C Dory 22 on Sand

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If I pulled up near a sandy beach and let the tide go out so that the CD-22 is sitting on sand, would it be stable and stay upright? If my wife and I slept on it, would it tip side to side?
 
It would be stable--of course depending on the specifics of the sand. Just be sure that your engine is pulled all of the way up. The other issue might be with depth sounder transducer. It depends on how it is mounted, but often tipping them up on the mount deliberately will avoid any damage--and another reason I like to fasten the transducer into a "Starboard" block. You can remove the screws, and put them back into the block, without any risk to water intrusion into the transom. If you have any thru hulls (very rare on the 22's) you may want to protect those.
 
Rolling (side to side tipping) while aboard and aground on sand shouldn't occur
much due to the mostly flat hull. If you're really active and concerned, block the
hull.

Sweet dreams.

Aye.
 
Donald, on soft sand or hard sand, no worries other than those specified. When the tide returns, if there is much of a sea running, you may want to set an anchor off a bit to deeper water, so that the boat is not knocked about as it refloats. Save some abrasion in any case. Further, if you are asleep when the boat refloats, the anchor will make sure you do not drift someplace hazardous.
 
If you are leaving the boat for it to settle as the tide goes out, you will want to be sure you know where the anchor is in relation to the boat. It would be a bummer for the tide to go out and the boat to settle on top of an anchor. I would recommend setting your primary anchor forward, and a stern anchor far enough away so that the boat is held between. There is no danger of a C-Dory tipping as the tide runs unless you are coming down on a big rock.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

0_CD_Cover_SlpyC_with_Classics_MBSP_2009_288.thumb.jpg
 
But WHY? If I'm not on the trailer, I'd prefer to be on the water. (Unless of course I'm on the sling at Cap Sante Marina. lol). However, my thoughts of Jay's photos is also, COOL! :D Colby
 
colbysmith":r9lhs884 said:
But WHY? If I'm not on the trailer, I'd prefer to be on the water. (Unless of course I'm on the sling at Cap Sante Marina. lol). However, my thoughts of Jay's photos is also, COOL! :D Colby

There are a number of places where at low tide anchorages which might be attractive to C Dorys, and not to deep draft boats, will dry out.

One which quickly comes to mind--is Catalina Harbor on the South Side of the Isthmus at Catalina. The anchorage gets crowded on holiday weekends. So boaters come further up the bay, forgetting the 6' tidal range--and in the middle of the night, they are high and dry--OK in a C Dory--not so in a Cal 40, or any other fin keel boat...

It is "normal" for boats to be moored in the English Channel Islands, so that they are positioned over a hole, when the 25 foot tide goes out, and they don't go aground...a flat bottom or bilge keel boat is fine taking the sand. So it is intentionally done in places like that.
 
Don't do it if you intend to cook steak for dinner. You may have uninvited guests. If you are lucky, you will just see their footprints in the sand the next morning.

Mark
 
Donald,
We've done it often in soft sand (no rocks around here ) with our 1-2.5 foot tides, even with our prior deep-V 26 Regal cruiser it always settled level with a bit of planning. Unlike Colby, my crew has concerns of:
What if a drunk fisherman careens into us despite the anchor light?
What if a barge carrying 50,000 tons of benzene gets loose from its towboat and runs us down?
What if a thru-hull fails and we sink while we're asleep?
What if both anchors drag and we drift out the pass and wake up finding we'll have to spend the rest of our lives in a Cuban prison?
Well, if the boat is soft aground in 6-10 inches of water all those worries disappear.
My concerns were the AC and genderator thru-hulls and transducers, agree with Bob. We dug holes around the thru-hulls, but that Regal AC unit could find and suck in any Wal-Mart bag within 10 nautical miles.
Also we couldn't get underway in a medical or other emergency and would have to depend on 911. 911 has always been in cell range so far.
We have never ended up other than dead level, even in the deep-V Regal.
We never had any visible damage to the bottompaint (Pettitt Hydrocoat_SR).
As the tide comes back in, the floation will result in a bit of noise and movement, but it never bothers us. Set anchors per prior posts.
Full disclosure: TC255 bridgedeck hull slap and halyards banging away in tropical storms in marinas never bothered us, either.
Try soft grounding anchoring gently at first, you'll probably end up liking it. If not, no harm no foul.
Happy Boating!
John
 
It’s a neat sensation to feel the boating grounding on a soft bottom & even neater to feel the tide pick it back up again. I’ve experienced this a number of times. I always make sure the bottom is a type that won’t damage the boat. More than once, I’ve had reservations & before the boat settled, but shallow enough that I could physically check it, aborted & gone to deeper water. Critters have not been a concern of mine. In fact these bottom out locations were most often chosen, so we could be closer to them. No difference in being on the bottom or tied to one one of the old forest service docks or maybe even being anchored in these high bear density areas. I’ve had bears swim close by while anchored. Actually if a 1000 lb bear decided to come board, I’d rather have the boat grounded then floating. Many will stay in the remote cabins that can be rented & a CD22 offers about the same protection. Maybe having slept nights in the open with not even a tent in grizzly bear country gives me a different perspective. The critters, I’ve had come aboard are raccoons & mink. The mink especially can be aggressive & leave a stinky mess.

Harvey, unless the wind is blowing strong against the tide going out, the boat will line nicely from the anchor & if towing a dingy it will line out behind the boat like shown in the first photo. I have had to step overboard to hold the boat in place when the tide returned & if not wanting to wait, walked the boat to deeper water to get the motors down & underway.

Jay
 
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