I do a lot of both boat-in camping, and house boating out of my Saltare.
The shore varies from soft sand to rocky on Laurel Lake and Cumberland here in KY, so I always leave it floating in a foot or so of water at the bow, tied to a tree on shore and anchor the stern to keep it off shore and the lines tight. If I'm in an area likely to be busy in the morning, I'll anchor it bow-out so the pointy end gets any wakes. I set it out a little deeper if I go this route to keep the shiny parts underneath further from the rocks. The bow-out method makes it a little easier to wade to the boat and clean off muddy feet on the swim platform. I usually cover it overnight too.
When house boating, we usually just use the houseboat as a dock and tie up to it.. a ~50-75 houseboat leaves plenty deep water to maneuver an inboard boat near the stern. Best practice is usually houseboat bow into the shore (pretty hard aground), lines from the mid cleats 45 degrees out to something sturdy, as low to the ground as possible (banks can be steep around here), then 2 lines from the bow corner cleats out to the same shore anchor points (so a much lower angle). The bow lines are more to keep the houseboat bow from moving side to side, while the mid lines are equally to keep it ashore and from swinging. If bad weather pops up sometimes I'll move the mid ropes back to the furthest rear cleats on the houseboat (ends up trapping the supra in) to be sure the houseboat stays put in the wind. I've had nightmares about the houseboat coming loose, swinging against shore in the wind and having it's way with my Supra... Bad picture and messy boat, but this shows a little:
If towing a smaller boat with the houseboat, I prefer to tow from the side. It allows you to tie up nice and firm and not worry about your skiboat rear ending the houseboat if you need to stop abruptly. This does usually require a little experience with how much lead your boat "likes". Also, some real trust in your tow line - you can imagine what an aluminum houseboat hull could do to your fiberglass beauty if the bow line breaks in this configuration...
Korey Morris -
Sold to Arkansas: 1986 Supra Saltare
Current: 2018 Moomba Craz