How Not to Beach the TI

No sir. Your rear Aka has a pivoting brace attached to it that holds the bars out and keeps them from folding. That's the brace assembly.

Did it ship on the rear Aka? Cuz it cost about $50 by itself.

If it did, you got a real good deal.

And like the wise man said - "If you don't break somthin, you're not having fun!"

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The Wind Is Your Friend...

Yes it came complete with all parts including the pivoting brace.

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Steve

Great - you have a spare brace now!

Hope you won't need it.

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The Wind Is Your Friend...

This looks like a great idea.

Do you find the canoe paddle easier to use for this purpose than the kayak paddles which come with the boat? If do, do you still take both kayak paddles with you?

We still haven't even had the chance to try AI or a TI yet, but hopefully will soon; and it sounds like a good idea knowing what to do in situations like this!

I read all your answers and I have a couple of questions:

1. which was the wind direction? (it seemed that the wind was blowing against the shore, but just wanted to make sure)

2. Since anchoring seems really complicated while dealing with waves and wind,
I was wondering why the majority prefers this, rather than bosab's solution which pretty much seems what we'd do in similar situations on a dinghy boat, but maybe with an AI/TI it would wouldn't work that well...

[quote="rhyolken]This looks like a great idea.

Do you find the canoe paddle easier to use for this purpose than the kayak paddles which come with the boat? If do, do you still take both kayak paddles with you?[/quote]

I do find the canoe paddle easier to use because it is more powerful with less flex and a larger surface area so I can use fewer strokes.

I dont take the hobie paddle anymore unless I am just using the TI in Kayak mode with my son. I give it to him so he can "feel" like he is doing something! He cant reach the mirage drive yet so it gives him something to do.

The other 99.9% of the time we have both tramps deployed so I have been taking two of these canoe paddles with one as a spare for me in the back.

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2011 TI

For landing, steering, surfing and recoveries I find the short paddle is best.

Folks might find a twin blade easier to use on long, even-cadence paddles.

The main thing is, the canoe paddle does not get hung up in the sheets and sail, the way the long twin does. Makes it much easier to stroke, side to side, and make quick course corrections.

You get a little better leverage when using it as a rudder too.

But it's not as handy for shoving off, or swatting surfers who drop in on your waves.

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The Wind Is Your Friend...

The wind was from the SE gusting 30+ knots. The direction of the wind pushed us towards the beach at a rapid pace. I agree with you that bosab's suggestion is the best option discussed so far. My thoughts are if you had a sea anchor off the bow it would help control the bow as you swim/pull the boat in from the stern (bosab's suggestion). Again as he mentioned it is vital that as the boat touches the beach that you be ready to pull it in before it has a chance to go sideways.

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Steve

If you are an experienced surfer or kayaker, you may want to take your chances and use your mirage drive and paddle to cross the surf zone. If all goes well, you will be out of there much faster.

But if you are going to ditch, here's my variation on this theme. See if it makes sense for you.

First of all, NEVER get in front of the boat in an active surfzone. Keep it between you and the beach. Tell anyone who attempts to help the same thing.

Before you enter the surf, secure the mast and rudder. Remove the dagger. Lock the mirage drive against the hull with the heavy bungie/hook that Hobie gave you. Tie down anything else you are particularly fond of.

Tie a drogue off the stern or the rear Aka crossbar. The sea anchor should slow the boat and point it to the beach. Slide off the rear before things get bad. Grab the rear Aka and crossbar with a wide grip. Hang on as you drift into the impact zone, Enjoy the ride

(If you really feel you need to, let go and dive under the breaking waves, but try to grab the anchor line).

Keep things pointed toward the beach. Warn anyone you see on shore to move aside. Especially kids.

Once you have good footing, grab the anchorline or the stern and try to control the boat. Guide it from the rear as long as you can, letting the shallow rushing water do the work for you.

When it's safe, run to the front and grab your bowline (you have a bowline, right?) Lean back and drag the boat up to the high waterline. From there, you will find it easy to use the "double" T-Grip bow handles you just installed (yes 2!) to lift the bow with both arms and drag the hull along its aft section. Much less resistance.

Now catch your breath and go try to find all your stuff! (Perhaps your dignity will still be among them).

This all assumes an AI "crash landing" on a sandy beach. If it's a rocky coast, all bets are off.

Generally, I don't like backing the AI in. Consider that if the rudder is dropped while the boat pushes in backward, it will quickly snap the rudder housing and is likely to damage the hull.

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The Wind Is Your Friend...

I think as this forum evolves most are agreeing with the concept of swimming the boat in with a tether, with or without a sea anchor/drogue attached to the other end. There seems to be little agreement on whether the recovery should be bow or stern first. I think the reason is that it depends on if we are talking about a AI or TI. When beaching a trimaran the boat will pivot and try to go sideways on whatever touches the beach first. In our case that is either the hull or the AMAs. Because the AI is fairly symmetrical this fact makes little difference.



The TI, however is a different story. The AMA's are almost as far forward as the hull. When beaching in rough water they will become a pivot point and can easily cause the boat to turn sideways. If you look at my video that starts this post you will see that is what happened to me. For all TI owners I would recommend backing the boat in.

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Steve

The TI has it's own challenges, due to size also. If 2 people can handle the boat you have a better chance of doing it gracefully, but that didn't work out for you in this case.

Looking at the great video, I don't think you could have done things much better. You paddled in well, got off quickly and wrestled the beast from a good position. It was going pretty well till you got sucker punched. It happened so fast.

Frankly, the waves were not that big and the damage surprised many of us. I believe it was the tramps that really messed things up here, not your landing technique. Had they been rolled up, that rougue wave would have had much less lift and the TI may not have stood on its side.

After watching that scene in gut-wrenching slomo, I think I will add "roll up the tramps" to my pre- crash landing checklist.

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The Wind Is Your Friend...

Well I might add a few notes from our experience with dinghy-boats-and-waves landings, but it's hard to find all the correct terms in English.

So I guess there's a few extra hints here:
Lee shore landing, how?

Seeing this Vid reminds me of a Thread awhile back where some ppl said they regularily landed AI's in Surf with no probs which, as a Surf Kayaker, made me wonder what they called, "Surf" as this was not even Surf, just a Beach Break.

I notice the Captain was standing on the Beach Side of the boat which is a bad place to be when the wave hits the boat, no disrespect, stuff happens.

A new responsibilty comes with the TI as your Passenger is often relying on you to make all the right decisions and moves with their safety uppermost.

"Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous but like the sea, is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect." RAF AVM 1930's.

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Fair Skies, Max.

NOHUHU :
I had to do a beach landing with my TI on a pretty flat beach with 3 foot breakers over the weekend at Mediera beach (on the gulf near Tampa FL),lots of surfers out that day (something you don't normally see on the gulf coast). I guess there was a hurricane or tropical storm off shore over the weekend over by New Orleans. I did as you suggested and came in fast as possible straight in with all the sails already put away, and everything else tied down. I then quickly raised the rudder, pulled the mirage drive and jumped off the back (between waves) and guided the boat in from about waist height. Holding onto the back of the boat I was able to keep the boat straight and walk into shore. The only hickup was my wife walking out into the water with a two year old right in front of the boat to meet me as I came in. Needless to say our friends 2 yr old kid now knows a few 'special' words from me yelling at them to get out of the way. I thought about it afterwards and next time I will throw my anchor out (always tied to the rear of the boat) and guide the boat in hanging onto the anchor line instead of the lift handle (I'm sure safer). When the boat raised up in the waves the rear of the boat was way over my head, I think holding on to a rope a few feet back from the boat would have been safer for me. I think I will pick up a drift chute and just keep it in the boat (like you suggest) for next time. If I hadn't read your suggestions it could have been a lot worse, and that kids nickname would now be sandy, thank you.
Bob

"Mommy, why is that nasty man with the boat yelling at everyone?"

Really glad to hear it Bob. I really can't think of a down side to tossing out a short drift anchor prior to entering the surf zone. Except snagging the rudder or the reef.

I found that a bow or stern line is the only sane way to handle the "bucking bronco" in steep shorebreak.

Almost every weekend, I land on the lee side of an small offshore island. The ocean swell wraps around both sides and collides head-on from opposite directions. It's entertaining to watch the waves plow into each other and often leap straight up.

But it's not fun to land there on a big day. The tiny sand bar is crowded with rental yaks and tourist are snorkling right in the landing zone looking at the fishies. It's a mix of sand and coral, depending on the tide.

Of course, it's a riot to watch them leave. They try to hop, 2 on a tandem in the chop and 50% of them huli... (Good place to find cameras and sunglasses).

On most beaches, I would prefer sailing straight in under control and crash landing catamaran-style onto the sand, but it's usually too crowded, particularly with kids, to do that. So I get off. When I have time, I back it in with using a 6 ft, snubbed bowline. (The rudder complicates things when you are trying to control her with lines from the back side)

I really should start using a whistle or air horn to get the attention of frolickers, cuz you would not believe how many of them will completely ignore my red, tri-hulled sailboat with a 16 ft mast and several 9 ft fishing rods, while I am bearing down on them. It amazes me.

The airhorn underwater sounds like a cool trick. Do you think I would blow someone's eardrums out like this?

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The Wind Is Your Friend...