Enjoying my Vista at the beach...a couple of questions

LVChris · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 11:55 am

I have a couple of questions for you seasoned cruiser owners. Recently we went to our usual beach spot to enjoy the day. I drove my vista up onto the beach, I know I shouldn't...in any case I usually jump off the back and go and place my beach stakes then unload our gear from the rear. On this day the water was only 66 degrees, too cold for my desert blood. so I leaped off the bow. The realized how was I going to get back, ok I probably could but not all of my passengers. they all stayed on the boat and left now I want to figure out how to avoid this.

So question one: Is there some sort of ladder that I can get to attach to the bow so that people could climb down to the beach? I am thinking something that stays attached and secure or something that I stow. I did see this;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/300882313642?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

but $400 is pretty steep for something I only need occasionally. I have been searching but can't find a reasonable solution.

Question two: I have seen larger cruisers here that are bow out. I have no idea how they do it, and can't find any guide for it on the internet. Basically it looks as though they drop their bow anchor, then swing the boat around and stake off the back. Leaving the swim platform closer to the beach. But I am only guessing as to how it's done...never actually seen anyone do it.

this is what I think I want to do....

this is what I want to do...

any help is appreciated.

ric · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 12:10 pm

I back in to "beach" in shallow water alot with my new boat, the front is TALL. Two anchors. One front, one rear. Drive all the way up. Very little slack on the anchor lines and thrown very close.

afw200 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 12:14 pm

Back in with a 238 period. Approach the beach, before it gets too shallow, come about, drop bow anchor, lift drive up a bit, back up to desired depth, tie off bow anchor to cleat, raise drive up all the way, shut down engine, set stern anchor, tie it off, dis embark from boat to beach, set up camp, drink beverage of choice to warm bones from 66 degree temp and relax. :mrgreen:

jgreve75 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 12:24 pm

We anchor stern in all the time, both in our current boat and in our previous Sea Ray. No trick to it, except you need to be mindful of how much water is there vs how much you need to keep your drive from hitting bottom when the tide goes out. I do it either of two ways, depending on the spot:
Set the bow anchor as usual, either by hand or windlass (love that thing!), then if water is warm and I'm getting in anyway, I wade my spare anchor in toward the beach (or even on the beach in some places) and set it, then tie off to the aft cleat and pull boat around till she is stern in to the beach. I usually walk around by the outdrive while we are anchored up this way and kind of judge my depth at various times to make sure the tide isn't going out too fast. If I need the boat to be out a little farther, I let some line out on the stern anchor and take some in from the bow. If you set your bow anchor a little farther out than you plan on being, you will have some extra scope to work with as the tides change.
The second variation of this is just that I just throw the stern anchor out a ways if I'm not getting in and then use the stern cleat to pull the stern around to the desired position and tie off.
When leaving, if you are in doubt as to whether or not you have enough water under the drive to motor out, you can always haul in the stern anchor and pull yourself out toward the bow anchor, which should put you in deeper water.

Also...If you are in a busy area with lots of boats and swimmers, its not a bad idea to mark your anchors with a small buoy or flag to keep folks from tripping or stumping a toe if they walk by your anchor. I actually had a guy try to take my stern anchor because his kids saw it on the beach and told him they found an anchor just lying there...he didn't get far and once he put two and two together he was really embarrassed :oops:

...we thought it was hilarious because we watched the whole operation from the boat, wondering what they were doing with my anchor...you run into all kinds of "special" peeps on the water, I guess. :roll:

Anyway...that's what works pretty well for us. Good luck!

neutron · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 2:07 pm

do it all the time.... we just have to move the boat forward and backward to keep with the tide. you dont have to worry bout that

neutron · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 2:14 pm

I dont use a stern anchor, I welded two pieces of pipe into a "T" and jam that in the sand, it ends up flat with the sand and a little burried so no one stubs a toe on it. I have seen people use those corkscrew type "dog" run things...for the stern. they take up less room and weight on the boat and store away nicely

jgreve75 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 2:23 pm

neutron wrote:

I dont use a stern anchor, I welded two pieces of pipe into a "T" and jam that in the sand, it ends up flat with the sand and a little burried so no one stubs a toe on it. I have seen people use those corkscrew type "dog" run things...for the stern. they take up less room and weight on the boat and store away nicely

Both of those sound like good anchor alternatives, we might try that!

afw200 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 2:53 pm

Shallow water anchor

Lightweight, not in beach walkers path, visible from the water to other boats.

LVChris · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 3:16 pm

Wow thanks for all the responses on stern anchoring. Looks like that's the ticket! No worries about the tide here, wish I had a windlass...going to be tough doing this by myself...

Love this forum.

neutron · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:01 pm

If I can do it by myself you sure as hell can also Chris...

I stop boat in neutral jump up front on the bow and drop front anchor let the line come out on its own, then back up slowly while trimming the drive up shut down the engine and drive up all the way and drift slowly to the beach. then jump off the stearn in 2 feet of water, run my stern line and all set for the day

Graham R · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:06 pm

Lucky you don't have 5 metre tides to contend with !

neutron · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:12 pm

Graham R wrote:

Lucky you don't have 5 metre tides to contend with !

I do... well not five metres..... about five feet........thats why I set bow anchor out far enough so that as tide comes out I have plenty to alow boat to move...
when we sleep over I have a knot tied at 74 feet to make sure i am that far away from high tide water line on beach to that when its low tide overnight we are still floating in 5 feet of water.

a few of us do this in the cove. makes it real easy to bring doggies to beach for a bathroom break. just let bow anchor loose and pull to shore

298VISTA2000 · **Posted:** Sat Apr 20, 2013 8:02 am

This is how we do it. When the water is up, there is an island in which one side has a deep drop off and you can literally back the boat up to the island and step off the swim platform to the island.

richsoetino · **Joined:** Tue Aug 16, 2011 3:12 pm **Posts:** 13

hello, where i can buy Shallow water anchor ?

EvilZ · **Posted:** Sun Apr 21, 2013 3:30 pm

richsoetino wrote:

hello, where i can buy Shallow water anchor ?

Here are a couple:
http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Slide-Anchor-Large-Shore-Spike-for-boats-up-30&i=81201&str=beach+anchor&merchID=4005
http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Tie-Down-Mate&i=37272&str=beach+anchor&merchID=4005

You could also add an Anchor-Buddy to your bow-line to pull your boat back out to a bit deeper water (would keep your stern-line taut). Then, when you want to get on/off, pull on the stern line to pull the boat towards shore again.
http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Anchor-Buddy-Anchor-Line&i=33367&str=anchor+buddy&merchID=4005

www.iFourWinns.com

Enjoying my Vista at the beach...a couple of questions

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