Who Says Only Cats Can Be Beached?

[Fishspearit]

I thought this was an interesting sight over the weekend. I don't have a dinghy yet to go out and talk to the guy, but I watched him raise his sails while on his mooring saturday to beach the boat and start scrubbing. Personally, I prefer to just jump in the water and clean the bottom.

[Zanshin]

Fishspearit - look up "bilge keel"ers on Google pictures - they are popular in areas of the British Isles and the north sea where the tides are high. Still being manufactured and sold!

[swagman]

Alternatively you'll still find French Ovni's and Brit Southerlies with raising keels that can equally be beached, and certainly get into shallow anchorages other yachts can only think about.
JOHN

[Zanshin]

I wanted to edit my post - I meant to point out the dual bilge keelers in use, where they will end up on evel keel when dried out.

[Fishspearit]

I'm aware of bilge keelers and their benefits, and also the long tradition of careening boats. I just thought that seeing the 'nearly lost art' of careening a large single keel monohull over the weekend, less than a quarter mile away from a travel lift, might inspire some conversation of something other than the usual techno-geek-electronic-palaver or the what-boat-should-I-buy discussion that so often consumes us these days. So, who else out there routinely careens their boat?

[ssullivan]

I've done it a few times in the last few weeks. It's a cat, but I would have done it if I had a reasonable draft mono as well.

Originally Posted by Fishspearit

I'm aware of bilge keelers and their benefits, and also the long tradition of careening boats. I just thought that seeing the 'nearly lost art' of careening a large single keel monohull over the weekend, less than a quarter mile away from a travel lift, might inspire some conversation of something other than the usual techno-geek-electronic-palaver or the what-boat-should-I-buy discussion that so often consumes us these days. So, who else out there routinely careens their boat?

[Jolly Roger]

I used to do it in England with my forty footer. Not careening as such, but drying out on a dock wall. Provided your boat has a longish keel it’s safer than lifting, especially a heavier boat, because there are no stresses on the hull as she settles down slowly on the blocks. It’s also of course much cheaper and very satisfying, knowing you are continuing a tradition which is as old as boats themselves. Too much traditional seamanship is disapearing nowadays.

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger

I used to do it in England with my forty footer. Not careening as such, but drying out on a dock wall. Provided your boat has a longish keel it’s safer than lifting, especially a heavier boat, because there are no stresses on the hull as she settles down slowly on the blocks. It’s also of course much cheaper and very satisfying, knowing you are continuing a tradition which is as old as boats themselves. Too much traditional seamanship is disapearing nowadays.

I agree about tradition, as well as being able to take care of yourself.

I don't know when we all got so addicted to Travelifts or why. They had always been there me growing up and sailing, so I hadn't given much thought to the way things had been done for thousands of years before the Travelift.

[mickmul]

I've always dried out by a quay wall for scrubbing, anodes and painting, and trailed out of the water for winter - first use of travelift was this year when speed and convenience was needed to remove mast, do a spreader repair and splash for the start of the season - great machines, but expensive. . .

[David M]

Run a boat up on the beach like that in California and you will probably have five different government agencies issuing citations for anything from damaging the habitat of mud worms, harassing sea life to putting a toxic substance like bottom paint on the beach.

[David M]

The marina I am at was just dredged and completely rebuilt. You would not believe what the owner went through concerning all the different government organizations that he had to deal with. It literally took him years to get all the permits. Sometimes one permit would expire while waiting to be issued another permit to do the same work from a different government agency. It was truly a nightmare for him. And some people wonder why berthing rates are so high in this state? Basically, it is because government in general does not want new marinas or anything that might help the "wealthy". Yeah I know, most boat owners are not wealthy...they just have different priorities, but try explaining that to the politicians who run this state. I really don't blame business for moving out of California. No wonder we have a budget crisis each year, fewer and fewer businesses are here each year. Middle class working people are moving out while in the meantime more and more government dependents move in because of all the great "free" social services here.

Sorry, I drifted. Back to beaching sailboats.

[Canibul]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

Hmmm... is it hard living there with a big, nosey govt like that?

I have to admit that after living three years now out of the US, I observe my mother country with mixtures of dismay, astonishment, and sadness.
Wife and I sometimes ask ourselves where we would live if for some reason we had to move back to the USA. We can't think of anywhere.

I am starting to realize that you can't see the forest when you are one of the trees. You have to move away a few miles, and then turn around and look at it from a distance.

[Fishspearit]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

I've done it a few times in the last few weeks. It's a cat, but I would have done it if I had a reasonable draft mono as well.

Ahhh, that takes a little nerve, but the true test of your mettle, did you ever do it with your Gulfstar?
I admit it, I'm chicken. With the fin keel I've got now, I'm not too keen on careening it. Even with my previous full keel boat, the only time I careened it was entirely unintentional!!

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by David M

Run a boat up on the beach like that in California and you will probably have five different government agencies issuing citations for anything from damaging the habitat of mud worms, harassing sea life to putting a toxic substance like bottom paint on the beach.

At the risk of being busted for thread drift, I heard yesterday that California politicians want to add a 25 cent tax on each grocery bag, $1.80 on a six pack of beer, 8 cents on every itunes download and several other onerous taxes.

I'm sure glad I don't live there, even though Washington State is getting almost as bad.

Steve B.

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by Fishspearit

Ahhh, that takes a little nerve, but the true test of your mettle, did you ever do it with your Gulfstar?
I admit it, I'm chicken. With the fin keel I've got now, I'm not too keen on careening it. Even with my previous full keel boat, the only time I careened it was entirely unintentional!!

Couldn't agree more. I had started devising plans, but never careened the Gulfstar. I had dried out at a pier where you tie up and rest on the keel in an upright position, but for some reason... I was nervous to just lay her over and put all the weight on the hull (and probably on a rock with my luck... ha ha).

So no. I didn't.