm, which gives you an extra 1.2 msqu of bearing area.

When tide comes in, you have 4 fenders providing upthrust of approx 1/3 cu metres at almost the lowest point of the hull.


I'm willing to conduct a series of experiments sometime this UK winter

 

[Twister_Ken]

Some planks, long enough to bridge the distance between the hulls?

Drop them in over the bow and work them back while afloat.

Should function like railway sleepers, spreading the weight across the surface area of the planks, rather than concentrating it along the sharp edge of the keels.

Can be stowed along the rails when not needed.

 

[bilbobaggins]

It's a catamaran, right? There's 'prior art', 'cos multihull peeps - including me - have done this before.

Presuming the a/f touch-up is premeditated.... you need 6 car tyres, and some old cordage. Most towns/ports will have lots of these in tyre fitters/dumps, free for the asking, and you don't need to take them with you.

Tie 3 of the tyres together in a 3-ring 'pancake' arrangement. Then repeat the exercise with the other three. Those two 3-assemblies will support one hull at a time, or two bow sections....

Tie some longer lines to each 3-assembly, and use these to position each 3-assembly where wanted under the hull or the two bows, as required. Assuming the bows as per OP photo, just after high water, motor the bows gently ashore as shown. Don't forget a stern anchor, and fasten a couple of bow lines to passing trees.....

While the height of tide is decreasing, scrub, scrub, scrub. Then antifoul, swiftly. Repeat as required. Don't get beneaped.

Return the by-now-well-antifouled tyres to their proper origins, and award yourself appropriate cold beers.

Enjoi!

 

[sarabande]

Like the idea, and the usefulness of planks for other functions, but wonder if the boat has to sink into the ground before the planks come into play - unless you could get then under the keels - when they would work straightaway.

Practical experiments obviously required, and current UK H&S requirements are that water temperatures must not be below 27C where operatives are exposed to hazardous working conditions in the marine environment.

 

[Deleted member 478]

Tyres

I like the tyre idea - especially as they won't require the handing over of any of my precious beer tokens.

What I had in mind was something that I could dismantle eg two u-shaped aluminium tracks that I can slot planks of wood or nylon (like those white chopping boards) into, secured with a nuts and bolts - it would look similar too a ladder, but without the gaps. At the four corners, there would be a hole through which I put ropes which would be secured to the bow/stern to keep the shoe in place, acting like stays. The length of the planks would be a manageable and easily stowable 75 cm, so quite a large footprint.

 

[Rum_Pirate]

What about a few sheets of used form plywood from a contractor's skip?

 

[bilbobaggins]

What about a few sheets of used form plywood from a contractor's skip?

Doesn't that all get snaffled PDQ to repair all those knackered old Wharrams....?