Dry boat handling options

[riffehunter717]

i dont know if anyone has suggested this yet but you should anchor a pole in the water just off the beach, then use a come-along to get the boat to the water. one man operation as easy as using a ratchet

then a pole at the top will get it back up the beach a la come-along

 

[Benc]

My Tohatsu was £1250 brand new but at least I know it hasn't been sunk, it's seen freshwater use only etc and it will last me for years. From memory it's 26kg, it's plenty light enough for my job and is easy to carry around and chuck in the van etc. It was out of the last batch to be imported to the UK, apparently no more can come in now as all 2-stroke engines now fail on emiissions due to them burning oil. The importers put the price up from around £800 just for the last batch, daylight robbery!
Sunfish, cray trapping went really well thanks, finished for the season on bonfire night so looking forward to getting back into it in march/april time. Invested in loads of new trapping gear and got more trapping jobs and more customers so things are going great! Coarse fish are so much more hassle to keep alive etc so am looking forward to getting back to trapping.
I got my tyres foam fille locally but it makes them a lot heavier, my wheels are smaller than a wheelbarrow and it adds about 3kg to each wheel. You can get a product called "slime" that is like a gel that is put inside the tyre as you fill it up, as soon as it is punctured, the gel fills the hole and sets. I believe you can get it for cars although it was designed for bikes.

 

[JRH]

Best place for "Slime" is a farm suppliers they sell gallons of the stuff for tractor tyres. Maybe you local friendly farmer would give you a jug of the stuff.

 

[Pav]

Slime available from ebay , I got a large bottle for my Van for £20 posted. You would probably get away with a smaller bottle. Designed originally for bikers I think as they don't carry spare wheels!

A friend is selling a Zodiac (I thin it may be a Serie1). 3.1m with an inflatable keel and ply floor. Think its rated to 10hp. Interested if anyone else has tried one. can't find any reference to the model on the web?

 

[Pav]

I discovered today how heavy these boats are! Have started to look around at a few alternatives (all 2nd hand). I went to see a local Avon boat, 12ft. It would be all I could do to man handle it onto a trolley! ... I imagined these were as light as air rofl ... and that the outboard was the problem.

Now restricting my search to 3m max.

 

[dave]

I discovered today how heavy these boats are! Have started to look around at a few alternatives (all 2nd hand). I went to see a local Avon boat, 12ft. It would be all I could do to man handle it onto a trolley! ... I imagined these were as light as air rofl ... and that the outboard was the problem.

Now restricting my search to 3m max.

Its technique rather than strength (and having a hand winch on the trailer) I beach launch and recover a 4.4m fibreglass boat with a 40hp on my own no problem (without using the car). I know plenty of guys in their 60s who do the same over shingle beaches on the south coast with 4m ish inflatables.
I dont want to sound like an old woman, but in my view, anything below about 3.5m with a 15hp is not really suitable for open water use. Most of the time you will get away with it just fine, but there is just not enough safety margin if things turn bad for my liking, particularly if you plan on taking your family out in it

cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment

 

[Marwan]

dave , is it sandy where you launch?
i imagine that would make it significantly more difficult..im also in the kayak versus RIB dilemna..the issue is, i want to use it in different spots, whats turning me off the RIB ( iwas considering a 4m with 40 hp) is the hassle in transport, licensing etc,, as more importantly launching solo (most of the terrain here is soft sand) and the maintenance that could be involved..but i know it will perform better then a kayak and take me and maybe 2 other guys with gear :head

 

[Marwan]

alternatively, theres a 3.6m RIB with a 25 HP, but if its not significantly easier to launch/handle etc... i might as well go with the bigger one

 

[Pastor]

I dont want to sound like an old woman, but in my view, anything below about 3.5m with a 15hp is not really suitable for open water use. Most of the time you will get away with it just fine, but there is just not enough safety margin if things turn bad for my liking, particularly if you plan on taking your family out in it

That's more than a fair comment, safety must be the number one concern with any boat. Just to comment on my choice of tiny boat, it isn't meant for anything other than getting around the bay or at most into the next bay through a gap in the rocks with minimal effort and expense

 

[Pav]

No have the same problem ;>).
3.8m with 30HP.
Launching?!

Seem easy to move around on the trailer, but would like to fit launching wheels to the boat itself so I don't have to return the trailer to the car park after launching (the type that fold up once you are afloat). Lucky as our sands are usually pretty firm. Would launch with at least 1 other so looking for a set of wheels that I can fit capable of holding the weight of a 30HP plus with reasonable wide wheels for ease over the sand.

Any suggestions. A lot of cheapies on ebay, but expect you pay for what you get. Thanks.

 

[Pastor]

I had launching wheels on my old boat. Jeez was it a nose heavy thing. This was why I started asking about this. I have opted to build a lightweight road trailer but with my little boat it will be a lot easier than yours which is a metre longer. With a road trailer nose weight won't be the problem so much as the gross weight which acts vertically on the wheels. How about one of these so you can translate more of your physical strength into horizontal pull

http://i11.ebayimg.com/08/i/000/bc/2d/6c33_1.JPG

 

[Pav]

Not sure if I understand the photo correcctly. It looks like it fits to the trailer with the ball joint? I have no problems moving the boat around on the trailer, but want something so I can move from the carpark to the end of the slip, or beach launch it without being left at the edge of the water with a trolley or trailer.

I am guessing these transom (not sure if this is the correct word) wheels are meant for smaller tenders and outbpards and I may be at the limit of what they are designed for with a 3.8m inflatable + 30hp (although it is 2 stroke so not as heavy as maybe some other motors)? I have had a quick search but havn't yet found any suggestions on sale pages as what they can carry. I reckon the man power to lift the nose end isn't such an issue as there are handles on each side and there will usually be 2 people to lift, sometimes 4.