How do you judge if a beach is too "wavy" or if it will turn too unstable later?

[atoll]

Originally Posted by fernandosmooth

Wait wait.. how? I mean, what if the tide doesnt turn as high when it comes back?

So, you just go into shallow areas, knowing it will dry out, then wait for it to come back? just like that? That is interesting.

mine dries out twice a day, the relationship to neap tides or spring tides will determine how high or low the next tide will be,any tidal almanac will tell you the height and time

[Seabeau]

Originally Posted by fernandosmooth

Wait wait.. how? I mean, what if the tide doesnt turn as high when it comes back?

So, you just go into shallow areas, knowing it will dry out, then wait for it to come back? just like that? That is interesting.

My normal "cruising grounds" are the Southeast coast of the US. with its 6 to 8 ft. tides each day, North Carolina to northern FL.. Most extensive hard "sand bars" are quite well known and well charted although hurricanes and tropical storms move quite a great deal of loose sand about, the "hard bars" are made of more resilient stuff, and tend to stay put.

[Bean Counter]

Another point, the action of wind and small waves on sand will likely take the anti-foul paint off the keels.

[Dave Lochner]

Generally the steeper the slope of the beach the more likely the beach is subject to bigger waves.

Beaches with very gradual shallow slopes tend to have very little significant wave action.

Beaches with steep slopes tend to have larger waves, although on any given day the water may be calm.

[SV Bacchus]

Maybe you just don't do it for the first 6 or 8 months and only after you've watched what happens at many of the beaches you want to use for grounding. You could do enough damage that would, in retrospect, make that little bit of rowing with the dinghy not seem quite so bad!

[John_Trusty]

From an ignorant monohull sailor ... I've grounded beach cats, but would be frightened to death grounding something as big as a cruising boat because I would be concerned about the strength to weight ratio of something so big. Do you Lagoon, Leopard, FP, etc. cruising cat owners really dry-out beach? Thanks @atoll or I would not have believed it for something that large. Are there makes & models that are better for this, or are all cruising cats so able? Do performance-oriented mini-keels make it better or worse as far as potential damage?

[fatherchronica]

Same consideration when just taking your dinghy in. We usually know it was rougher than expected when we have to bail our boat, drag it up the beach and wait for it to get calmer, or disassemble it and drag it down the beach to a better spot and relaunch. I would be afeared of having my boat, really not possible in my case, on the beach. It would make a nice selfie I suppose, but a lot could go wrong. Many places on earth have local winds that can arise from nothing to many kts per hour in a heartbeat.

[Cheechako]

Unless you have a cat specifically deigned for beaching, retracting rudders etc, AND you have good tide tables for the area and understand them, AND are good at predicting weather.......dont do it.

[seasick]

If you have to sail through a line-up of surfers... don't.

[thinwater]

The OP seems to be waiting for someone to give him the answer he wants. Instead, the group has made it clear, with the exceptions of beach cats (see how that word is in the name?) which are hauled clear out of the water, and sheltered harbors, it is a bad idea.

If there are any waves or wakes, the boat rises and falls, going boom, boom, boom. If the wind changes (it will) or the boat yaws (they do) it goes grind, grind, grind. Going aground, even intentionally, is not a good thing.

At the VERY least, you will loose your bottom paint and foul. The VERY least.

Advertising departments frequently show dumb things. In this tread, you have heard from experienced sailors that have, for the most part, beached boats, and they've explained the problems and limitations. IMHO, it is something I will never do again if I can possibly avoid it. If I can't I'm aiming for soft mud.

[Dave22q]

Tides are a bigger issue than waves. If you beach a boat you had better know if you will be grounded or afloat in the next few hours. As almost everyone has noted best practice is anchor off shore and dingy in. Give yourself plenty of depth in case the wind pushes you in as the tide is ebbing. Lots of things can happen when grounded, most of them bad.

[Kita]

Look at the bow of any beach cat or say where the bottom of a sunfish or any boat that gets beached,the small movement of the boat as it moves with the water is like gravel on glass,...the term sandpaper comes to mind....heaven forbid while you are gone walkabout the tide comes in a bit or for whatever reason the boat gets turned & now the rudder is in the sand! A little of that & you got troubles! It's just not worth the potential problems. ... always use the dinghy. I own a shallow draft catamaran and would not put it on the beach unless I was trying to get it completely out of the water for some purpose other than that I don't want to get up against anything for fear of damage. Gelcoat is not that durable against a hard surface.

[deblen]

You just have to find the right beach...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OObk9ZPcGfo&t=16s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3LtEF9WPt4

Len

[danielamartindm]

Some really good advice here. Remember that different cats have different manufacturers' suggestions about the advisability of beaching. I don't see many do it, and I think it's a part of the allure of cats that has it roots more in fantasy than reality. What's the advantage of beaching over anchoring, when I know I'm not going to damage my antifouling in any way by anchoring, and using the tender? And maybe I don't want to stay there long enough for the tide to re-float me?

[MikeFergie]

I beach my boat a few times a year. Whenever I need to do maint work. I only use soft sand locations with gradual slopes. Mostly level. We have a 3,6 tide shift at springs so this is what I use. I also usually don’t put my boat to far up at high tide but slowly beach about an hour after high knowing if I need to lift again I have extra lift. This is a Leopard 40