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Does the 26X sit flat on the sand or mud when it dries out or does the boat list to one side? I guess what I am really asking is if you were caught in a tidal situation where you missed entry into a tidal area, could you dry out, sleep on the boat and wait for the next tide? Or would the boat be listed to one side on the sand?

Pretty flat on the flats...baston has some pix of his on the hard if you search.

Not a problem. Here is Matt's (aka Bastonjock) boat at his old mooring at Wells-Next-The-Sea in Norfolk. It would dry out twice a day.

Good Luck,
Jim

Do a search on the word "beaching" as we call drying out over here. You will get threads like this one (Click here).

I also found it useful to beach my MacX last winter when a 45kt blow was predicted overnight. The tide was going to be out when the winds were worst, so I beached it and slept on the hard more peacefully, but still noisy.

Great news. That opens up a lot of options knowing that it lies flat.

Thanks all.

We tried this intentionally once, down in south Florida waters near Everglades City. We eased in at high tide, and found a nice sheltered spot to anchor. I knew that, at low tide, we'd be sitting on the mud flat, but it was a soft bottom so I figured it would be fine. And it was, as far as the boat was concerned. Different story in terms of being able to sleep. The transition from floating boat to boat sitting solidly on the bottom took a surprisingly long time, and the change from gentle bobbing to occasionally bumping bottom made sleep impossible, at least until the boat completely stopped moving. And, shortly after that, I was again awakened by the boarding party, namely, a pair of inquisitive raccoons who were determined to check us out. I had to chase them off twice before they finally gave up. In the morning I found muddy 'coon footprints all over the boat. My conclusion: letting the boat ground is quite possible to safely do, but I'll opt for keeping her afloat.

Just dont make the mistake I did. I pulled the V22 up on the beach on an afternoon high tide. Next high tide would be in the morning so it was perfect for an over night stay. Well I did not check the elevations of the tides. It seamed that the mornings high tide was over 2 feet lower then the previous high. Long story short I was still high and dry that morning and had to wait for the next afternoon high tide.

Sits flat on level land, I do it often. One anchorage is back side on a sand bar in Pelican Bay, Cayo Costa,SW Florida, I anchor stern to beach and a sharp drop off and as tide gois out stern is high and dry but Bow is in 5 ft. of water.
Wakeing up in Morning is easy slideing out of rear berth as the boat is 15 degree down at the Bow but I easy just puch it off so I don't have to wait for tide.
Dave

Gary N wrote:Does the 26X sit flat on the sand or mud when it dries out or does the boat list to one side? I guess what I am really asking is if you were caught in a tidal situation where you missed entry into a tidal area, could you dry out, sleep on the boat and wait for the next tide? Or would the boat be listed to one side on the sand?

Heh heh - BTDT Pete. Tides have a lot of things that influence them - its a good thing that it wasnt a 'monthly' historical high tide....

If you're sat in mud overnight, just beware that it is possible to clog up the cd trunk. I've even seen a mod where a poker could be pushed in at the back to get things going in a hurry. Otherwise we enjoy beaching her as often as we can.

I stuck Wind Song pretty hard on the beach during the Florida 120. When low tide hit about 23 feet of her were out of the water:



More Florida 120 pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/radiobiz/s ... 323994596/

The M does a good job at beaching too...but not at 12 knots coming in

Q1

c130king wrote:

Jim, with tides like this you could take a kite buggy with you and catch some wind.



Glenn

Yep, they sit nice and flat.... PROVIDED the bottom is flat.... always check your charts and have a good look around before you decide to let her dry out.

Another point to make (sounds obvious I know!) but check the wind forecasts. It may be nice and calm when you dry out, but you really do not want breakers coming down on you as you start to re-float!

Another question. When you dry out on a beach or mud, do you open the ballast to drain off the extra weight on the hull?