Dumb Question? 'Beaching' vs 'Running Aground'

[David_Old_Jersey]

Not directly related to the thread title - but this stuff saves a fortune on haulout costs .



"Blocks" in background and drying pad in foreground (with a fin keel would use the pad - or be very careful using the blocks!)

[David_Old_Jersey]

BTW - most of those dinghys are not locked!

[akkebeng]

Please allow me a bit of thread drift.
What is the proper term for hauling a fully floating sailing ship over almost till the masts are horizontal with the help of a sturdy winch on the quay and a line to the top of the lower part of the main mast? I believe it was fairly common in the old days in parts of the world where no tidal variation facilitates free access to the lower parts of the hull twice a day.

[cal40john]

Originally Posted by akkebeng

Please allow me a bit of thread drift.
What is the proper term for hauling a fully floating sailing ship over almost till the masts are horizontal with the help of a sturdy winch on the quay and a line to the top of the lower part of the main mast? I believe it was fairly common in the old days in parts of the world where no tidal variation facilitates free access to the lower parts of the hull twice a day.

careen

[akkebeng]

Originally Posted by cal40john

careen

OK? Makes for an even more interesting ethymology of that word.

As a compensation for that digression, a sad story about an, at least partly unintentional beeching here.
A friend of ours took his yacht some way up the Thames tributary, Medway, going to a party. He left her at high water and unfortunately misjudged the tidal variation in relation to the depth. Soon she began to lean away from the river bank until her mast actually pointed below horizontal. The water returned sooner than the owner so he soon had a boatload of waterlogged marine electronics.

My deepest sympathy!

[Andrew Troup]

Terminology is dynamic over time, and we all know it varies from user to user and more especially from community to community, but here's one set of definitions I find quite useful , because they capture a range of functional and intentional points of difference quite nicely:

Beaching:



Putting a boat intentionally onto a beach, not necessarily intending to dry out (in the photo, done on a rising tide: we sailed straight onto the beach on arrival, having sailed around a corner of a windswept island in what to us was inhospitable tiger country, to discover, to our astonishment, a piece of paradise ... and we wanted to run around and throw frisbee to celebrate ... and, we had (as yet) no dinghy)

Drying out:
allowing a boat to be supported by relatively flat ground, when the tide retreats. Can be cyclical, or once-only.
Can be done against supports (eg a 'grid'), on on bearers (if a keel is involved, usually with mast lines led to strong points abeam) or with legs (purpose built or improvised)

or at anchor(s) or moored, on hulls with a flattish bottom (usually with retractable appendages), stub keel, twin keels (or other ... ?)

Careening:
putting a vessel on a beach in order to lean it over and repair or repaint the bottom, or (very unusually) to load a cargo

Pulling down aka "hauling down" :
like careening, but whilst afloat

Grounding:
(aka "running aground", or "stranding", the latter particularly if done near the top of the tide): unintentionally putting the boat in a non-floating condition

- a stranding I was partly responsible for:



(main reason for posting this: I wanted to try out Nigel1's excellent instructions on how to include an image in the body of a message.
Thanks HEAPS, Nigel! Worked a treat)

[smaarch]

Originally Posted by Andrew Troup

Terminology is dynamic over time, and we all know it varies from user to user and more especially from community to community, but here's one set of definitions I find quite useful , because they capture a range of functional and intentional points of difference quite nicely:

Beaching:



Putting a boat intentionally onto a beach, not necessarily intending to dry out (in the photo, done on a rising tide: we sailed straight onto the beach on arrival, having sailed around a corner of a windswept island in what to us was inhospitable tiger country, to discover, to our astonishment, a piece of paradise ... and we wanted to run around and throw frisbee to celebrate ... and, we had (as yet) no dinghy)

Drying out:
allowing a boat to be supported by relatively flat ground, when the tide retreats. Can be cyclical, or once-only.
Can be done against supports (eg a 'grid'), on on bearers (if a keel is involved, usually with mast lines led to strong points abeam) or with legs (purpose built or improvised)

or at anchor(s) or moored, on hulls with a flattish bottom (usually with retractable appendages), stub keel, twin keels (or other ... ?)

Careening:
putting a vessel on a beach in order to lean it over and repair or repaint the bottom, or (very unusually) to load a cargo

Pulling down aka "hauling down" :
like careening, but whilst afloat

Grounding:
(aka "running aground", or "stranding", the latter particularly if done near the top of the tide): unintentionally putting the boat in a non-floating condition

- a stranding I was partly responsible for:



(main reason for posting this: I wanted to try out Nigel1's excellent instructions on how to include an image in the body of a message.
Thanks HEAPS, Nigel! Worked a treat)

I take it i went aground when i woke in the cockpit and found her not floating properly. And with every wake the rudder pounded into the rock below..... until the tide came and did her thing.......
A serious and expensive lesson in being casual.......

you left out the definition of stupidity

[Neeltje]

I've "beached" mine several times. Never intentionally of course, but since she was, in fact, designed for it, no one will ever know.

[SaltyMonkey]

Neelltj

First one I've seen on CF

[Neeltje]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

Neelltj

First one I've seen on CF

Thanks SaltyMonkey,

Yeah, I know. They don't seem to be very popular on this side of the pond. May have something to do with the fact that you'd have to transport them over here in the first place. Although I've never sailed her myself, I hear they make pretty decent coastal cruisers, but nothing you'd want to cross an ocean on.

[capn_billl]

I learned the hard way the line between beaching, and running aground is a fine thin line.

I have a swing keel so "beaching" is easy. I found out sometimes UNbeaching not so easy.

[Andrew Troup]

you and him both, bro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdmgqVUwtPE

[Andrew Troup]

I came across this rare example of a US series-built range of sailboats with (dagger) lifting keel

This clip extolls the delights of (near) beachability in a 46' yacht. I've never understood why Nike Hake's enthusiasm is not more widely shared; the outstanding merits seem to me self-evident, but my countrymen don't share my enthusiasm, nor (it seems) do North Americans.

Seaward Yachts 46RK- Right on the Beach! - YouTube

One of the other clips from the same source explains how their keel works.

(I was interested to see that two of what I think of as the compelling advantages of a swing keel were considered vices by the designer !)

To me the compelling advantages of a dagger keel are simplicity and strength

(and the ability to fit a bulb, provided you don't mind not being able to retract the keel fully)

[oldsalt_1942]

Originally Posted by planetluvver

I will put the topic here, because of the embarassment factor.

While out on the river yesterday, someone mentioned a Dana 24 as a "go anywhere" boat. Although I do not enjoy the prospect of going solo, let's just say that I seem to have a knack for unsatisfying romantic entanglements, so a tiny cruiser that I can inexpensively single-hand myself may be the way to go.

Anyway, they talked about the keel, and I asked if that meant the boat was "beachable." I was laughed at and told,"THAT'S called going aground, and you never want to do that. I said that the Pardey's talk about beaching their boat, instead of needing to have it hauled out. I was told that the Pardey's are crazy. Another person conceded that yes, in emergencies, in isolated areas, sometimes this tactic is used, as if it were always a last-ditch effort to avoid sinking.

I was surprised to see that in a boat full of sailors a unanamous opinion on anything. Is it true that a boat's ability to beach a boat is a non-consideration?

PL

In regards to "going solo," remember...it's always better to go alone than to not go at all.