Marinette Boat Forum

Folks,
I know that some will beach their boats but after spending $$$ to paint the bottom, I shudder at the thought of wave action on the Ohio rocking the boat as it sits in a sand and silt mix. Has anyone used a "bow saver" to protect the bow from abrasion?

Years ago, in my pre-"Big M" days, had a small runabout that I attached a hard rubber product that epoxied to the bow which worked quite well. I'd never say that I had to when the boat started leaking from wearing down the bow from 1 too many beachings or grounding on one too many ramps...

Bill

I've used a piece of carpet for mine before, no matter what you do if the silt is soft enough the hull will touch, with carpet the silt will wash onto the carpet and still act as an abrasive.

We used to beach our family's 28' Owens and our houseboat with no ill effects. (Except, the time we missed the sand and beached the Owens on the rocks. The minor nicks on the keel were easily repaired with epoxy wood filler. Those old wood boats were surprisingly tough.) If you're beaching on sand or silt, would't it take a lot of wave action over a fair amount time to wear the paint off or damage the hull?