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

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by 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.

We beach our boat probably on average 6 - 8 weeks per year. I know people who do it much more.

With reasonable common sense there are no problems. Our antifoul lasts fine.

[44'cruisingcat]

Dried out to do some polishing.

[bvisailing32]

Good seamanship and knowledge would come into effect here.


We would anchor off, and dink into the beach. Then hual the dink up onto the sand and use the painter to a tree, or bury and anchor up on land.


Know when the high and low tides will be arriving, look at the wind direction, and strength, and for canyons for bullets to roar thru due to the venture effect.


To put a vessel in extremis to snug he hulls up onto a beach, for us, just would not be worth it.


Or anchor and swim in. Also, we snorkel our anchors, and also check the distance between the keel and the bottom when anchoring and when mooring. And know the tidal range .


Also risk vs reward........damaged vessel, or driving a hull or two up onto the sand for what ever reason.


Also, on a large cat, the entire free board is up on land, making it difficult to get down to the beach or reboard. And if the aft section is in the water, you are still going to get wet and knocked around.


Again, this is just our procedure, but ground and boats and waves, and under water obstructions, or even sand covered rocks can result in very bad news.


.

[44'cruisingcat]

As is standard in this forum, the people saying "dont do it" are the people who have never tried it....

[MikeFergie]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

As is standard in this forum, the people saying "dont do it" are the people who have never tried it....

Yup - knowing your equipment is what it’s about and knowing your environment. I know it’s sand and no rocks by my part of the world.

[Cherod]

Originally Posted by fernandosmooth

In my mind..

Considering the catamaran goes in quite shallow areas, it would seem to me that in some occasions a good place to anchor would be far off, The beach could be all sand, making an anchoring quite difficult. I dont know if this is true but the idea of beaching a catamaran and tying it to a tree for some hours seemed like a better idea, instead of rowing for some distance. That is why I thought it was/is a good idea.

Of course it is a good idea , for many reasons ( as posted ) obv you are not going to beach in overly exposed places or take up on an unseen / viewed bottom , and keep an eye on the forecast , happy beaching .

[ranchero76]

Related question - most modern catamarans have mini-keels. Are there any catamarans with stainless plates on the bottom of the keels, so they can be safely beached even on the beaches with small gravel on them? Or, perhaps, removable plates can be made just for beaching?

[Cherod]

Originally Posted by 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.

I think this is the type of reply the OP is looking for

[Seaslug Caravan]

Sorry Mr OP but if you gotta ask that question You should stay away from beaches for a while.

That being said, In the North of Australia with the large tides and lack of EPA scrutiny many catamarans are beached regularly.

Sometimes for pleasure and sometimes for hull work, antifouling paint etc.

This is another area where cats with mini have a huge advantage. For instance most of the Careening Piles around Darwin have concrete aprons to make life easy. Some are pretty darn ruff . Not only is most of the mini keel supported boat accessable for painting but if one has a wear surface/protection fitted to the bottom of the keel then rough surfaces/ flat rock beachfronts and general coral rubble beaches (so prevalent in parts) are all there for your "parking".

Steep too beaches are often formed by current action and not wave action. I like some of the steeper beaches as this allows for a cleaner get away if the calm doesn't last for the whole tide cycle. When bow into the land, as soon as the stern starts to lift to the slop a winch on the stern line will get you off into deep water quickly (1/2 boat length). You generally find that a little slop erodes away the sand on the falling tide ,around the front of the keel allowing the boat to settle pretty level. On a nearly flat beach one has to sit and bounce cause its a long way to deeper water and theres a lotta drag between a flat beach and the bottom of a boat.

[mowerandy]

Sounds like you need a little Windrider 16. You can surf those buggers onto boulder beaches and get away with it. Done it several times landing on small offshore islands to explore
PS: don't try this with anything not made of high density PE, and sharps (rocks/barnacles) will do big damage so only at high water onto smooth rocks...

[Fore and Aft]

We beach our 10m swing keel mono all the time. Never had an issue yet. We do it so the kids can play around the yacht and there is no need to launch the dinghy for a walk along the shore.
In fact my kiwi wife wanted to call the boat "beached az" in reference to that little YouTube cartoon below.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3cPs2SzShNc

Cheers

[Christopherlour]

I have seen multiple multihulls in shallow water on Waiheke Island near Auckland. We had to take a dinghy in, being monohull folk. I assumed the other bunch just waded in. How dry is the average dinghy beach landing anyway?

[Pelagic]

You assess how exposed a sand beach is by the high tide angle of the sand.

If the sand profile is very steep, with ridges.... that means it gets strong onshore weather at times

[picklesandjesse]

We put our trimaran up on a river island to clean the bottom and replace an anode. But there is no passing boat traffic and no fetch should the wind change. The next high tide is higher too. Don't forget that!!!

[SecondBase]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

As is standard in this forum, the people saying "dont do it" are the people who have never tried it....

Right. OP it can be done safely and conveniently. It can also be done unintentionally. When someone says you can't just ask them "well what exactly is a drying mooring anyway?" Then sit back and relax -- it's going to be a while. Then ask him did pirate ships have travelifts wide enough for cats?

You haven't enough knowledge err enough mistakes err experience to do this safely. This brings you to the importance of local knowledge. Now that you know what you want to do ask around and find another cat owner who has a favored spot for this. He might even guide you in from his dinghy. When he or she says it's not just the tide table but the wind also has an effect you've found the right guy. I found my whisperer in Oriental NC. You'll find yours.

Wth that first time out of the way please post back here and let everyone know it IS possible but get some local expertise to help you get started.

Some people buy a boat specifically for its renowned grounding ability. Ask me how I know.