I would be very interested to know how people manage beaching and getting off again for various wind directions.

We’ve only taken Miss Fidget on to the beach at Bembridge, where the wind was offshore. Going on to the beach was straightforward – we came along the channel parallel with the beach with the keel already part way up, then turned in towards the beach and dropped the kedge as the depth started dropping, indicating we were just on the edge of the channel. We motored in to the beach, head to wind, raising the keel as we went, until we touched the bottom. We got out carrying the bow anchor and buried it well up on the beach. Miss Fidget was then held fore and aft and lying parallel to the wind, so kept a pretty stable position as the tide came back in and went out again.

Getting off again was much more scary, despite the help we received! I remember that we re-placed the bow anchor so that it was fairly close to the bow rather than a long way up the beach. I can’t remember at what stage we lifted the kedge, but I guess that, once we were afloat, we would have dropped back on the bow anchor to lift the kedge, and pulled forward again to lift the bow anchor. We then had to motor astern, something that Miss Fidget doesn’t do very controllably, and the wind caught the bow, which swung round in the opposite direction from the one I was steering, leading to some close quarter manoeuvering amongst moored boats – fortunately without incident! I can’t think of anything we could have done differently in principle, although I think we could have done more to control the angle of the bow to the wind while being held at the bow.

What about an onshore wind? Is it better then to drop the bow anchor first and drop back astern onto the beach with a lifted rudder? Or is better to follow the offshore wind procedure, and lie to the kedge anchor as the main holding anchor? Getting off under this circumstance would have the advantage that we’d be clear of any Seals and Parkers that had been beached alongside us before the holding anchor came up. What about longshore winds, or ones at an angle to the beach? Should the two anchors make a line at right angles to the beach, or be in line with the wind direction?

I’m sure there’s a huge amount of experience of beaching Seals and Parkers, and I would be very grateful for other people’s advice.

Many thanks

Gilliane

Miss Fidget, Super Seal 26, no. 69

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That's a good topic - I hope you get some more replies!

We've done it pretty much the way you describe, using a kedge to keep head to wind. We've also done without the kedge in light conditions, just anchoring in the usual way in the shallows on a falling tide. I also use the keel to prevent yawing - just dropping it a few inches into the sand once anchored and letting the boat settle down on it.

I would only ever anchor with an offshore wind, never on a lee shore, so the wind is always there to help her off. With the keel up, the bow will blow downwind very readily, which is fine for sailing straight off the beach - just unroll the jib and waft away!

It sounds like your problems were caused by a crowded anchorage, leaving you little room to turn. And with the keel up, head to wind and no way on, control would have been very difficult! I might have misunderstood the situation but do you think it would have worked better if you'd brought your bower aboard first and allowed her to stream off the beach from the kedge? That would have taken care of the turn, put the bow downwind where it wanted to be and perhaps put the keel in deep enough water to allow it to be dropped a bit to help steerage.

Anthony Russell

235/02 Sea Wyche

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Thanks for your reply – the detail you provided was very reassuring. With hindsight, I think a lot of our problems in Bembridge were due to my not being familiar enough with the way the bow blew off, and not having enough confidence in being able to make stern way. Since then, we’ve done more manoeuvring astern and I’ve learnt that, unless the wind is very light, the wind on the bow will be much more significant than prop walk in the early stages of getting under way. It’s better to accept that and use it than to try to fight it! I like the idea of sailing off the beach as you describe, provided there’s room – we’ll try that when we get the opportunity. We’d probably have the main up before lifting the anchor, as I find it’s easier to raise it at that stage than when sailing under jib alone.

Thanks again

Gilliane

Miss Fidget, Super Seal 26, no. 69

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In fine weather don't worry about anchors, just sail on to the beach, with the keel up until you touch, drop the keel into the bottom and wait until you dry out and then lay out the anchor where you want it for floating.

Hi Gilliane. I'm a bit rusty on this but recall that we used to approach just as you described. I also remember that 'fendering' your way out once afloat was quite common. Bumps were expected, but hopefully fender bumps not gel coat bumps. As we would normally sail off as soon as the flooding tide permitted, we would take in the main anchor and stow it. As we floated, we'd pull in on the kedge to clear our neighbours then hang on that for a while. With a little more water under us, we would then start the engine pull in the kedge and off we go. Vol-au-vent is quite well behaved in reverse. Perhaps inboard power is better than outboard power in that respect, but I don't know why. Cheers-Ken

Ken Surplice

Commodore

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The reason why most outboards don't reverse well is because the exhaust is usually 'through prop'. In forward gear the gases are thrust away but in reverse they are sucked back over the prop causing a pseudo cavitation effect. (The prop just spins ineffectively in the exhaust gases). Some so called saildrive outboards have partial diverters which help. When I had an outboard on Elsa I had holes drilled in the sides of the base of the outbard leg, very short aluminium tubes welded over the holes to fit plastic hoses just long enough for the gas to be diverted away from the prop either side. It didn't cure it totally but did help. It had the added advantage of diverting the gases away from the outboard well preventing stifling of the engine.

Perhaps this is very obvious to you Gilliane but I thought I'd mention it.

Chris.

Dear Chris

Not obvious at all - I think there must be some variation between outboards. I contacted Tohatsu earlier this year, and one of their engineers explained that our engine (a standard 9.8hp) has a reversing port halfway up the leg, and that exhaust gases are sent out though this in reverse. He did admit, though, that a small amount of exhaust gas may still come out of the through prop exhaust area. He suggested that our problems going astern could be addressed by changing to a saildrive propellor, and this has indeed been a real improvement.

Gilliane

Miss Fidget, Super Seal 26, no. 69

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