Dumb Question? 'Beaching' vs 'Running Aground'

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by planetluvver

But what a clever solution!

One of the main reasons we bought a twin keel yacht. With 4 - 5 metres of tide each day in Portsmouth Harbour (UK) our yacht club has two large concrete scrubbing grids to dry out on between the tides. A spring tide just gives me enough time to do one complete coat of antifouling and change the annodes, clean the prop etc. Membership about $30 a year for the club without moorings. To lift out in a nearby boat yard is $700 for a week and that is one of the cheaper ones

We have also dried out on hard sandy harbours without worry. Down side is we don't point to windward quite as well as a fin and in waves the windward keel can trap air under it occasionally leading to a thump.

Thats Duncan our surveyor and friend about to tell me that after 19 years the moisture readings in the hull are the same as the topsides and they are very low even though she has only been out of the water for 30 minutes

Pete

[Canibul]

a natural solution..

[fishwife]

Wow, that picture is stunning

[S/V Alchemy]

The term for laying a boat on its side on a steep beach with an ebb tide is also known as "careening".

Careening - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It used to be a way to scrape the barnacles off to gain a knot on the competition.

[zeehag]

of ye can--do it--saves money on yard fees--lol---my formosa is goood for careening--your twin keel, bilge keels and many cats and tris are good f or beaching

[roger.waite]

It is easy to over-rate the value of drying out, especially in heavy boats and boats poorly designed to take the ground. Even when I cruised a 200 kg Wayfarer (without a rowboat), I preferred to stay afloat if I could. But drying out can be useful.

Some things that make me loathe to dry out on idyllic sandy beaches etc, apart from the fact that my present boat is quite unsuitable?

[1] I never seemed to be afloat at the time I wanted to leave ...
[2] Sand plays havoc with ablative antifoulings ... even when it is relatively calm ...
[3] Unless conditions are exceptional (shelter, weather, etc) I want the ability to move if things start getting uncomfortable ... or lee shores develop ...

That said, I have great memories of times on keelers dried out against harbour walls in Barfleur (France) and the Channel Islands (UK) ...

[sarafina]

I am terminally frugal and would love to beach tsunami... but I think Himself would have kittens if I tried it... I screwed a hook for the oil lamp into the cabin roof and he had conniptions.

And the only places in the SF Bay I can think of smooth enough to careen on are mud flats which would not be like sandy steep beaches at all. she would be dirtier when she re floated than before...

[planetluvver]

Originally Posted by sarafina

I am terminally frugal and would love to beach tsunami... but I think Himself would have kittens if I tried it... I screwed a hook for the oil lamp into the cabin roof and he had conniptions.

And the only places in the SF Bay I can think of smooth enough to careen on are mud flats which would not be like sandy steep beaches at all. she would be dirtier when she re floated than before...

Curious... what did he think SHOULD be done with the oil lamp?

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by planetluvver

Curious... what did he think SHOULD be done with the oil lamp?

Well, you normally give them a rub and get three wishes from the genie






I'll get my coat.........

[sarafina]

well, we tried the rubbing bit and got nowhere...

He thought sitting it on the table, counter, shelf whatever was fine. Of course once it was actually hung he loved it... out of the way and better light distribution ; -)

[SurferShane]

Re: DUMB QUESTION

Wow – the thread makes me feel a bit better about my sailing skills. I feel I have more than once inadvertently “beached” a Hunter 19 on the sandbanks in Lake Macquarie NSW Australia where I sail it. The reason I really don’t call it “running aground” is that I knew if I hit something in the area it would just be the soft sand, mud and/or weedy bottom.

On the other hand, running into headlands and any form of submerged reef of an inflexible nature is definitely “running aground”?

I hope you all find my post at least amusing. (Wait till I start posting about the bouncing off the dock mooring tactics and dead reckoning navigation I learnt as a professional fisherman).

I note I am still avoiding those rocks and headlands!

[beau]

We beach all the time, but generally I anchor just so we are afloat
(6 inches underneath us ) at low tide. That way we can shelter close to shore and away from other boats (power cruisers)
but be able to move if the weather changes. We also seem to catch more fish in the shallower water.

[zeehag]

hang the oil lamp from the bulkhead or overhead using a gimballed holder or proper lamp hangar....make sure it doesnt swing in seas by tying it with light line or bungee cords so it doesnt break or spill oil .....

[Cherp]

I'm always beaching. That is, touching the bottom (sand) around piers and so forth, or inadvertently around bays. It's a keelboat too. I've thought of renaming her "Plough" for that reason. I don't run aground though. To me, that means hitting hard objects like rocks and reefs.

[David M]

Originally Posted by planetluvver

Thank you all!

I feel so much better, knowing that there are plenty of other people out there who don't know enough to keep their keels modestly in the water, unless there is a boat yard earning a profit.

You must be careful. In many places it would be illegal to leave behind a bunch of fouling stuck to hull paint.