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I will be enjoying my new-to-me 1989 Outrage 18 at the cottage this summer. I am fortunate enough that I have two boat slips situated within a half mile on each side of our location and plan on trailering the boat vs keeping at a marina.

As our cottage is on the water (Atlantic Ocean), it would be a bonus if I could take the boat out early in the morning, then simply bring it as close to the shore as possible whenever I wanted in order to go to/from the cottage or beach area.

I have noticed quite a few pictures of 17' Mauntauks brought right to shore. Can the Outrage 18 be brought easily to shore and again back out manually by a couple of guys? If not, what is the typical minimum water depth that is needed until the boat gets beached.

Thanks,

Mike

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Mike, With the engine tilted up, the 18 will float in 10 inches of water. I prefer to back mine into the beach I hang out at, just because of our tides. I drop anchor out and set the anchor, then loosen the line and back toward the beach. Once your practiced enough, you can get the boat moving, cut the engine and tilt up before you get the the beach. The primary reason I do is because I can use the anchor line to move the boat away from the beach and into deeper water.

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When beaching my 22 outrage I was always able to get off the beach and floating again by myself. The 18's are the same.

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Thanks Jeff and Kamie! I appreciate the feedback.

Bringing the boat close to shore will make my summer that much more enjoyable.

Mike

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If you plan on beaching it a lot, get a Mega Wear Keel Guard. Its about $100. and glues to the bow at the keel. Warranted for life. I put one on my boat. It comes in white or different colors. Easy to install and works great. West Marine, Boaters World sells them.

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Why don't you buy a small dingy and just anchor your boat about 25 yeards off shore. Paddle the dingy out to the boat and tie it off on the BWs mooring spot until you return. The Atlantic ocean gets rough sometimes, I cannot imagine it to ever be smooth enough to beach your boat and it not get beat to death.

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Learn to beach the boat stern toward the beach. This keep the bow pointed into the waves and reduces the boat getting pushed up on the beach sideways. I started "beaching" the boat the way I do, because I was tired of getting out of my chair and pushing the boat off the beach, when the waves would hit her sideways. Yes, you and a friend can push the boat off the beach, I push my 18 off solo, guys optional.

CES, he is talking about beaching for the day, not mooring the boat in the water.

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When you guys say "beaching", do you mean you let the boat get completely out of the water when the tide goes out or is it more that you keep it in shallow water with the keel just touching the sand?

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Monsoon,

Have you considered using a temporary out-haul? This would work well for you situation. I use my anchor and rode as an out-haul for any extended landings. Just need a good place to tie the shore side of the loop.

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I appreciate the input. I am currently leaning towards bringing the boat as close as possible to shore with stern towards the beach and bow pointed out to sea, anchored. With what I've read, I should be able to do this without having my kids (3, 6, and 8) jumping into five feet of water.

I bought a 10' Zodiac RIB (9.9 Yamaha 4-stroke) two years ago; however, never considered towing it around with the Outrage. Wouldn't this look a bit much?

CBO, I have never heard of an out-haul or similar setup. Would you educate me further on this?

Mike

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Derwd24

Here is my definition of beaching. Me with the 22 and Dave (buckda) with the 18 have the boats pulled ashore on the Lake Michigan sandy bottom. There is less than 3" at my bow while it is shine deep at the stern.

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This may or may not work for you. Take a look at the photo below and then read this:

Take your anchor line and thread one end through the shackle at the end of your anchor chain and tie it to the end of the rope (usually attached to the boat) making a big loop. Let's call the knot "A".

Setting:

Drop the anchor and back toward the beach, hold on to the knot (A) and let the rest play out. When you get to shore, wrap one of the sides on the bow cleat. Hold on to the knot (A) and step on to shore. Pull the opposite rope the boat is tied on to move the boat away from the beach.

The key is securing the shore end of the loop "A". If a tree or boulder is not available, you can use another line to reach a secure point. If your setting does not have anything, one of those beefy screw type beach anchors may work.

Retrieve:

To retrieve the boat, pull the opposite side. Untie and pull up rope and anchor and stow.

Considerations:

The longer the rope the better.
Pull the boat 3/4 of the way to the anchor.
If there is a prevailing wind/current, I fix the rope downwind a bit if possible.
Consider the distance of the shore tie off point when setting the anchor.

History:

I learned this setup from locals who have year round out-hauls off of beaches. My brothers share an out-haul off a stone pier due to the 9' tides and lack of a dingy. When day tripping, I use a 100' line for a 50' loop. I have a 2nd coil of 50' in case the shore attachment point is far up. I have a Bruce claw type anchor that is one size bigger than recommended for my 17+ ft boat and 8' of 3/8 chain with a swivel type shackle on the end.

Hope this helps.

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Ahh, thanks for the clarification Jeff. I forget sometimes that you're fresh water. Last summer the outgoing ocean tide got away from me and I caught it just in time to get my 22 back into deep water, but it took all my effort. Another 5 min's and I'd have been stuck. So when I read that you were able to easily unbeach, I had to ask!

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Derwd24,
When I beach my boat it looks exactly like Jeff's only stern to the beach, engine tilted up

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So Kamie, does your beach have an active tide? The horizontal distance here between high and low tides has got to be 200 feet anyway, which would necessitate consistently moving the boat out on the outgoing tide to keep it from getting beached totally. Just trying to get a handle on this concept to see if it's something I could try vs. anchoring out and swimming in.

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Not really so much about the tide as the wind and waves. I used to beach the boat like Jeff, anchor up on shore. There is 5 tp 6 miles of open water and the waves push the boat onto shore. I just got tired of pushing her off all the time, especially when she would go sideways up onto the beach. Putting the bow into the waves, she rides above the waves very nicely. If the tide does go out, It's easy to hop on the boat and pull her out to deeper water by the anchor rope. Depending on when I hit the beach, if the tide is on the way out, I usually off load the chair & cooler close to the beach, then pull the boat out to a bit deeper water. By the time I am ready to loadup and head home, the boat is back near the beach, loadup, pull her out to deeper water, fire the engine and pull anchor and off toward dinner.

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Thanks for the clarification. So in the latter case with the tide going out and the boat further off shore, do you have a second line off the stern to keep the bow out if the wind isn't blowing to facilitate that?

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I probably should tie a second line, Last year I did not. This year if I remember, I will throw my mushroom anchor onboard and toss it onto the beach.