It's always easy to Monday morning QB, But here are a few things I personally
would like to think I might have considered before beaching the boat.

(All depending on the actual sea state and how much in jeopardy you perceived
your life and safety to be, of course. Better to destroy the boat than lose a
life. Beaching is not without risk, either. People geting out on a beach have
been killed or injured when waves have knocked them into rocks, or tossed the
boat onto them.)

First thing, assume command of the boat.
You're in trouble, this is no time for a committee debate. Expect people to do
as they're instructed: whether that's sit down out of the way, bail, secure
gear, etc.

In a bowrider, you probably want to get the foredeck covered as the storm is
approaching. Do you carry a canvas cover?
Is it attached securely enough and maybe supported with a bow to avoid caving
in when clobbered by a wave?

Of course, anybody not already in a PFD should put one on.

When the storm is upon you, quarter into the waves if moderate or head into
them if
extremely severe. This is why covering the foredeck is important- you'll be
taking a lot of splash and spray up there and anything you can keep out of the
boat won't have to be bailed or pumped as the situation progresses.

With water halfway between the floorboard and the seats, you had enough water
in the boat that it could have taken quite a while (30 minutes?) for the bilge
pump and bailing to evacuate it. It's sort of judgment time, was it a single
wave that caught you offguard and dumped all that water into your boat, or is
every third or fourth wave shipping more water aboard? IOW, if you don't beach
the boat, is the situation likely to improve or get even worse?

What's the weather doing? Are you experiencing a 15-minute squall that's almost
over, with clear skies approaching,
or as bad as it is already, does the weather quarter look even worse? If you're
getting beat up under light grey clouds and a dark black bank is
approaching...things are likely to get a lot worse before they improve

Do you have a VHF radio? It woulda, shoulda, coulda, been wise to listen to
the weather channel before setting out. Once in trouble, that VHF will alert
nearby boaters and the CG to your predicament.
You might not have had a full blown Mayday, but it wouldn't hurt to open a
communications channel just in case things suddenly got *much* worse, and they
could. Do you carry a GPS? If you have to radio for help specific coordinates
are a lot more helpful than "we're maybe a mile or so east of Hickory Creek." A
16-foot bowrider can be tough to see from any distance in stormy conditions.

And of course you had flares aboard, to help any vessels searching for you in
the immediate vicinity pinpoint your location. Right?

Sometimes beaching is the best solution.
A freind of mine was once the highest ranking CG officer on the W Coast, and
even ran the CG Academy at one time. Four or five years ago, he tore out the
bottom of his boat on a rock up in BC.
(Can happen to anybody). He put it on the beach. Lost the boat, (totalled by
insurance co), but nobody was hurt and
that's the ultimate standard.

On 13 Aug 2003 17:55:53 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:


Do you have a VHF radio? It woulda, shoulda, coulda, been wise to listen to
the weather channel before setting out. Once in trouble, that VHF will alert
nearby boaters and the CG to your predicament.

there's no question the CG would launch a boat if notified about this
situation. that's why it's always prudent to carry a radio.
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