Quick leaving in the morning--how do you beach?

[T-Pokes]

So tonight we had great fun wakeboarding, but tomorrow we are spending the daytime hours at the lake-- so how do you beach your boat??? It is perfect depth wise... shallow for a couple of feet then drops to 20 feet. But it is a little gravely----- WHAT DO YA'LL DO??

[Timmy!]

Personally I would anchor my RZ2 and then swim in to the beach - don't want to mess up those tracking fins. Will be interested to hear other's opinions though.

[TeamAllen]

Anchor the bow in the deep water. Tie off the stern to the shore. Your swim step should be a little over waist high. Make sure your anchor has a link of chain between the anchor and the rope.

[hoopykat]

I will do a cruise through to see just how steeply the bottom rises to the water's edge, and if it looks pretty gradual, and sandy (no rocks at all), I will approach straight in....coasting in as slow as possible to keep a straight track...and the last few feet I will cut the engine off...allow the boat to slowly glide in, and come to a stop with the front third of the bow on the bottom. I use my anchor on the dry beach to hold the boat in place. I have yet to beach where the fins are on ground...and the boat stays where I put it.

-Mike

[LovinPowell]

I do the same thing as TeamAllen, except our swimstep isn't quite as deep. It depends on the slope of the shoreline. That method works pretty well for day camping where there is less of a chance of a large storm blowing in. When we are camping in the same spot for about a week, I do a more thorough job of setting the anchor with a line running along the lake bottom from the anchor to the beach, and a line coming up to the bow and a line from a buried anchor in the dry sand to the stern. I figure if its going to be there for a week then it is pretty likely that it will have to endure a storm or two, especially at Lake Powell during the monsoon season.

[chpthril]

I do beach ours some, but only if the shore line has a good drop to it and is nice and sandy. I worry more about the gel-coat then the tracking fins.

I do like the "anchor the bow, tie the stern to shore" method. It's safe for all kinds of lake bottoms and water/weather conditions. Easy to adjust if water levels change. The thing I like the most about this way, I'd rather have peeps coming in off the swim platform from the water then over the bow from the beach.

Have a good time

[Razzman]

I throw out the anchor attached to the bow on an anchor buddy 35-40' offshore and back into the shore and attach a shoreline so the platform is in about 3' of water. I pull the boat back in slowly via the shoreline so peeps can get off or on and the anchor buddy pulls it back to deep water. Easy.

[Big Wave]

I do it the same way Razzman does it and I leave a float on the anchor line at the end of the anchor buddy with a quick release clip so we can just pull in to the float, clip in, and then back in to shore. This keeps most of the sand out of the boat compared to having the bow on shore. I use a big steak for the shore line anchore.

[T-Pokes]

Thanks guys-- Not really worried about the fins because it is a really nice STEEP drop off like 20 feet immediately. But am a little nervous about the rocks on the Hull I think we may try to borrow an anchor-- no shops here in RS that are open in the am --- Gotta love small towns

[da.bell]

Sounds like someone needs to buy an Anchor Buddy....

They are awesome and when my boat has been in the water overnight, I come back and the boat is where is it expected to be.

[CP3]

ANCHOR BUDDY all the way. I love mine. its easy to set up.

Dive toward shore. once you get about 20 from shore drop the anchor of the back. keep idling forward. once you get close to shore cut off the motor, grab your bow line and jump off to shore. tie off. and sometimes once I have the boat right. I turn the boat around by switching the lines so that the platform is facing the shore.

hope this helps

[spharis]

I will do a cruise through to see just how steeply the bottom rises to the water's edge, and if it looks pretty gradual, and sandy (no rocks at all), I will approach straight in....coasting in as slow as possible to keep a straight track...and the last few feet I will cut the engine off...allow the boat to slowly glide in, and come to a stop with the front third of the bow on the bottom. I use my anchor on the dry beach to hold the boat in place. I have yet to beach where the fins are on ground...and the boat stays where I put it.

-Mike

What he said


I did just buy an anchor buddy and a spike though, so I will be trying that.
We don't have rocky coast anywhere, just mud or sand.

[Original Wing Nut]

Another vote for anchor buddy. I was skeptical the fathers day I received it, but it has proved itself time after time. I use mine at powell and my boat is anchored straight behind the houseboat and off the back about 15 feet. It is out of the way when kids use the slide or steps on the back of the boat, and right there when you need to load up and get out on the water. I have have helped sell several anchor buddies, great product.

[spharis]

So is the general consensus to throw anchor, back to shore to get the bow outward?

[LovinPowell]

I use the anchor buddy that same way, however I have had experiences where the wind would start to blow so hard that it would blow the boat towards the shore, sometimes in a sideways direction. We would end up holding the boat from hitting the shore. I guess it's because the anchor buddy has so much "give" to it.

I am doing something wrong?