First Time Beaching...Intentionally ;)

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streamfisherman100

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Jan 14, 2007
23
A few friends and myself are heading to the Bahamas in February with a 34' Tartan, 36' Cheoy Lee, and my Vega. Before we leave I would like to beach the boat. While diving down to clean the hull is not that big a deal (I'm in Charleston, SC and the water's not that cold) I would like to beach the boat so I can thoroughly inspect the through hulls, propeller, and most importantly the rudder (one of my biggest fears for offshore sailing is rudder failure).

I have read the pdf file on beaching legs and am a little confused and intimidated. First off, is this recommending me drill holes in the hull to attach the beaching legs to? I don't need beaching to be a regular occurrence, I just want to do it once in a blue moon and drilling holes seems excessive. I've considered just running an anchor off one side to heel the boat over and let the tide go out with the boat laying on it's side. Would probably take two separate days to get both sides inspected and cleaned but I'm not in any huge rush so that would be fine. Any advice would be most welcomed.

Also any advice on things to inspect while beached would be welcomed, in particular what to look for in terms of a healthy rudder.

As a side note, for the trip I plan on doubling all the hose clamps for safety, replacing all bulbs through www.superbrightled.com for electricity usage reduction, and inspecting all the standing rigging visually and by running a soft cloth over any wire to reveal any problematic areas. The boat is in seemingly great condition and I had a marine survey in 2007 when I bought it that was stellar. Just want to be on the safe side and do any inspections I can before heading off. Thanks, Richard
 
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pjacobs55

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Oct 30, 2019
1,459
Hi Richard,
Here are some links, which you may already have:
www.sailnet.com

Giving Your Boat Some Legs

Careening a boat for the purposes of periodic maintenance is often risky and always awkward.As many cruising sailors know, one drawback of a typical single-keeled monohull sailboat is that it will not stand upright on its own when you intentionally take the bottom on a falling tide. During the...
www.sailnet.com www.sailnet.com


(shameless self-promotion) http://www3.telus.net/sailing/legs.jpg

I built the legs you looked at that require thru-hulls and they work well. The legs are cut in half on an angle and bolted together so they can be broken down and put in a locker. I used 4x4's but I think that's overkill. I was reluctant to drill more holes in the hull for the attachment points, but eventually did it, after making the legs. They're really solid and lock tight to the hull when attached.

I'd like to build a set of my own design with telescoping tubes for easy adjustment and stowage. The one thing I haven't found yet is a nice ball & socket type joint to make an attachment point that could be bolted to the gunwale using the hull-deck joint bolts.

I thought of using the aft lower stays chainplate U bolt for a mounting point, but it's too far forward for good balance.

It's very convenient to have prop and hull access. Just make sure the next tide rises high enough to lift you off!

Keep us posted on what you do!

Peter
#1331 'Sin Tacha'
 
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streamfisherman100

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Jan 14, 2007
23
Thank you Peter for all your input and links. At this point I have pretty much ruled out drilling holes in the hull. I am seriously considering just beaching/careening on it's side. Have you ever tried this before you made your beaching legs? Anything I should watch out for? Thanks so much. -Richard
 
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tiempo2010

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Sep 24, 2008
346
Anything you should watch out for? Yes, rocks.

On Tue, Dec 27, 2011 at 1:45 PM, streamfisherman100
streamfisherman100@... wrote:
 
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pjacobs55

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Oct 30, 2019
1,459
Hi Richard,
As Brian said: Rocks! I case the beach at low tide and put up a couple of sticks on the beach, the day before, to get lined up.

On one beaching I put a leg over a depression on the bottom and the boat started to heal over as the water went down. I ran an anchor out about 60', connected to the main halyard, and tightened with the mast winch, which quickly restored the boat to upright, holding it against the good leg.

Which leads me to believe .... it might work to find a safe place where you could beach on the side, if needed, but run a couple of anchors out, one on either side connected to a couple of halyards, and keep the boat upright that way.

I can see a few dangers here:
- One anchor could let go and let the boat fall over.
- Because the mast is ahead of the keel the boat could rotate around the front of the keel and fall over ... which doesn't seem likely, but ...
- The boat would not be stable to walk around on or in.

If I did this I'd see how the balance maintained as the water receded, and if it looked like a no-go, let the boat over gently while there was still some water to cushion it's decent.

A couple of 2x4's lashed to the aft shrouds would probably work in an emergency. You could make them abaout 3' longer than the distance up to the gunwale, with a hole in the top for a line to run down to the chainplate, and lash them to the shrouds.

Whichever method you settle on I bet you'll be amazed how easy it was how well it went. As I said before, keep us posted, take pictures, and be safe!

Peter
#1331 'Sin Tacha'
 
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vegavrijheid

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Jun 8, 2005
30
Many thanks for your latest newsletter Gents,

Very informative as usual!

I will post it in our Vegakring monthly and in the First Voda news.

Krgrds

RobKman



Van: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com] Namens
Steve Birch
Verzonden: dinsdag 27 december 2011 19:55
Aan: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Onderwerp: [AlbinVega] Latest VAGB Newsletter





Hi All

The latest Vega Association of Great Britain Newsletter is now
available..... Happy reading all you Vega Lovers...

www.albinvega.co.uk

Cheers

Steve Birch
 
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