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

[fernandosmooth]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

And ignore the advice of all the other experienced multihull skippers who are saying yes you can beach, but do it in places where there's NO SWELL to worry about.

I found the most reasonable thing to do in this situation.

Half of you say beach and half of you say anchor in deep water.
Since it is a catamaran that I will be sailing. I will put one hull on sand and the other in the water with an anchor. Then keep all night adjusting with the tide;


Fernando

edit: Thanks everyone for your thoughtful responses.

[PaulinOz]

Quote: "Half of you say beach and half of you say anchor in deep water."

Go back and add up the deep water brigade and see how many of them sail a cat not a mono ? I think you will find it is not 50 : 50.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by atoll

you mean you don't wait for a big wave and gunn the throttles........
this is how we do it in africa

We used to do that routinely in our Avon 3.10 RIB.
I learned the wave patterns by watching them and the local Mexican fishermen while they waited to beach their pangas.

It's really the easiest way to step out dry in the dink.

What? Doesn't everybody do that?

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by fernandosmooth

I found the most reasonable thing to do in this situation.

Half of you say beach and half of you say anchor in deep water.
Since it is a catamaran that I will be sailing. I will put one hull on sand and the other in the water with an anchor. Then keep all night adjusting with the tide;


Fernando

edit: Thanks everyone for your thoughtful responses.

You have GOT TO BE KIDDING.
I smell a troll. Maybe unrelated, but do an internet search for King Soloman and dividing the child for custody.

[Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

You have GOT TO BE KIDDING.

Yes I think so.

[Panope]

We were anchored here for 3 days, in August. The daytime tidal cycle of day 2 was spent on the beach.

In addition to a nice clean bottom, the family found that having direct access to the boat made the day on the beach quite a bit more enjoyable. Everyone, including the youngins, could access the boat (instantly) for the head, food, or whatever notion and potion they fancied.

It was a luxurious way to spend the day on a beach. If a had a catamaran, I would do the same. Not worrying about the boat falling-over would be a bonus

Steve

[catsketcher]

I think Steve's point about bumping all night is valid for surf beaches with a small shore break. I don't want to dry out there. But that is how the first proper cats made money. Manu Kai and its progeny taking paying passengers out from Waikiki beach and sailing through the waves to collect and drop off the guests. They did this back in 1948 so we are keeping a tradition alive by putting our noses on the sand.

I do a version of this with Kankama. When I have to load the boat with a heap of stuff I don't do dinghy trips, I gently run Kankama up the bank and tie her off to a tree. Then we throw the stuff on the nets or onto the bank. My family is good at climbing aboard over the forebeam. It is so much easier than dinghies or the wharf. People do stare a bit when they see me heading for the spot I like on the shore. But I don't stay long - about an hour max and then back to deep water. So poking the nose in is good for loading but you want a really flat spot for drying.

When settling with the tide in the spots I mentioned before we get a few minutes of gentle motion and then you slowly realise that the boat is solid when you walk around. It is very gentle and most people would miss when it happens.

As for bugs - it is easy to overplay this. We usually visit somewhere like Hill Inlet when the wind is going to be up, then there are no bugs. The worst night we ever had was in Canaipa Passage - 200m from shore.

Here is a my tip. If there are any waves on the shore - don't beach. If there may be waves in the next day or two on the beach - don't beach. It is not that hard really. Poking a nose in can be done with a little chop but not much for my boat.

I also make another plug for holding tanks. Pollution aside we need a holding tank as we spend a lot of time swimming around the sterns and our toilet is aft. So things could get very bad if someone swims when someone on board pumps the head - so a holding tank is a must. But on the hard, all you need is a bucket of salt water in the head and you can add the water to the toilet for flushing. Life can go on.

cheers

Phil