Do Cat Owners Actually Beach Their Cats ?

[Mr B]

The Gemini has in its manual, the positions for sitting the boat on four blocks of wood for shipping by truck,
Two under each side under the bulkheads, one foot square wooden blocks,
so sitting the whole length of the hulls on soft sand is a lot less stress on the boat as it is spread over a lot larger area, and including under the two bulkheads,

Mine was shipped by truck from Annapolis to Morro Bay by truck, sitting on these four bits of wood,

[nick knowles]

i love the idea of the kick up rudder! i just wish they would make a sail drive that would retract for the same reason and also less drag!

[Cavalier MK2]

They call them outboards......then there are the legs like the Sillette Sonic.

[nick knowles]

i would like them to make yanmar diesels where the engine stays put on the engine bed and the sail drive unit lifts up in to a cavity, with a plate at the bottom of the leg to protect the prop and cap the hole when its trimed up. and i would also like it to be 500 hp, the size of a 6 pack of beer, and burn a gallon of diesel every 5,000,000 natical miles. is that too much to ask?

[Eleven]

Lifting the Sillette drive leg on my Prout 31 added over a knot to boat speed.
It also locks on selecting reverse and slews 30 deg either way for some directional thrust.

[Eleven]

I think most of those are available as an option.

[chasemoney]

I was wondering after I saw these pictures if the Cat is solely standing on her keels and/if the jack stands on each bow and stern are weight bearing or just to keep her leveled out? Still that's pretty impressive seeing as Lagoon has her dry weight listed at 56,658 lbs.

[44'cruisingcat]

The props would be there just in case a few people decide to walk up onto the bows, or extreme stern. The actual weight of the boat will be borne by the keels.

[dirkdig]

Our 440 is very stable on keels alone but we always prop each end to take up the load and for saftey

[nimblemotors]

This is my boat sitting on the beach. I've hauled it out on asphalt using pvc rollers, very tough hulls. however, i'm planning on putting some kind of sacrificial protection when I resurface them. It seems to me the problem is as you begin to lift a single sharp object can pound a hole in the hull. Maybe it won't happen for 100 times, but 101 it does.
I'm glad to pay the weight penalty for this protection, vs another extra 50 gallons of fuel!

[clockwork orange]

I bought an old gemini cat and while ive seen pictures of them sitting on the beach i wouldnt without modification, the strongest part of the boat is around the centerboard trunks but they are off center so dont help, i will be adding a strongly glassed in girder on center through the middle 8 ft of each hull which will allow beaching but the thin, solid glass skin will still be prone to puncture by a sharp rock. My hulls were cracked when i bought the boat from the marina blocking it in the wrong spot, ridiculous.

Steve.

[Florence]

Is anyone familiar with the Beach Marine Custom catamarans? I understand they were built by Triton yachts at Pittwater (Sydney) now out of business. I think Triton only made a few cats, concentrating on smaller mono's. The cats have dagger boards and it looks as though the props and rudders would prevent the boat from being beached. Any knowledge of the boats or their attributes?

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by clockwork orange

I bought an old gemini cat and while ive seen pictures of them sitting on the beach i wouldnt without modification, the strongest part of the boat is around the centerboard trunks but they are off center so dont help, i will be adding a strongly glassed in girder on center through the middle 8 ft of each hull which will allow beaching but the thin, solid glass skin will still be prone to puncture by a sharp rock. My hulls were cracked when i bought the boat from the marina blocking it in the wrong spot, ridiculous.

Steve.

My Gemini as new, went from Annapolis MD to California by truck with no damage what so ever,
As per the manufacturers Specifications, Listed below,

But when they shipped my boat here, they were a little bit off the bulk heads and it works like a guilotine, It just shears the fibreglass off in the hulls,

Mine didnt matter as it already was missing big parts of both Hulls, and was getting brand new ones fitted,

The two bulkheads are all that connect the hulls to the rest of the boat, Maybe inch and a half thick, across the floor sideways,

If your blocks are not directly under these two Bulkheads, you will have holes in your boat, Guaranteed,

The glass is very thin also, Make sure you only ever park on a sandy beach,
The thru hulls are directly under the middle of the boat, which can be punched out with a solid sand bank under you. = 3 inch hole in your boat,

My new hulls, I am moving my thru hulls to safer places, where they wont get damaged or punched out of the bottom,

[dennisail]

Tide isn't all the way out yet, but you get the picture. 12" draft is cool.

I agree with 44cruisingcat that many of the nicest places you can have a boat in Australia dry out. I miss being able to do this on my larger mono. I used to get all the best spots with my 12" draft trailer sailers.

Being able to dry out is another reason I like cats. Obviously I wouldn't even consider one that was not designed to dry out. Boats like the Orams really use this feature with kick up boards and outboards for knee deep draft. 4 foot draft on a cat is not something I would want.

[Tear Away]

Originally Posted by Old Soul Wayne

I'm wondering if any owners actually beach their catamarans?
I did a search and it never came up. Of course the only right condition would be a sandy beach. Many advertisers use this to "sell" thier boats to the dreamers. Is it structurally sound to do this? Or cost preventittive due to loss of bottom paint? Just been wondering for a while.

Cheers,
Wayne

Yes we do beach them to paint the boats saves a fortune and less damage to the boat to what lifting can do if things go wrong. But also makes lot easier if you are going to load a lot of gear on board like I have just done. At cat also means you don't have to anchor miles out. Ps: make so much easier to do a quick inspection of the boat if you can walk around it even if the tides still in.