Sophie in the sea

Bobs missus here ! We live by the coast. Our beach is a mixture of shingle and then mud/sand. Yesterday, we took her down to the beach but the tide was out. It was warm, so I abandoned my shoes and walked Sophie out to the sea. She went in as far as her chest but by the time we returned to the car we were both covered in dried sand and mud.

Here lies my question. Neither of my previous dogs enjoyed going in the sea so it wasn't a problem. We had to bath Sophie when we got home which she didn't take kindly to. Firstly she panicked in the bath (no water, just a bath mat and shower head) then she lay there in blind terror. Not what we want, obviously.

Sophie enjoyed being in the sea and loves puddles but doesn't 'do' rain or the hosepipe. We want her to enjoy the beach but how do we get her clean after, avoiding the trauma of a bath. My previous dogs, whilst the bath wasn't their favourite place they tolerated it ok.

I have bought her a plastic paddling pool to aclimatise her more to water, but the stress of getting her clean after negated the enjoyment of the beach and again, I don't like bathing dogs too often even if they like it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated chaps? She does enjoy being groomed but I am not sure this would get her properly clean, she would still be 'gritty' and uncomfortable.

Bob you can buy wipes I got some for milly from the pet shop. Milly loves the shower but we got the wipes because we dont want to be bathing her all the time the work really good and get alot of muck off.

I bought a cheap second-hand baby bath from a Garage Sale ( or as you call them, a Car Boot sale )
I fill the bath with warm water outside on the back lawn then get RoXy in (she does'nt like a bath) use a plastic jug to scoop the water and wet her, shampoo then I have a warm clean bucket of water ready to rinse after. This does away with the need for a hose pipe or shower head which may frighten them more. My daughters give her a towel dry and a nice game of fetch after and a few treats.

We have the opposite problem I'm afraid. Suki loves baths but won't go near the ocean. We do wipe her down with a rag alot instead of giving her a bath though.