Preview: Boat Handling for Beach Cruising – Anchoring, Beaching, Rigging an Outhaul & Boat Knots

30 Responses So Far to “Boat Handling for Beach Cruising – Anchoring, Beaching, Rigging an Outhaul & Boat Knots”

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  Norman Johnson says:

  Wow, I just noticed the dates here. You guys have been doing this for almost 10 years. Fantastic! Why did it take me so long to find you? I feel fortunate to be able to jump in here in 2021 and benefit from all the thought, effort, and insight you have put into this great resource. I come here when I need a calm moment, for inspiration as I look for my next boat, and to learn the many things I still need to absorb to become an old salt. Thank you for all your work and for sharing your obvious love for wooden boats and our natural world.

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  Daniel Wray says:

  Recently joined and am enjoying all the videos. Great work.

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  Mark Lo Schiavo says:

  Thanks for this great video! How about a clove hitch? That’s a really useful addition to the common knots and hitches… could you demonstrate one of those for making fast to a tree-stump, fence post or horizontal bar?

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    Walter Rybka says:

    This may sound like heresy, but I think clove hitches are useless, they either slip or jamb or both. A tugboat hitch takes about .5 seconds longer to tie and will hold forever and still be adjustable. To tie take an underhand turn like starting a clove hitch, then with a bight of line go around the tree or bollard and then figure eight the line itself, essentialy you are cleating it off using the line to the boat as one horn of the cleat, works either with a bitter end or on a bight in a long line.

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    Walter Rybka says:

    also demonstrated, correctly, were two half hitches. However this knot is so much more secure and easier to untie and adjust if the first step is to take a full round turn before the hitches.

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  Michael Hiss says:

  Regards from the ,,Black Forest,, Germany.
  Good film. May I give a little critic. The instructor chould close is livejacket. In some situation it is very helpfull.
  Good time Michael

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  Keith Pullin says:

  Once again, excellent film, thanks.

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  Greg Stamatelakys says:

  I sail the 800# Drascombe Lugger (Lake Huron North channel) and would be interested to hear from those who have been able to beach onto rougher shores in somewhat heavier weather. I’ve rigged a Harken handy-billy (w/ cam lock jaws) to go to the boat’s stem and a long line to attach to a tree; its more for an emergency and yet to have used it. Has anyone had a rough go of it in similar situations? What works best in portable keel rollers? Thanks in advance!

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    Geoff Kerr says:

    Just to know i can I have pulled Ned Ludd up above the tide line using a come-along and cylindrical fenders as rollers. I suspect my fenders measure something like 8 x 20. There are inflatable rollers on the market that would stow out of the way, but I can’t suggest a source.Someone who likes to surf the interwebs more than me might find them. Trees, boulders and a well-set anchor can serve as belaying points, and you may well need several in sequence.

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      Steve Branam says:

      Do the fenders work better as rollers when fully inflated or when partially deflated? My intuition is that partial deflation helps keep them under the keel, but I have no actual experience doing this.

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        Steve Stone says:

        Full for me.

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        Geoff Kerr says:

        I always wish I had pumped them up before starting the trip.

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      Geoffrey Adams says:

      I know I’m late to the party here but thought you’d like to know if you haven’t heard already, Duckworksbbs.com has inflatable beach rollers on their website. many use them in the florida everglades challenge to launch off the beach then tie them down as flotation. 9″x60″ will float 2000#

      https://www.duckworks.com/product-p/aere-br.htm

      Geoff

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  Herve Depow says:

  The last comment was in January 2012. This is to let you know the video is still being looked at and enjoyed two years later.

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  fred gale says:

  very nice, enjoyed it, the knot tying was great, so simple
  regards fred,

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    Welton Rotz says:

    This video got me hooked into Off Center… Been sailing for over 60 years and still learned something. I have a Tirrik, smaller version of the Caledonia Yawl. Thanks

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  Jack Camillo says:

  Another very useful video!
  Thanks!

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  Prescott Powers says:

  Wonderful videos- very nice camera work and I like the narration.

  Especially like the videos about small boat cruising- more needed, as I have watched them all the first night of signing on :-)

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  Harvey Kerstein says:

  Hi Dustin, keep up the great work

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  Terry Smith says:

  This video, like the others I’ve enjoyed so far, was superb. Your production team and I are on the same wavelength. Video quality, audio, music, and of course the “”talent” make a wonderful combination.

  My boating is now restricted to kayaking on lakes here in NH, but we like to “gunkhole” so some of the beaching concepts here are helpful. Never tried a sheet bend, but now I may give it a try.

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    Steve Stone says:

    Terry. You may want to check out Part 1 of the “How to Build the Fox Double Paddle Canoe” series. It’s a great boat for paddling the lakes of NH, especially Squam.

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  Louis C Gatling Jr says:

  Great video!! I really enjoyed the knot tying. Would like to see more

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  Mac McDonald says:

  Fantastic!!!!! now I have to find that big piece of lumber to make my own cross

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  Carolyn & Ron Pease says:

  This is a comment for all the men who created the Off Center Harbor progrect. I envy you for this wonderful project. I get all excited when I read your blogs and feel your enthusiasm for each aspect of the work you have accomplished to date. I look forward to the future of your work and just when I think you hav e done it all,you blow me away with somethimg new. You make me soooooooooooooooo excited to get back to camp in Friendship. Forgive me,my sailboat is made of fiberglass and does not have the smell of paint and wood but I can still smell the salt water and the water still glistens.Keep up the good work!!!.

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  William Saunders says:

  Nice video. Would be nice to point out that when forming a sheet bend (or double sheet bend) that both of the ends of the two lines being joined should be on the same side of the knot when you are finished tying the knot.

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  Arthur Brendze says:

  More on knots …

  Very valuable information for beginner beachcruisers! My only concern is teaching newcomers to use a bowline where you might find it necessary to cast it off while under strain. You can’t do it, of course. I always use a round turn and two half-hitches instead, whenever there is the slightest chance that I might need to untie the knot while there is a strain on the line. A round turn takes the strain and the two half-hitches secure it. You can untie two properly made-off half hitches with the Queen Mary hanging on it. (Be sure to move out of the way.) If I am worried about the bitter end of a half hitch coming undone on its own, I always carry a few plastic wire ties in my ditty bag to secure the bitter end to the standing end of the line. Your rigging knife will make quick work of it in an emergency, and you will still be able to untie the knot under strain.

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  Stephen Weld says:

  Comments on knots…
  Thanks for a pleasant and useful website. I look forward to more! The double sheet bend, with its extra turn, is useful when there is a great disparity in the sizes of the lines being joined, and also is more resistant to loosening when shaken. You might comment on the difference between the square knot and the “granny” where the ends finish at right angles to the standing part. Two half hitches is cousin to the square knot, but your example is what I would call a clove hitch on a bight, and is cousin to, and by jiggling can be resolved into, a granny. ( try it–I just did.) Finally, the knot I use the most is a rolling hitch, though more often in transportation and storage situations where its ability to adjust and hold a bight is useful.

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    Douglas Mosby says:

    Spoken like a true Bosn…note: dispirit line sizes, the larger of the two for the eye!

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  Edwin Fell says:

  This is a great reminder on what and how to teach young sailors.

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  David Slater says:

  OK, I believe I have watched them all. Keep them coming. I am learning a lot. Thanks.