Going to Mexico Later This Year? Practice Your Dinghy Beach Landings First

While scrolling through our archives, searching for something we’ve long since forgotten, we came across a story on page 158 of our December 2006 issue about landing dinghies on beaches. The story describes dinghies being caught by the small onshore waves and being swamped, tipped over sideways, or even flipped bow over stern. Any of those options can be dangerous. Fortunately, the story includes some handy tips on how not to get “tipped.” With summer in full swing and the sailing-to-Mexico season right behind that, we thought it would be good to revisit this story, and hopefully help sailors execute safe beach landings in the future.

One of the scariest things in cruising is watching novices make beach landings through the surf in their outboard-powered inflatables. Their lack of skill is understandable in the sense that few of them have had any practice. We don’t know of anywhere in the States where beach landings are common, but in Mexico, cruisers want to or have to make beach landings all the time.

Nobody should underestimate the power of waves — even two-footers — to do harm. They can flip or roll inflatables. If the kill switch isn’t activated on the outboard, the props can rip through human flesh almost like a chain saw. The results are something you never want to see.

The good news is that with some education and experience, even novices can become pretty good at beach landings. Copying what other obviously skilled dinghy operators do is one good way to learn. It also helps if you’re a decent body surfer who feels confident in the waves and the ocean, because most bodysurfing principles apply to dinghy landings and launches.

In an attempt to help novices out, we’re going to offer some general tips, and advice for taking your dinghy in through the surf as well as out through the surf. These are rough guidelines only, and there can be situations in which they don’t apply, so the final decisions on what to do are up to you.

General Rules

1) Never turn your back to the ocean. This is the rule of all rules, what all Hawaiians teach their children, and will prevent most of the worst disasters. Nonetheless, novice dinghy operators do it all the time.
2) Don’t dawdle. If you’re coming in with the waves, you’ll only have about 20 seconds to do your business right. If you hesitate, you’re gonna get drenched or dumped. The bigger the waves, the more important the speed. Going out through the surf, you have even less time because you and the waves are approaching each other as opposed to going in the same direction.
3) Be patient. Waves come in sets, so it makes sense to wait until there is a lull. On days when there are big waves, you may have to wait five, 10 or even 15 minutes for an advantageous time to make your move. We once watched a hardened panganero hover for 15 minutes behind the breakwater at Punta Mita before he made his run for it.
4) Not all landing sites are equal. If a beach is straight and the swell is coming straight in, you don’t have much choice. However, many beaches are curved. The most inside spot, where you’d anchor your boat to avoid the worst of the swell, frequently has the smallest surf.
5) Always have the kill-switch line attached to your body, so if you dump, the prop will be stopped. Twice in the last two years Ha-Ha participants haven’t followed this critical guideline, and twice they came within inches of slicing up their backs.
6) Don’t overload the dinghy. It’s safer to make two underloaded trips in and out than one overloaded trip. If you’re overloaded, you don’t have the speed necessary to be nimble.
7) Never turn your back on the ocean. It can’t be emphasized enough.

Techniques for Dinghy Landings in the Surf
While looking back at the ocean, evaluate the size and consistency of the swell and the best place to make a landing, and prepare for your assault on the shore. Preparations include making sure the kill-switch line is securely attached to your wrist, that the kickup lever has been activated so the engine will tilt up when it hits bottom, that whatever gear you have is properly stored, and that everybody in your boat is poised for hopping out of the dinghy the instant your shoreward motion runs out of steam.

Timing and speed are everything. When you’ve identified a lull, immediately get on the back of the first small wave following a big set. You want to be as close to catching the wave as you can without actually catching it, because it will give you the most time before the next wave and because it will mean the water is slightly deeper, giving your outboard more time to run before it hits bottom. Ride the back of that sucker for as long as you can do it with speed — usually until the bottom of the outboard hits — at which point you’ve got to kill the outboard and tilt it up. The instant the outboard hits bottom or you slow way down, and while you’re killing and tilting the outboard — everybody else in the dinghy must — quick as bunnies — jump out and square the bow of the dinghy toward the beach, and start pulling like hell. If there is any kind of swell at all, your entire team needs to be as quick and coordinated as a commando team. If you have a person with limited mobility aboard, it might be better to have them stay in the dinghy until the very end.

People get into the most trouble by taking their own sweet ass time following the wave in front to shore and by dawdling when getting out of the dinghy. The result is the same, getting hit by the whitewater from the following wave, which turns the dinghy sideways, putting it at risk for rolling.

The worst thing you can do when coming in is actually catch the wave like a surfer would. In such cases you’ll either be pitchpoled — see the opening spread — or turned sideways to the wave and rolled. Circumstances vary tremendously, but if you ever find yourself in the situation where you are going to end up inadvertently catching a large wave, it might be best — assuming everyone is a good swimmer — to bail. This should never be done until the outboard kill switch has been activated. If everyone has to bail, immediately check to make sure everyone is safe. (If you’re an expert with a powerful but lightlyloaded dinghy, you know that you can pretty much outrun the waves right into the beach — panganero size — and be done with it. Bless you, but this article isn’t for you.)

Techniques For Dinghy Launchings Into The Surf
Since you’ll be going into the surf as opposed to with the surf, you’ll have way less time between waves, and therefore speed and timing are doubly more critical. Preparation is essential. If there is any swell at all, you should have been watching for five or 10 minutes in advance, getting the feel for the size and regularity of the waves. Get the kill switch around your wrist, have the engine in the down position, and emphasize to your crew the importance of speed in getting into the dinghy at the right time. When everybody is ready, walk your dinghy out so the outboard — in the down position — isn’t touching the bottom, but it’s not so deep that you and your crew can’t quickly jump in. In cases of much surf at all, it will make a lot of sense to strip down to your bathing suit. Big deal, you’re in Mexico, the water is warm. When a big set comes in, you want to walk the dinghy out a little further, always keeping the bow pointed into the waves. You may have to wait in this staging area for some time. Almost always, the best time to make your move is right after the last wave of a big set. As soon as you’ve punched on or over the whitewater of that wave, everybody must jump into the dink as quickly as possible, the engine starts on the first pull, and then you go like hell. Naturally, you absolutely don’t want to start the engine until everyone is safely aboard. With any luck, you’ll make it outside the surf line before the next wave breaks. It’s possible that there will be a time where you misjudged the timing between waves, the crew wasn’t as nimble as they needed to be, or the engine didn’t start. If you find yourself facing a wall of whitewater, a person on each side should get out to try to punch the dinghy over or through the soup. If it’s a big wave almost about to break, you want to roar out as fast as you can, then back off the throttle at the last second so as to prevent your dinghy from doing a backflip onto you. If it’s a really big wave about to break on you, it’s probably best if the engine is killed and everyone bail. If you do this, you must immediately check to make sure that everyone is safe. On this year’s Ha-Ha, one woman was temporarily trapped beneath the overturned dinghy. Those who aren’t good swimmers tend to panic in unfamiliar situations in the surf, and will need help immediately.

There are times when the surf and conditions get so bad, that’s it reckless to try to take the dinghy through the surf. In those cases you simply have to wait or make other arrangements. You might also find a more experienced dinghy person to take your rig through the surf, then swim out to join them. Do whatever it takes to be safe.

We’re not trying to scare anyone with this piece, just trying to prevent them from getting hurt. Reading about how to bring a dinghy in or out through the surf is usually more complicated than actually doing it. If you’ve done any bodysurfing or surfing, you’ll have an intuitive feel for what to do and when. If you haven’t done any bodysurfing, you should, as after a few sessions you’ll feel 10 times more confident in the ocean than before, even in larger waves. In fact, you’ll start having a blast and probably want to start taking up boogie-boarding and/or surfing, two of the most fun things to do in life. For older people who haven’t gotten much physical exercise or may have lost agility, the biggest challenges are being able to get in or out of the dinghy quickly when necessary. Just remember that a second or two can make the difference between you and all your valuables getting soaked, and you and your valuables being dry as a bone.

Once you get some experience, dinghy landings and launchings through the surf became a blast. So good luck — but be safe!

See the original story and photos here: latitude38.com/issues/december-2006/#158