Careening & Beaching

[MMNETSEA]

Careening & Beaching.

Careening for Monos and Beaching for Multis.

Who has done it? Location? Topography & Tides? Reason? Best practice? Other relevant thoughts?

[Apolima]

High tidal range enables boats to use a tidal grid to work on the bottom. A tidal grid can be anything from a couple of piling to an elaborate concrete pad lined with timbers to set the keel on and many stable piling to tie to. A good one is inherently safer than most haul out facilities.

I have used them many times on the BC coast to replace bottom paint and do minor repairs.

It is just a matter of choosing the right tides, tying up to the pilings on the grid and waiting for the tide to settle the keel onto the the grid. It helps to put a 6-8 inch spacer between the piling and rubrail. When the keel has settled the spacer can be removed so that the boat will lean slightly into the pilings. While the tide is going down keep adjusting the lines to ensure the boat is not hanging up.

Usually there is no cost involved. One can sit through a second tide if necessary.

Now that we are in Baja, Mx the tidal range is not large enough to use a grid so I have been thinking about careening. Many boats have been careened before the advent of marine railways and travel lifts. I would be interested in learning more about the does-and-don'ts of careening.

Gary

[redbopeep]

It is possible (if one has a full keel boat) to obtain a set of "legs" to allow one to work on the boat between tides w/o so much risk associated with careening. Our boat, a SS Crocker design, has a relatively wide/flat keel (ranging from 9" in the front to 14" wide in the back) and while it did not come with the legs, we know another Crocker with a similar keel did have them and used them notably when they grounded by accident once. Further, we know of a similarly keeled boat that grounded on a large rock in an uncharted area of Labrador in the 1960's and they actually were able to just wait out the tides because they settled nicely onto the wide, flat keel (thank goodness!) atop the rock. I've seen a pic of it and that grounding did look precarious, though, and I'd have been happy to have some boat legs to assist!

Such boat legs are usually attached to the boat's chain plates, can be made of wood, steel, or aluminum, and are stayed fore and aft as well. Some boats have one set of legs, others two. Here is a link to one company that markets such legs: LINK

[redbopeep]

Here's a picture of SV SeaYa, careened for some bottom work. The owners live in (and sail from) Sitka, Alaska.

[Apolima]

Boat legs seem to be a handy item to have aboard. I imagine one would have to use care to make sure the legs are set on solid bottom so they will not slip aside or sink into the soft bottom. It would be expensive shock to find a leg giving way when the tide is partly down. I have seen dredges use large pipe legs to anchor them in position which they force down mechanically or hydraulically. Perhaps a hydraulic or screw leg that can be forced down to a solid bottom.

Does anyone know of or has used athwart-ships anchors led to spinnaker or other halyards atop the mast to keep the boat upright? It seems to me that with that much leverage the pull on the anchors would be minimal. I would be interested to hear the experience of those who have tried this method.

Gary