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Best small, inexpensive trailerable for a beach that dries out completely?

6K views 44 replies 16 participants last post by  Arcb 
#1 ·
Help, please. The good news: I married into waterfront property, in south Puget Sound. The bad news: The water leaves completely, twice daily. The ground: Mud, oysters, clams, small rocks. I bought a little Hobie Bravo and have had fun on it, but it's so small (especially for someone in his 50's), a little hairy in high winds, and it can't carry an engine or friends, so I'm selling it this year. I'm looking, once again, for a boat to keep in front of our house. We live on Puget Sound, on a protected inlet that receives no wave action and generally no/light winds. But twice daily the water leaves. Neighbors leave their small powerboats on the beach, with outboards raised.
Things I'm looking for in a sailboat, and would love to hear your suggestions:

- Ability to sit on a beach that dries out completely;
- Has a cabin for two for the weekend;
- Not hard to single hand;
- Trailerable by a V6 Highlander with 3500 lb max tow capacity;
- At least decent light air performance;
- Cruising only, no racing;
- Max budget $10-12,000.

I think the Westerly, with its twin keels, is probably too heavy. Any suggestions are most appreciated!
 
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#2 ·
I bought a Bay Hen 21 on Friday and launched her this morning without docks in the water at the ramp, just dragged her around to the beach to load the wife, kid and picnic then short tacked her up river all day in Gusty winds. She performed magnificently. I'm towing her with a V6 Santa Fe, so very limited experience with the boat, but I'm super impressed so far.
 
#4 ·
Something with twin keels would be best. will it be there all week or just when you are using it. sounds like you need a boat that is designed to ground itself on every tide change. how much water do you have a high tide?
 
#5 ·
Twin keel boats are poplar in the UK where moorage that dries out is common and that's an ideal solution. In the 60s and 70s there were a number of low cost small boats. They'd be hard to find here and they're not all that great on performance. Trailering would be problematic. I'd avoid a swing keel boat like the Catalia 22 (a great trailer sailer) that's because when the keel is up it still extends into the boat and having it on the beach pushes it up into the housing which could cause damage over time So that leads centerboarders. Finding and O'Day Mariner, especially a 2+2 would be a good low cost choice with a small crawl in cabin.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the replies! Keep them coming. JimsCal, the Mariner 19 looks very pretty, and it has a great pedigree. Any idea if the keel centerboard might get jammed/cease to function well if mud got in the mechanism? I neglected to add to my original posting that before buying the little Hobie Bravo cat I bought a Catalina 14.2, with a swing keel, and set that on the beach. Within 2 weeks the swing keel, which is not weighted at all, jammed and I couldn't lower the keel. So we sold that nice boat.

Overbored, the tides here range, but at certain times of the year they are significant, ranging from minus tides to 12-13 feet high.

Waltthesalt, given our problem with the swing keel Catalina 14.2, would the centerboard idea work, do you think? Is there enough protection for the housing to keep out our Puget Sound mud and marine life?

Kriscross, I've tried the boat lift idea, and the one outfit that sells a lot in my area quoted me $18,500 for a 3,000 lb boat lift. That's out of my price range!
 
#10 ·
You appear to be in Puget Sound, so a Ranger 20 should be just about perfect. It will sleep two, and out-sail most of the other choices mentioned, as well.
Ray Richards designed it for gunk holing, and Ranger Boats in Kent WA built them very strongly.
FWIW, they also have positive floatation.
We owned one for five years, back in the day.
 
#11 ·
I checked out the Bay Hen, Arcb, and it looks very good, and a definite option. But I only found a few nationwide, and none in my area (Puget Sound, Washington). I'm willing to travel some for a boat, but within reason. Buying a new one would be great, but is well outside my budget of 10-12k max., I'd bet.

I also came across a Sea Pearl 21, with a small camper frame that would allow for camping in the cockpit.
 
#12 ·
Almost every boat I can think of (except bilge keeler, or twin keel boats)... require you to pop up the rudder to beach... likely NOT something you'd want.

The Capri 14.2 is a great boat, but would take a beating with incoming and outgoing tides.

This is when I ask the obvious question, of with tides that dramatic... won't you have a very narrow amount of time to sail, lest you be walkin home?
 
#13 · (Edited)
Unfortunately new Bay Hens haven't been made in nearly 15 years. My understanding is Marine Concepts, which builds the Sea Pearl 21 owns the Hen molds.

Sea Pearls are well regarded boats,but I've never had the pleasure ofsailing one. That self furling unstayed cat ketch rig looks pretty awesome. They look cool to me.
 
#14 ·
Thanks Arcb. The fact that Sea Pearls are so flat bottomed, and draw so little, would mean that I could stay out longer and still make it back to the beach without having to trudge through mud. The Bay Hen, drawing just 9 inches, also fits that bill. We kayak alot, and our kayaks need only 6" or so of water to float.

Shnool, you raise a key point: Timing the tides is important, as running out of water is a real drag... the mud is tough to trudge through! But with a boat that draws very little water (~1-1.5 ft?), and heading out early in the high tide cycle, you can stay out long enough for a nice day sail (up to 6 hours). The key is having a boat that draws very little with the board/keel up.

Alternatively, if I can't find a boat to keep right in front of the house (which for many reasons is optimal), I'll keep a boat May-Sept further out in the bay on a mooring or oversized anchor. There are downsides of a mooring though, so I'm trying to avoid that, and keep boat in front of our house, tied to our dock.

I checked out the Ranger 20 - thanks for the suggestion - but it looks like it has a stub keel/centerboard that might prevent it from sitting flat on a beach?
 
#16 ·
They also make boat rail ramps (or you can make them yourself), that will allow you to winch your boat out of the water so it sits securely (and dry) on your land. Any flat bottomed dinghy (those using dagger boards) would work on these. It is still an investment, but a lot cheaper than a boat lift. Beach dolly is another option. When hooked up to a winch on shore, getting your boat out is a piece of cake. But of course you will be limited in your boat choices. https://www.ghboats.com/options/accessories/dolly/
 
#17 ·
Thanks for the idea, krisscross. Unfortunately, we have a concrete wall bulkhead and no beach at high tide. The tide actually overtops the bulkheads several times a year. Behind the bulkhead, on the landward side, there's just about 6' of land, enough for a walkway, before the slope goes up steeply towards the backyard. So no ability to winch a boat up a ramp or rails to keep it on the land.
 
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