Dear fellow sailors
It has been a pleasure for me to read this forum, thank you all. I hope one day to be sailing the
Mahe 36 too as it appears to be a wonderful boat. I have sailed my 10.3 m Simpson designed
catamaran for quite some years. My thought was to contribute to this forum with my hard learned lessons on beaching a cat.
Fixed keeled cats are very good at beaching. However there are a few
safety issues that has to be considered when doing so. First choosing the right beach is important. The right beach has sand and no stones. It is a little steep (slope) and it is situated in a sheltered bay. It is also good if there is no
current running along the beach. Also choose a place with no
commercial traffic (=big waves!)
Next is the correct timing of the beaching. You must know whether it is springtide or neptide(? Is that the name in english) . If you are going from springtide towards neptide, you have to be careful NOT to set the boat
on the hard at max high tide. In this situation wait at least 1 hour after high tide, before beaching the boat. Failing to do so might keep you on the beach for 2 weeks! So check the tide and the tide heights on the days involved.
Approaching the beach at 1-2 kn at an right angle, bow first. Have an aft
anchor with lots of
rope ready. Approx 50 meters before the expected landing - drop your
anchor. Continue until the boat softly sets. Keep the engines and propellers running at idle speed for about 10 min. Set a front anchor or tie to a tree. Now pull and set the aft anchor. You are now safe and can reverse procedure when leaving.
Do NOT try stern first beaching as the rudders will be damaged in case of the water comes back with strong winds and waves (I tried losing a
rudder this way). Also parking parallel along with the beach is a very bad idea (I tried losing a
keel this way!).
Being able to beach the
catamaran is a big advantage of this vessel. Keeping the above in mind will make it a great pleasure too.
Regards Jan