A LONG WAY DOWN

[BEC53]

I did it once with my 43DC at High Island in northern Lake Michigan, but I didn't like it and have never done it since. Be careful!! You not only have to think about your running gear, but also damage to bottom paint, etc.

Do you have stabilizers? If so, I would think twice about it. Also, a 53 has a throughhull in the bow for the head and/or washdown. I wouldn't want to suck in a bunch of sand.

IMHO you're asking for trouble.

[jim rosenthal]

...of an ad I saw years ago, for, of all things, diamonds. Showed a guy in a 59 Corvette driving down a 2 lane road, with some copy about all the weekends he'd driven long distances to see this girl he loved, and now he was making THE TRIP to see her with the ring he'd got, to propose to her.
So what did I do? Bought a 59 Corvette, etc etc. Fortunately I didn't marry her....the moral of this story is that not all photos in ads are worth emulating- or safe to either.
Seriously, for what a decent dinghy and OB cost you can't fix the bottom of a grounded Hatteras. Even when you can see all the way down, and think it's safe, the tide can screw you.
There are some cruising trawlers that are meant to be grounded like that, with the bow on the beach. I don't think ours were intended for that, and just because they might survive it doesn't mean it's a good idea.
Oh and the 59 Vette rides like a truck. AND leaks in the rain. AND doesn't even handle well. Strictly a boulevard type car.

[dwaynec]

I too boat on the muddy missy. I am at Rock Island. I have never beached our Hat and have no intention to since I spent a week getting the bottom sanded and painted. Most the sand bars that we pulled up to when we had the runabouts were not too bad as the sand was pretty soft. But then we are talking about 19 foot boats that don't weight much. Down in that sand, and mud, are such great things as beer cans, bottles, clam shells and rocks. All bad things for the bottom of a heavy boat. Then, at least around here, you have such wonderful things as wing dams that are nothing but rock and a water level that never seems to be very stable, and is always unpredictable. This is further compounded by a lot of wakes from passing boats. I would assume you are up around the twin cities and might be boating on the St. Croix, which is an entirely different river, and maybe your experience would be different.

I would definitely think more than twice about beaching, and then I would definitely decide against it!

Dwayne

[mgernes]

Thanks everyone for the advise. I am pleased from my perspective since I have been given some thoughtful insights, and glad for everyone else because the picture of a beached boat in the aqua water seemed to make us all think how much we miss the warm weather of summer.

I will think twice about running up on the beach.

Marcus