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Shallow Water Technique - advice please
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Author:  GI Auz [ Thu Jan 22, 2015 3:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Shallow Water Technique - advice please
After some time with keel boats it is now time to anchor closer to the beach. But how close and using what technique?
We do have a fantastic beach nearby with very gentle gradient. A lot of cruisers beach or tie stern-in in a few feet of water. Before I do this I'd like to get some advice as to how shallow I should motor in with the legs partly up before going engine off.
Legs draw 0.99m full down, hull draws 0.6m.
Anyone with a boat roughly my size care to detail their technique?
I have read the post on sucking in sand and mud - hence my desire to avoid this!
Author:  RotaryRacer [ Thu Jan 22, 2015 3:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
Assuming you boat in an area with tides and waves, you need to be aware of the low tide and wave activity before you attempt to come into the beach.

Best/safest technique is to come into the shallow water, but slightly more than your max draft and turn around, bow facing away from beach. Drop your front anchor and back in towards shore until the anchor sets and your stern is in water that is still more than your max draft.

Shut down and raise the drives.

You can set a stern anchor by wading in towards shore and dropping it, then tie off to a stern cleat.

The boat should stay in place facing away from shore. That way any incoming waves hit the bow of the boat. You don't want the waves hitting broadside or the stern.

Understand that waves will cause the stern to dip down and may cause the keel and/or drives to contact the bottom. That is why you want to always be in water deeper than your max draft.
Author:  rpengr [ Thu Jan 22, 2015 4:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
With an I/O, you can trim so high that the prop is starting to break the surface of the water, and you can still get forward movement (idle). Hull would hit bottom before engine in this configuration. However, if trimmed that high, in reverse you have near zero traction, and it walks to the side. Need to submerse the whole prop to get traction in reverse, and steering is still poor.

If you don't feel the engine hit the bottom, you shouldn't be sucking any sand. If you DO touch bottom, trim up right away, or kill the engine then trim up half way, then restart. That will usually prevent sucking sand. It's really not that much of a problem unless you are in a really soft mucky bottom, or if you choose to continue with the leg dragging the bottom.
Author:  JeffLW [ Thu Jan 22, 2015 4:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
RotaryRacer wrote:
Assuming you boat in an area with tides and waves, you need to be aware of the low tide and wave activity before you attempt to come into the beach.

Best/safest technique is to come into the shallow water, but slightly more than your max draft and turn around, bow facing away from beach. Drop your front anchor and back in towards shore until the anchor sets and your stern is in water that is still more than your max draft.

Shut down and raise the drives.

You can set a stern anchor by wading in towards shore and dropping it, then tie off to a stern cleat.

The boat should stay in place facing away from shore. That way any incoming waves hit the bow of the boat. You don't want the waves hitting broadside or the stern.

Understand that waves will cause the stern to dip down and may cause the keel and/or drives to contact the bottom. That is why you want to always be in water deeper than your max draft.


This is how I do it ^
Drop the anchor in deeper water and back towards shore. Make sure it is set then shut off and trim up while still in 5-8 feet of depth.
Then jump off and set the stern anchor by hand in the shallows or on shore.
Once I have them both set I can adjust them both so I'm at the depth I want at the swim platform.
Usually about 4 feet. More if there is a lot of wave action.

A couple of years ago I watched a nice boat anchored in 2ft of water bounce off the bottom every time a boat went by. Wasn't my boat, but that sound made me cringe every time it hit. :shock:
Author:  Vintage Beauty [ Thu Jan 22, 2015 7:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
JeffLW wrote:
This is how I do it ^
Drop the anchor in deeper water and back towards shore. Make sure it is set then shut off and trim up while still in 5-8 feet of depth.
Then jump off and set the stern anchor by hand in the shallows or on shore.
Once I have them both set I can adjust them both so I'm at the depth I want at the swim platform.
Usually about 4 feet. More if there is a lot of wave action.

A couple of years ago I watched a nice boat anchored in 2ft of water bounce off the bottom every time a boat went by. Wasn't my boat, but that sound made me cringe every time it hit. :shock:


Pretty much the same here. We anchor frequently off the shore of Lake Michigan. In our case- we watch carefully for sand bars. Usually we have to scoot across the bar at idle nearest to shore with the drive trimmed up (not beyond the trim limit though). We'll then turn back towards the lake, away from shore and set the main anchor in about 4' depth. We have nothing but sand, so we can get away with a relatively short scope for a day stop (4:1 or so, though 2:1 will often hold without big waves). Once the main anchor is set, we kill the engine and raise the drive into trailer position. Then (assuming the water is warm enough :) ) I jump out and make sure we're at the depth I like (usually about 1" deeper than our draft unless we have larger waves). If I need to move in, I'll add more scope, or physically move and reset the anchor. Then I'll set a stern anchor to avoid swinging too much and having waves on our beam.
When it's time to leave, we load up the boat with any beach items. Pull the stern anchor, and pull in rode until we're deep enough to lower the drive and start the engine. Once the engine is started, reverse the process. Pull the anchor and idle back out into deeper water.

Inland we have a nice beach with a big drop off. This is great to beach the boat on by riding the bow up onto shallow water. We'll often throw an anchor out to avoid being rocked out by wakes passing. If this beach isn't too busy, we'll anchor stern in with main anchor and stern anchor- this allows easier access vs climbing over the bow, or jumping into 4-5' of water at the stern.
Author:  Vintage Beauty [ Thu Jan 22, 2015 7:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
I should have mentioned- If our little inland beach is empty (Sunday evening for instance) We'll make it really easy and anchor beam to the beach (with anchors at bow and stern). Bear in mind this is an inland lake with a narrow channel to Lake Michigan- hardly any waves ever besides wake from other boats) The beach is typically pretty protected from wind as well. This allows us easy access of one side of the boat, without having to throw the main anchor into 20' of water, way off shore to insure a set.
Author:  GI Auz [ Fri Jan 23, 2015 5:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
thanks guys - very helpful :)
Author:  babbot1 [ Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
Check out Jerry Seinfeld's show on the internet. Comedians in cars getting coffee. You don't need a subscription or anything just do a google search or use Crackle which you don't need sign up to use either. The one you have to watch is Louis C.K. He tells a hilarious story about attempting to beach his boat. Don't do what he did. :-)
Author:  ric [ Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
JeffLW wrote:
Drop the anchor in deeper water and back towards shore. Make sure it is set then shut off and trim up while still in 5-8 feet of depth.
Then jump off and set the stern anchor by hand in the shallows or on shore.
Once I have them both set I can adjust them both so I'm at the depth I want at the swim platform.
Usually about 4 feet. More if there is a lot of wave action.


This is EXACTLY what I do also.
Author:  JeffLW [ Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
babbot1 wrote:
Check out Jerry Seinfeld's show on the internet. Comedians in cars getting coffee. You don't need a subscription or anything just do a google search or use Crackle which you don't need sign up to use either. The one you have to watch is Louis C.K. He tells a hilarious story about attempting to beach his boat. Don't do what he did. :-)


There is another one of Louis ck taking his new boat down the Hudson river. Laughed my arse off. :lol:
Author:  Paul I. [ Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:21 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
Me, anchor in deep/safe water. Than use an inflatable. Between tides, winds, currents and crew safety. It’s not worth it. You may hit something, never mind sucking sand up.

But, thats me.
Author:  babbot1 [ Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:31 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
Paul I. wrote:
Me, anchor in deep/safe water. Than use an inflatable. Between tides, winds, currents and crew safety. It’s not worth it. You may hit something, never mind sucking sand up.

But, thats me.


Same here! Plus being on the CT river the high currents in the spring change things up every year and the tide even miles up the river make for interesting beaching. I have been beached before with a smaller boat on Cape Cod. In a matter of 15 minutes the tide went out so fast that the boat was stuck and it took a lot of pushing to get it out from myself and other guy. No way I can push a cruiser out of the sand....
Author:  It's About Time [ Fri Jan 23, 2015 11:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
One thing I can add... Keep an eye on your ladder as well. Over the summer we anchor regularly at a sandy beach and on my 268, the ladder extends deeper than your hull. Typically the beach is very calm but a 40' cruiser sped through the anchorage and created a large wake and slammed my ladder on the bottom, thus bending the middle joint on the ladder. Bad luck would have it the company that FW used in 2001 for their ladders is no longer in business so any replacement will not only cost a lot, but you would need to do some fiberglass work on the platform to make the replacement fit (the replacements on the current market don't fit the holes exactly).
Author:  GI Auz [ Fri Jan 23, 2015 3:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
thanks guys.

What size stern anchor is appropriate to hold a 288 in this scenario do you think? The main anchor is a 35lb manson.
I am thinking a 10kg sand anchor sounds about right??
Author:  acguy [ Fri Jan 23, 2015 7:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Shallow Water Technique - advice please
I use a fortress aluminum anchor for the stern. You don't need a huge stern as long as the wind isn't pushing you out.
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