To beach or not to beach.....
 

What is everyone's opinion? I know most people with inboards do not. But I see at least 2 or 3 a week that are pulled up to the beach.......... Discuss

most say no. I say no as well but there are exceptions. The other day when at lake havasu I was at the sand bar and in an area that dropped off pretty quickly so I filled 1500 lbs of bow ballast to sit the front down on the sand and let the back end stick up, lifting up the prop and rudder. I had 12-18" of clearance under my prop. it worked well. then again, we were there mid week so i had no rollers from passing boats to worry about.

I only beach on sandy beaches, although my boat is older with a white hull so the damage is already done. I usually beach it when the water is freezing cold too but I mostly anchor with a shore spike so we can listen to the tower speakers.

Good topic, I'm sure the majority will say they don't but I'm interested to see. When I was looking for a boat I looked at a 07 supra 21v and the guy hadn't disclosed to me the boat had been beached before I drove 12 hrs to look at it. When I got there I saw scratches all over the keel, it was a black boat so it showed up bad.

I didn't buy that boat.

I probably wouldn't beach mine either. You never know what's in the sand.

I have a couple of beaches on our local lake that we do beach our boats but if it is an unknown location I always anchor the front out and pull the stern to us so that we can listen to music. Just make sure that the water is deep enough to not allow the rudder to hit during rough water. The beaches that we actually pull up to are in deep water and it falls off very quickly no worries about underwater gear or intakes in the sand.

I have an I/O so my situation is a bit different than most people on here. I know i can trim up the outdrive so the props won't hit the bottom, but I will not beach my boat just because i don't want to scratch it up.

If you check the carpet on the trailer will scratch the hull. Beaching it is like wiping it down with sand paper applying 3000 pounds of pressure. Bottom line if you dont care about your boat then go ahead .

The availability of an Anchor buddy + shore spike mean only the clueless or lazy beach their boats.

White doesn't matter, it's still sandpaper, do it enough and there will be no more gel to scratch off, then you're sanding the fiberglass itself.

That being said I will do it in known places occasionally for convenience when I can pull the bow up by hand and we won't spend much time there. If its going to be more than about 20 min the out come the anchor and the shore spike. If you must do it regularly at least put one of those keel guards on so you're not tearing up the keel. Most of the other marks are only cosmetic.

i beach occasionally, if you want to see the scratches from you have to lie down on your back and crawl under the trailer....not a big deal

Well said... Never beach your boat!

Shell out $70,000 for a boat, but not willing to spend $20 on a cheap anchor?!?!

More like about $200 for a complete anchor system...but that is still relatively cheap. Then again you can use cinder blocks and clothes line for a system like the dudes next to us last week.

Sandspike + digger or box anchor + anchor buddy makes beaching obsolete. Unlike many here though I anchor bow first since I am scared of trashing my running gear with a rogue roller or wind/current

I'm with Superflous! I use a anchor and a spike to the shore! Takes longer, but well worth it!

I just don't get the guys in the Channel at Havasu with boats that are worth$$ more than quadruple of the G23 and they have their boat half way on shore.

I used to be of the opinion that beaching wasn't that bad and only resulted in small scratched nobody could see, until I had to repair 2 inch gashes in the keel that constantly appeared even though I was beaching in what I thought was sand. Bottom line, now I used an anchor and sand spike, and I'm not repairing my keel anymore...

I spent years saying no way would i beach my boat, but it just gets to be a pain to always bust out the anchor and lines to tie to other boats, then pulling those boats off the beach cause their not tied off. Spending a couple hundred bucks every few years to fix little scratches from beaching is worth it to me. I have to say the carpet on my bunks has always scratched up my bottom more then beaching ever has. I do use and anchor buddy and shore line when I'm camping or leaving it overnight, but If I'm just going to the beach for a few hours I just beach it.

Look at the go fast crowd with $200k + boats, some costing more then many houses in CA, and they always beach theirs without a thought of fixing scratches.

We live on a sand bottom man made lake, beach the boat multiple times every day we use it, and been doing it for years.... the paint, gel coat, etc is all perfect looking on the bottom of the "V"

.... rocky areas I would avoid it, but soft sand has never been an issue for us.

I haven't beached mine yet, however if you plan on it... install a keel guard. $120-$160 depending on where u buy it and you can install it yourself in about 45min- 1.5 hrs. Or you can have a shop do it for you, but they quoted me $400 installed. So I saved some cash doing it myself. It comes with everything in it for the install just need to buy latex gloves, isopropyl alcohol, & some Coors light :D I wouldn't Thi k about beaching w/o one, just my opinion.

When I got my LSV I swore I would never beach it, but I got voted off that island by the CFO so now I beach it when I have to. With an ebony hull I had to go the Keel Guard/Shiled route also and I have to admit unless you are looking for it, it is almost invisible. Yeh I know it is blasphemy to put one on a wake boat but it has been a good addition even when it comes to protecting from the trailer bunks when loading because black is a b**** to keep up. To date I have not seen any additional damage from beaching, but I don't power it up on shore either, just pull it up by hand. In case anyone was wondering 11' will do an LSV from rub rail to the end of the keel "V" w/ 3" to spare.

Exactly if u get the correct color as there are many to choose from, you can't even notice it. I hear ya on it being sacrilegious to throw one on wakeboard boat, but id rather protect my keel.

I prefer to anchor in shallow water. With an outboard or I/O you can get into water that is knee deep without the hull hitting the bottom. With wake boats it's not as easy, but bringing the boat into waist high water shouldn't be a big deal to your guests. If it is, then leave them at the dock.

The anchor buddy looks like a pretty cool product too.

Last august I broke my femur boarding. Anyway we had to get the back of the boat closest to shore so the paramedics could get to me. We had the whole back of the boat in knee deep water 2000lbs ballast. The whole weight of the boat was balancing on the rudder for 30 minutes while the paramedic stabilized me. After all of that, i see no ill effects. However, in my situation the boat was the last thing i cared about. Somethings just are out of your control but the boat handled it HAHA
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...3_603639_n.jpg

I bet that suuuuuuccccccked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good point on the strength of the rudder. I would imagine that it would take a pretty hard hit or prolonged beaching to do damage to a rudder.

My femur was busted back in '99.