Pirate, sorry about the question. Didn't mean to waste your time. Just so you know though, using carpet under a modern boat around here is a great way to get multiple holes in it. I can tell you this from experience, although not with one of my boats. What I was getting at is that you could get away with being a bit careless and/or make a mistake with older boats. It wouldn't destroy the boat, just scratch it up. Doesn't mean that I didn't take care of my boats. But as with all things cats sailing, there is a learning curve involved especially when there is no soft sand to land on.
Regarding getting familiar with a few places on the lake, I've been sailing on lake pleasant for about 10 years now, and know all of the best spots. But NONE of the "good "spots are even remotely "good " or safe for an acat.
Carpet will not spread out the point loading in the places I have to land the boat. And believe me, I look for the 10 lineal feet of gravel that I am lucky to find to put my foam pool floaties down on. But there are always those boulders just under the surface of the water that are hungry for the taste of a little gel coat.
You say that some of the places you put in are "ugly" . Maybe that's because people keep leaving carpet on the beach. I can't even imagine doing that. ANYWHERE! In fact, when I leave the lake, I go around and pick up all of the trash that others leave . There's more than enough.


Everyone else, thank you for your responses. Sounds like the anchor and fender method is what I will use. As long as I can get the anchor far enough off shore . For shoreline, lots of pool floatys. I'm sure the wife will need a new one from costco next spring. She won't notice it's gone till then.