There are a lot of great ways to get ashore and explore, and here’s how I do it using a few different tools with some modifications.

Going Ashore

Going ashore is one of the best parts of being on a boat - exploring new trails and islands, visiting a new town or restaurant - the list goes on. Getting ashore via dinghy can be easy if there is a dock, or a bit more complicated if there isn't.

Where I cruise, shorelines are almost always rocky or even steep and the water is cold (54F / 12C) and not fun to wade or swim in. Add to that the tidal swings between 8 and 14 feet, and you could end up with a dinghy high and dry or unreachable depending on the beach and how long you're gone.

As a result, I use a strong anchor with some stretchy bits and a shore line to help with getting ashore. Here are the bits and pieces that make up that system.

Anchor Buddy

Most folks who have spent any time going ashore to a beach have found the Anchor Buddy, which is what I use too. However, I make a few modifications both to the Anchor Buddy, and the pieces attached to it.

If you've never come across the Anchor Buddy, it's like having a bungee cord attached to your anchor. The basic process is to throw this off the stern of your dinghy as you're coming into a challenging shoreline, and continue motoring towards shore. If you do it right, you end up with a tight anchor line that stretches. Combine this with another line off of the bow of the boat that you tie to something on shore. Now you have a system where you can adjust the length and tension so that your dinghy is in a desired location while you're away.

For my setup, I get rid of the shackle and the clip that come with the Anchor Buddy. Neither are quality metal and they will rust within a season. Every single Anchor Buddy I've purchased in the last 10 plus years has done this - I really wish they'd use quality hardware...

I replace the shackle with a galvanized one that is higher quality and won't rust as quickly.

Anchor & Chain

The next step is to pair the Anchor Buddy with a better anchor. The one that it comes with is nice, but I've had issues with penetration in kelp. I use the Mantus Dinghy Anchor because it sets well and can be taken apart if you want to store things. It is still a bit bigger than the one the Anchor Buddy comes with, but I'm OK with that. It is not inexpensive, but I have had nothing but good performance out of it for over 6+ years, and it's worth it to me.

Next, I pair the anchor with a 3' length of chain. This adds some weight near the anchor which allows it to set easier. I randomly tried this a number of years ago when I saw a short section of chain sitting around on my boat from a windlass/chain upgrade. I'm glad I did as the combo of this + better dinghy anchor has meant a very good set every time I deploy the system. My current dinghy is an 11' 6" Bullfrog which weighs about 700 pounds, and I want to make sure it doesn't float away while I'm gone.

Extension & Clip

The final pieces in this part of the system is a 20' line added to the end of the Anchor Buddy. This allows me to drop the anchor and stretchy part much further out for more options. This can be helpful on a beach where you end up needing to have the boat float out further while you're gone. You can shorten it as needed depending on the conditions. This is one area where I may improve the setup by switching to floating line both for the floating aspect, but also the color for visibility.

Shore Tie

Now that we have the anchor part setup, the next piece is a shore tie line.

I use 100' of line with an eye and a snap shackle at the boat end. I actually am using a basic pre-made anchor line that has a nice eye and a stainless thimble. I added the snap shackle so I can clip it into the bow eye easily.

The whole thing is rolled up on, of all things, an electrical cord reel. This allows for the line to be payed out and rolled up easily, it can be thrown out of the boat on shore as you're jumping out, and has worked quite well. At $7, it has to be the cheapest thing I've ever purchased for a boat!

This length allows me to get ashore at beaches with long flat spots, or where trees and logs that I need to tie to are much further up the beach.

I also carry a dog stake that I can screw into the beach, but I would prefer to tie to something big ashore if at all possible. And yes, I know the one above is all rusty - it's only a couple of years old, and purchased off of Amazon. I've had a lot of poor luck with "stainless steel" products from non-mainstream brands...

Using The System

The first thing I always do is look at the tides. I've learned the hard way when I skip this step and come back to a dinghy that is high and dry with no way to get it in the water!

Once I know how the tides are going to behave, I can choose how far out I want the anchor and how much shore line I'm going to pay out depending on where the boat should sit.

If the tide is going to go out while I'm gone, I'll probably drop the anchor much further out and pay out a lot of shore line once I'm out of the dinghy so that the dinghy is floating further out. That way when I return, and the tide has gone out, the boat will still be floating and easy to get to.

If the tide is coming in or staying relatively the same, then I'll drop the anchor close in and have a very short shore tie line. I'll let out just enough to where the dinghy is floating but not too far away, that way I can still pull it in if the tide comes up.

It takes some practice to figure this out, and I still get it wrong every so often. Sometimes it's based on the tides not being as accurate, other times it's the unknown beach that you can't see underwater. A lot of the time it's just me screwing up 😄

Once you have the anchor set and the right stretch and distance, getting out with the reel already attached to the bow eye is the next important step. The dinghy can then float back out on the stretchy anchor line while you secure the shore line to a tree or something else.

This system has worked very well for me, providing a lot of flexibility and adjustment in differing beaches and tides, and has been extremely secure and robust even in messy conditions. I think the tweaks to the Anchor Buddy combined with some ease of use pieces for the shore tie line make it a great system to get ashore.

How do you get ashore? What do you use? Let me know in the comments below!