Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

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Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

November 25, 2020, 01:48:06 pm

I tried to find a camp ground that is close to the beach, like right in front of it. There is no camp ground like that. You always have to walk few steps to the beach.

When I drove back from my first trip to Galveston Island, I noticed there are quite few RV parked right on the public beach. Between Galveston and Freeport, there are many public accessible beach with very few people. For sure those RVs are smaller size RV, but I am wondering if I can drive the 40ft GV and boondock on the beach. In that case, the beach is right in front of you.

Of course I am concerned about the possibility of stuck in the sand and expensive bill to pull it out.

Has anyone done that before? Is it possible?

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #1 – November 25, 2020, 01:54:56 pm

Yes you can park on beach. Why not save time. Just throw your keys into ocean. Salt water and rv are a horrible mix. You will never get the salt off your undercarriage.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #2 – November 25, 2020, 02:00:29 pm

ONCE!!

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #3 – November 25, 2020, 02:02:09 pm

Quote from: nitehawk – November 25, 2020, 02:00:29 pm

ONCE!!

Comparison? Take a full swing at the back of your hand with a hammer. If you are smart you will only do it once. Learning is quick.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #4 – November 25, 2020, 02:05:26 pm

Not meeeee, it can get ugly when you are stuck to the axles and the tide comes in. Been there seen it in Daytona, poor guy watching the ocean come up on his RV.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #5 – November 25, 2020, 02:22:34 pm

I do.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #6 – November 25, 2020, 02:31:55 pm

Sure depends on the sand (hard or soft as well as your tolerance for risk and rust.

ME-- NEVER.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #7 – November 25, 2020, 02:34:56 pm

Some are lucky - some are not.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #8 – November 25, 2020, 02:38:54 pm

Totally depends on skill, moisture content of sand, tides, planning in advance on how to turn around....risky but rewarding. You're taking a chance of a run in, on Texas beaches, with one of the most feared predators of all, the dreaded Sand Shark. If you stick it on the National Seashore, and have to use one of the "federally approved concessionaires" for a tow the sky truly is the limit....think north of $10K. I see lots of coaches on Port Aransas beaches, as long as sand has some moisture and is packed, rarely a problem.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #9 – November 25, 2020, 02:52:52 pm

I made that mistake once with our 5th wheel... will not again.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #10 – November 25, 2020, 03:13:16 pm

We are currently in Oceano Elks lodge, Pismo Beach CA. ( alongside Dennis and Donnas U320 ). while the rest of the group is out on the sand with there toy haulers etc. Every year it's the same. Come out on the sand with us!!. You can let some air out of your tires and with our 4 wheel drives we can drag you if we need too! There is no way on Gods Green Earth you are getting me out in that sand. Drag me? Sounds like a hell of a way to flex the frame and pop a windshield out. Sand in the disc brakes? Sand in every bearing below the floor? No thanks, we will ride our electric bikes out to the site. A well maintained dirt road is a much offroading as the Starship is going to do. Don't be silly and romantic about life on the beach. If something goes sideways ( like your coach ). It's going to cost you a ton and maybe seriously screw up your rig. Like Clint Eastwood said in one of his Dirty Harry movies " mans got to know his limitations" . Same with our coaches.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #11 – November 25, 2020, 03:57:21 pm

Long beach near Tofino on Vancouver Island back in the day before they made it into a Park I have camped on the beach with a
Class C motor home but I wouldn't with my Foretravel. Since it has become a Federal Park you can't drive out onto the beach
any more.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #12 – November 25, 2020, 04:07:53 pm

We have stayed just off the beach, once. We now stay a little further from it. I found that the hassle of cleaning the coach was much worse than normal. The sand gets everywhere as well. I fall into the "just once" group.
Glen

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #13 – November 25, 2020, 04:40:01 pm

Pismo Beach California, will do everything for you if you get stuck.....$500.00 to the black top

But I see DP's all the time on Pismo, blows my mind. But they are people who know how to do it, lower tire pressure ETC.

Depending on beach, I took out 33' class C, no problem. But that was in Washington on packed sand. There where even semi's on it!

Chris

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #14 – November 25, 2020, 07:47:39 pm

Right now I am in an RV park called on the beach in Port Aransas Texas. Right in front of my coach are dunes and right on the other side is the beach. It's as close to the beach as I want to get. I'm here for almost 2 months and I think that might be a little too long with the salt air and sand but I would never, ever, take my foretravel on the beach and park it unless I had no other option. People do it but I rarely see and very expensive class A on the beach and the ones that I see that are on the beach a lot look beat. I'm not even sure why you would want to. While the sound of the Waves would be nice and I can almost hear him from here anyway, it takes me a minute to get on the beach put my chair down or walk down the beach as long as I want to. There was a guy stuck and very deep soft sand last week digging himself out and I looked at that spot he was in and I thought what were you thinking? I wouldn't even take my Jeep into that soft sand and he took a big class C there.
Yeah people do it all the time. people do a lot of things all the time.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #15 – November 25, 2020, 10:01:44 pm

For some reason I watched quite few videos of "RV stuck on the beach"

It is oddly satisfying.

But it is pretty clear now, it is not a good idea to drive the GV on the beach.

I wish there is product that can help. Like a big portable flat surface to stop sinking in the sand.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #16 – November 26, 2020, 07:41:16 am

'' you can let air out of your tires"
If you weigh 40,000 pounds with correct tire pressure, you still weigh 40,000 with deflated tires.
This old man does not have an off road coach.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #17 – November 26, 2020, 08:42:12 am

This is one of the reasons I am looking at an expedition style coach. They can go off road but beach sand is very different animal and changes. I have had no issues with my wranglers on the sand but driving along you hit stuff that brings you almost to a standstill. 10lb of air and lockers are needed to get thru it. I would never take a regular coach on the sand. These expedition coaches have beadlocks and tire inflation standard.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #18 – November 26, 2020, 09:11:57 am

Quote from: Running Odometer – November 25, 2020, 01:48:06 pm

I am wondering if I can drive the 40ft GV and boondock on the beach. In that case, the beach is right in front of you.

Of course I am concerned about the possibility of stuck in the sand and expensive bill to pull it out.

Has anyone done that before? Is it possible?

In 1906 the Stanley Brothers with Fred Marriot at the wheel set a world land speed record on Ormond Beach. The tide was out, the sand was damp and well packed. But the tide does tend to come back in.

https://www.ormondbeach.org/DocumentCenter/View/205/Land-Speed-Record-Centennial-Press-Kit?bidId=

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #19 – November 26, 2020, 09:18:10 am

Quote from: John S – November 26, 2020, 08:42:12 am

This is one of the reasons I am looking at an expedition style coach.

I have some younger motorcycle friends, who after much consultation purchased a Thor Ventura and have finished up their first 3 months "on the road." I tried to talk them into a less expensive Foretravel but they shied away from a road leviathan. The still own the Thor, but are looking for something built on a UniMog.

Even parking a Class A on someone's lawn can turn disastrous if there is rain involved. Beach sand? Conditions change on an hourly basis. NO thanks.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #20 – November 26, 2020, 10:53:42 am

Check the beach for other big coaches. We've parked our old SOB right next to the water just south of Mūlege where the sand is hard. Baja Beach RV Snowbird Paradise - Bahía Concepción - Manzanillo Sun. No tide, no waves, warm crystal clear water and the best fishing in the world. Where to Stop in Bahía Concepción

Pierce

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #21 – November 26, 2020, 11:39:21 am

Quote from: Old Toolmaker – November 26, 2020, 09:11:57 am

In 1906 the Stanley Brothers with Fred Marriot at the wheel set a world land speed record on Ormond Beach. The tide was out, the sand was damp and well packed. But the tide does tend to come back in.

And the Daytona stock car race started off with half the oval on the beach.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #22 – November 26, 2020, 11:46:25 am

Quote from: Pierce & Gaylie Stewart – November 26, 2020, 10:53:42 am

Check the beach for other big coaches. We've parked our old SOB right next to the water just south of Mūlege where the sand is hard. Baja Beach RV Snowbird Paradise - Bahía Concepción - Manzanillo Sun. No tide, no waves, warm crystal clear water and the best fishing in the world. Where to Stop in Bahía Concepción

Pierce

Stayed there. Bahia Coyote. Found out after a week there is a fresh water bath coming out of the cliff at the far end.

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #23 – November 26, 2020, 11:57:23 am

I can firsthand tell you thst that big wreckers are expensive and big wreckers with beach capability are more expensive..much more

Re: Can 40ft GV be driven on the beach for boondocking?

Reply #24 – November 26, 2020, 12:26:22 pm

Quote from: Chuck Pearson – November 25, 2020, 02:38:54 pm

one of the most feared predators of all, the dreaded Sand Shark.

Amazing how far they will travel inland. Earlier this week across the street there was a truck stuck in the sandy road. They were backing up to dump appliances in the desert. Kept a eye on them and shortly there was another truck out there pulling them out. About two hours latter I drove out there on the Honda ST90 to let them know how to get them self's out. They asked me to pull them out, and I declined. Explained to let some air out of their 3/4 Ton truck 80 psi tires and don't spin the tires in low range. 20 minutes later they were both out. Next day I took the backhoe out and repaired the road and desert as best I could. Picked up appliances they dumped and ran them to the city dump. Haven't had rain in 220 days. As soon as the crust is broken it turns into a simple math problem. Too much weight, not enough square inches of tire floatation.
Another example of my Foretravel work distractions
Scott

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