beaching

I'm new to the inboard world and wonder what is the best way to beach an inboard. I often see them parked with the stern to the beach.

Every see what 500 grit sandpaper does to gelcoat....you will.

carpet???

Beaching is for houseboats.

OK, how about someone with some experience answer his question about seeing the boat parked with the stern facing the beach. You know, the sandspike and anchorbuddy method.

Are you talking about actually beaching the boat or like evilone said, using an anchor. If you beach it with the stern you'll most likely hit your prop. I use an Anchor buddy. I find my spot facing outward, throw my anchor out which is attached to my Anchor Buddy, put it in reverse for a second, cut the motor and drift to where I want to be, hop off the swim step and tie my stern rope to whatever is there. I have never beached it with the stern. I have on occasion beached it with the bow. It did put some fine scratches in my gel coat.
i try to stay away from that method if possible.
Late$
Wadd

The problem with beaching is sand is so abrasive plus you have the chance of foreign objects like rocks being just below the surface.

Say you get beached, waves from other vessels rock your hull across the sand like taking sand paper across your gelcoat.

I would invest in some good line, and 2 anchors (not the mushroom kind)

Look into:
http://www.slideanchor.com/box.asp

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/10001/-1/10001/49502/10001/704/11206/5

Also, depending on the wind, current and conditions the more line you let out the better the hold the anchor will have.

We drop the anchor, give a swift tug to set it, and let out the appropriate amount of line in the front. then in the back we have a line on the beach to secure the boat. We have about 3 feet of water at the rear so the prop isn't really touching.


A good rule of thumb is 6-7 feet of line per foot down. So if you are in 4 foot of water then you let out 24-28 foot of line in the front.

thanks wade and rich

i beach my xlv all the time, and when i get under it and i can see the gelcoat scuffed up but who cares? it will buff out and you don't see it anyway unless you are really looking at it. it's a boat, stuff will happen to it!

ahhh phewy, just beach it and have fun. It's cosmetic and takes a lot to really be noticed. I beached mine as much as possible in Hawaii, at the Kaneohe SandBar. You can barely see anything to this day.

The only downside I have heard about beaching your boat besides scratching the gelcoat is that you will have to change your impeller more often. This is what my local service shop told me, not sure if there is any truth to it though

Have you ever been to the Channel in Havasu? There are plenty of big dollar boats beached every weekend. The sand will scratch it a bit but you will never see it, just look for rocks before you beach it.

If you are looking for a good solution to mooring it with the stern to the shore check this out (it is not cheap but works very well, kinda like the box anchor or slide anchor)

www.adjust-a-anchor.com

I beach my Malibu all the time on our lake. I ordered a Keel Guard from OVERTON's and had it installed. It helps tremendously in preventing scratches to the gelcoat underneath.

http://keelguard.com/
I got an 8' piece for mine but haven't installed it yet. There are lots of good reviews on it and it was sent without any hassle. (except UPS is a pain coming to Canada)
The colors are bright and the black that I got for my black hull looks really close.

Is that a pink tower matching the pink Malibu??

heheheheh, it's orange. However, I would sport a pink VLX with pride for the fun of it. You aren't the only one that has asked that when viewing this picture. Must be the picture itself that appears that way since the Pink raft is floating in the background.

Umm someone adjusted the color of your pink boat.

I beach my v drive all the time. It is scuffed up down there and has a few chips from the stones but so did my MC before it and that just took an afternoon with some gel, sand paper and a buffer to make it good as new after many years of beaching.

If I had a brand new boat I might think different and maybe get one of those keel guard pads.

The first picture looks orange, the other two are definitely pink.

I beach my VLX all the time if it's sandy. I agree that I probably wouldn't do it so much if it were about 8 yrs newer and/or had a dark hull. It's just a boat, though, and like Jay said what won't just buff out is an easy fix anyway. I enjoy it more when I don't have to make everyone swim to shore.

To save your impeller and keep sand out of the motor, just push back before you start the motor. Don't power off of the beach - the prop will shoot tons of sand right across the intake.

FYI Rich, 500 grit sandpaper is pretty fine, and would be a reasonable first step for a wet-sanding. Hmm...

Say trace, you're on to something. Think of all those hours of work we've been saving ourselves by keeping the bottom polished without even having to lift the hull

Of course I think a couple of beaches I put my old boat on were 3 grit, or maybe double 0, but I'm sure I parked it on smoother stuff after...

On a more serious side I've seen skags bent from being beached when a storm blew up. The boat turned really tight Left but didn't like going right after that.

Not a chance.

^

Of having a Pink boat or Beaching?

Maybe both Rich!


Just beach it- you have to get to the party on the beach as fast as possible. Just make sure you know what you're doing because if you break your bad that sucks- but it REALLY sucks when you break your boat with 50 drunk people watching you do it.