Do Cat Owners Actually Beach Their Cats ?

[tamicatana]

Originally Posted by tomfl

In general there are two methods used to protect the bottom of the airboat hull. A stainless steel pan is placed under the hull or a coat of special resin is used.

YMMV

I'm from Louisiana, and I've seen quite a few airboats with sheet Teflon screwed to the hulls

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by tamif27

I'm from Louisiana, and I've seen quite a few airboats with sheet Teflon screwed to the hulls

Are you sure its Teflon? its kinda soft, i would think its more likely to be HDPE or UHMWPE.

Steve.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by cat man do

A few miles further north several years ago

I actually went past you today if that was you anchored up near New Farm park

Yep, that was us.

[Jeannius]

Need to beach my cat somewhere in southern Maine. Lost an anode in a tangle with a lobster pot and need to get it replaced soon.

Anyone know a suitable location, preferably between Boothbay Harbor and Portland but further south/west will do?

[Tropic Cat]

With the large tide swings in Maine, can't you just anchor just off any beach and wait for low tide?

[Jeannius]

Originally Posted by Tropic Cat

With the large tide swings in Maine, can't you just anchor just off any beach and wait for low tide?

I haven't yet seen any beach with sand on it! Everything seems to be rock where I've been in the last week and the water has been too murky to see what's lurking under the surface. So I'm hoping for local knowledge but haven't yet found any.

[Cavalier MK2]

If you have to beach on rock slide 4"by 8" timbers under the keels before you dry out. 8 footers are long enough to put in without coming out while there is still a couple feet of water under the boat. I put on a wet suit to take the chill off. I stand on the timber to force the end under water and to work it in. 2 per hull should be enough though at over 40 feet you may want 3. When the tide comes in go wading again to slide them outboard. If you forget about them and they pop out inboard they can make a bang as they torpedo the other hull.

[Canibul]

If you do an internet search on Catalac images, you'll see them sitting on sand, gravel, bedrock. I think it must be a lot more common in the UK.

[dpddj]

It might be too late for this but Town Landing in Falmouth, ME has a very gently sloping sandy area just to the north of the docks. Check with the harbormaster - I see lobster boats high and dry there. The Town of Falmouth - Falmouth Police Department
Let me know pm if you make it there - be great to say hi.

[Rapanui]

A bit late to this discussion but yes I regularly beached my FP Maldives in UK and Brittany and on its home mooring it dried twice a day on a bed of mud and stones for 7 months of the year for 10 years. Yes, we lost antifoul off the bottom third of the keel but apart from some light scoring it did not do serious damage. The mooring was fairly exposed and even when rough, the boat settled and rose quietly without pounding. My friend also with a Maldives in the same yacht club also drying twice a day fitted Stainless Steel keel shoes which prevented any damage to the keels.
Obviously, the bottom needs to be softish and rock free. If its hard sand then the sea must be very very calm or you will pound heavily and can do damage.

[Jeannius]

Originally Posted by dpddj

It might be too late for this but Town Landing in Falmouth, ME has a very gently sloping sandy area just to the north of the docks. Check with the harbormaster - I see lobster boats high and dry there. The Town of Falmouth - Falmouth Police Department
Let me know pm if you make it there - be great to say hi.

We did go to Falmouth but didn't beach there.

Beached twice... Once at Scarborough. Excellent.
And once at Plymouth... Not so good as the sand was soft and we sank in about 18 inches.

[Mr B]

I see there are big area's of quick sand in the UK,

Question,

If you sit your Cat or a mono, on one of these quick sand area's by mistake or you dont know its there,
How far do you sink into it, Can you dissapear into it totally,

Do they have clear signs where the quick sand is,
I would assume they would be listed on the charts,

[Rapanui]

I am not aware of widespread areas of quicksand in the UK, there are patches in Morecambe bay but cannot think of others. Very soft deep mud is more likely and very widespread. Quicksands are liquified sand i.e more water than sand and cannot have a density lower than water so boats should at least float as high as normal when 'dryed out' and probably a little higher. Cannot recall a case of a boat being swallowed up by quicksand. Quicksand - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Mr B

I see there are big area's of quick sand in the UK,

Question,

If you sit your Cat or a mono, on one of these quick sand area's by mistake or you dont know its there,
How far do you sink into it, Can you dissapear into it totally,

Do they have clear signs where the quick sand is,
I would assume they would be listed on the charts,

I have never heard of quick sand (well, not Tarzan style stuff ) - but plenty of very soft deep mud which can kill ya, even though won't suck you under (leaving just a waving hand!) - just make impossible to escape an incoming tide. IIRC a couple of the RNLI stations have Hovercraft in areas with extensive mud flats.

The good news is that the mud won't suck your boat under .....but you want to make sure you don't jump straight over the side without knowing how deep the mud is!

FWIW, I have seen monos berthed in Mud that reaches up to the waterline! (not over here though - mainly it's just welly losing thick!).........a trick to walking through thick mud is to use an oar to steady self and to lean on to get a foot unstuck (otherwise you put pressure on the other foot - therefore repeating the problem ).....and keeping up a bit of speed helps.

and mud can often smell (and sometimes a lot!) and it also gets everywhere.....so whilst somewhere may be perfectly good to dry out and you could walk ashore, you might not want to! (or at least not twice!)......but welcome to the world of mud berths .

[boom23]

I've seen pictures of a new Lagoon 450 sitting on 4 blocks, two on each keel, at the factory. This was on the day when the 450 was put in the water... I am guessing that the factory knows.