Beaching small multihulls for service

[chalkgsy]

Yeah luckily I managed to find a video of the boat as well where it's sitting on the sand so think we're all good!

SO when you beach your cats do you just sort of motor up on to the sand or anchor up and then just wait for the tide to go out?

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by chalkgsy

SO when you beach your cats do you just sort of motor up on to the sand or anchor up and then just wait for the tide to go out?

No, no, nooo.

It looks great in the day charter brochures, but when it is your boat much more care is needed. Pick your spot inspect it when the tide is out and make sure there are no obstructions, a shopping trolley will make a nice hole if landed on unknowingly. As has been previously mentioned, light wind, no swell or wave action.

Lay out a kedge anchor so you can make your escape quickly. It might be calm when you beach but if the wind and waves pick up when you want to leave you don't want to be bounced around in the shallows before you can motor off.

[chalkgsy]

Cheers for the tips!

I guess the only thing that was puzzling me when i saw it on the below video was when you beach it how do you stop it from tipping to far forward or backwards. Those bottom fins look quite short so what's to stop it just leaning a bit to far forward or something. They have it tied up on a pontoon but on a beach would you use the anchor to sort of balance it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWBuh_COZh0

[jeanathon]

I would regularly careen my C&C Redwing on a sandbar a few hundred yards away from my marina in Georgia, USA.
After refloating her and tying up at the marina I was amused to see the SeaTow guy come racing up to the sandbar, circle it, and head off disappointed.

[Jeannius]

Originally Posted by chalkgsy

Cheers for the tips!

I guess the only thing that was puzzling me when i saw it on the below video was when you beach it how do you stop it from tipping to far forward or backwards. Those bottom fins look quite short so what's to stop it just leaning a bit to far forward or something. They have it tied up on a pontoon but on a beach would you use the anchor to sort of balance it?

Tupaia gives excellent advice.

If you can, try and walk the beach in advance of beaching. I never landed on anything nasty but, on one occasion, the beach was was soft my keels and rudders sank right in and I couldn't get the prop off, which was the whole point of beaching. Weight should be pretty neutral or towards the stern. Easy way to check is to just make sure you are floating level or stern-down, not stern-up!

[VBsail]

No, no, nooo.

It looks great in the day charter brochures, but when it is your boat much more care is needed.

Unless you already live somewhere close with local knowledge it is very tricky to find somewhere practical to actually do work vs just parking. Mud is no fun to work in and often if there is sand there is waves, so you have to have the perfect forecast.

My dock drys out on extreme tides, but the bottom is too soft to want to slog around in. I have debated putting spacers like tires below the hull so its off the bottom for paint, but its just not worth it. We have beached on the local sandbars we know in good weather vs using the dinghy, but crawling around to clean the bottom is much more work beached then vs anchored in chest deep water IMO.

On a small catamaran there really isn't much to service below the water. For paint where you want to actually do the complete bottom its worth the price of a lift powerwash and blocked up off the ground. Done and back in quick. If its a small cat find a boatel yard with forklift. We used a forklift for our 30' cat, cost was $40 for for haulout and blocking.

[django37]

Have done it many times, prefer hard sand, here north of Oban, Scotland. No support needed

[valhalla360]

A key difference is mini-keel vs dagger board.

A lot of mini-keel designs are intended to sit on their keels during winter storage, so assuming reasonably calm and no big debris, the hulls never touch the bottom and it should be fine.

Dagger board boat will sit directly on the hulls. If careful, it can be done but even a small stone could create a point load. Also, since the hull is down in the mud, not much you can get access to other than right at the waterline.

[catsketcher]

I ignore small stones and have rarely checked the beach before hand. Small stones are easily pushed down, even by a "light" 600gm double bias laminate. Its large ones that are the problem. I find a quick walk around in the water in bare feet works well. It may be nice to check the beach beforehand but I am one who does just motor up and pop her on.

Nice and slow, check out the bottom as you approach from on deck. If the water is at all clear you will be able to see the bottom very easily in less then 1 metre of depth. Any rocks that will hurt the boat should be easily seen. Then when gently stopped, get out and walk around. You will need to walk around in the water to run out anchors and the like, so listen to your feet and you will get a good idea of the bottom. I find that the beach underwater is usually similar to it above, so I avoid stony beaches and pop my boat up on sandy beaches with clear water. No issues yet.

I often run my cat up on the hard just to get people from a beach near our local jetty. Often in summer the jetty is full and I gently power into shore and pickup of offload stuff and people. But be slow and very visually aware.

cheers

Phil

[GRIT]

Originally Posted by catsketcher

I ignore small stones and have rarely checked the beach before hand. Small stones are easily pushed down, even by a "light" 600gm double bias laminate. Its large ones that are the problem. I find a quick walk around in the water in bare feet works well. It may be nice to check the beach beforehand but I am one who does just motor up and pop her on.

Nice and slow, check out the bottom as you approach from on deck. If the water is at all clear you will be able to see the bottom very easily in less then 1 metre of depth. Any rocks that will hurt the boat should be easily seen. Then when gently stopped, get out and walk around. You will need to walk around in the water to run out anchors and the like, so listen to your feet and you will get a good idea of the bottom. I find that the beach underwater is usually similar to it above, so I avoid stony beaches and pop my boat up on sandy beaches with clear water. No issues yet.

I often run my cat up on the hard just to get people from a beach near our local jetty. Often in summer the jetty is full and I gently power into shore and pickup of offload stuff and people. But be slow and very visually aware.

cheers

Phil

We use a similar technique. Small stones don't seem to hurt anything. We've even beached on a pebble beach, because that's what was available. (Though we specifically planned the layup of the hulls with beaching in mind). I'd be worried about some kind of rod, or pipe sticking out of the sand, but small rocks are fine.

While we were building, if we had to lift the boat to move the stands, we'd do it with a jack and a 2x6x12 (35mm x 150mm x 300mm) piece of wood on the "keel" (the point where the two hull halves meet). That's a fair bit of pressure on a small little area, and no harm was ever witnessed.

My only concern with a hard bottom/rock bottom, is if there is any wave action during landing, or during launch. Though we're pretty fortunate; with a draft of 600mm (2 feet), and a waterline of over 14m (46 feet), wave action generally has little effect.

Boats with keels would have to contend with larger waves at the transition from grounded to floating, since some draw as much as 1.2m (4 feet).

Everything's a compromise; but a boat that can't sit on the ground, without damage, isn't one I'd feel good cruising. There's always something out there to hit, and I'd want to know the keels can take it.

Chalkgsy: I'm glad to know the Privlege can take the ground like a champ. I'm not surprised, they are a quality boat.

Django37: It doesn't surprise me to see the lagoons can take the ground well either. They've always struck me a pretty skookum boat; except, apparently, the 450 bulkheads. Otherwise, I've always thought of them as a strong boat.

Cheers.
Paul.

[Tupaia]

The different approaches really relates to the water temperature and clarity. Nice warm clear water look carefully and check with feet. Murky water and or sticky mud, check it out at low tide first.


In nice warm clear water careening is often easier when in waste deep water rather than high and dry on the sand, with no access to water to wash down the scrapings.



I have no keels at all but have changed sail drive seals while beached, just needed to dig a hole round the leg. Have plenty of buckets with fresh water and don't drop any components.

[clakiep]

I beached my self build 44' cat many times for hull cleaning, painting and other purposes. As it had deep vee hull sections and no keels, I always tied to palm tree trunks across under it, to avoid that the sharp lower edges get burried in the mud or sand and become inaccsessable. Also such hulls are easy for a precleaning by diving.

Capt. Claus ocean tramp of the eighties

[BigNut]

We have a Lagoon 421. We careened ours for the first time recently, without issues. We cleaned the hulls of all the critters that grow in 6 weeks where we are, replaced a zinc and did a small GRP repair during our session.

Our takeaways to add to what has been said already, as experts after one go:

1. Watch for critters before jumping off. In our case many small stingrays with a fearsome sting. (Sea of Cortez).
2. If the sand is soft, you will settle a bit. We had to dig below our keels to keep them free. Not an issue otherwise.

Highly recommended when possible.
BigNut

[blubaju]

We use sandfilled rice bags so we have access to the bottom. Of course, placed below bulkheads.

[rsementi]

Originally Posted by Tupaia

Would help to know where you are. There are lots of places with "mud" berths (drying moorings) that are more than suitable. The areas are not popular with plastic fantastics so you are often able to lay your own mooring. Depends where you are.

I had the same question. Do you or anyone here know of places to do this with only an 18 inchdraft, in the South Florida area?