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Wrecked my Back pulling Dinghy onto the Beach. Solution??

5450 Views 75 Replies 32 Participants Last post by colemj, 5 mo ago

MarkofSeaLife

Discussion Starter · 5 mo ago

The beach was a bit steep and the wave action necessitated a highspeed dinghy drag above the surf line.
I popped my back and am feeling a bit sorry for myself.

Is there a solution? Back home you can buy retractable wheels but not here in the Caribbean it seems.

So I wouldnt mind a temporay idea and something I can order and freight on the next slow ship 🙄

The ones below look expensive

Your thoughts appreciated because I am getting too old for this crap... 😨

Mark

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colemj

· #9 · 5 mo ago

MarkofSeaLife said:
Have you used them? What are they like?

I've had those. They are OK if needing to pull a dinghy up a concrete ramp, or to move it about on level hard ground, but completely unsuitable for sand, beach landings, rocky shores, and other more challenging conditions.

You will want something like this: Beachmaster wheels USA store Canada store
Or this: Dinghy Wheels DaNard Marine Dinghy Wheels & Marine Products - %

Mark

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colemj

· #26 · 5 mo ago

vbiz59 said:
Maybe time for an Amphibicar,, just something every live-a-board should have

No need for a car when they already make amphibious dinghies.

Watercraft Toy Automotive tire Boat Vehicle

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colemj

· #43 · 5 mo ago

PVC pipe of any diameter is not going to work as rollers in anything other than very hard ground. It will just become immobile in the sand and the hard bottom of the dinghy will move over it. It may make it easier to pull the dinghy up by acting as skids, though.

Mark

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colemj

· #52 · 5 mo ago

MarkofSeaLife said:
Hiking gear. Art equipment, easel, umbrella, luncheon table, chairs, BBQ, beer fridge, beach club, tents, sunshades, tennis court... you know, wifey stuff 🙄

😁😁

Wait, this isn't a dinghy beaching problem - this is a dinghy size problem. Get a dinghy big enough to include all of that and you won't need to take it ashore. Just anchor out and play tennis...

Mark

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colemj

· #57 · 5 mo ago

henry45 said:
For your back I would highly recommend yoga. Don't ask how I found out 😆

First, Mark is on his honeymoon, so the whole hurting his back "lifting his dinghy" is a euphemism, and a poorly concealed one at that.

Second, he knows full well that the best thing for his back right now is laying in a nice breeze, getting massages, and eating French cooking.

Mark

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colemj

· #58 · 5 mo ago

Maybe you need to rethink this altogether?

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colemj

· #69 · 5 mo ago

SanderO said:
A thought occurred to me...
What about dropping an anchor with a float
Attach a long continuous loop with a snap shackle to the float
attach a large ring to the continuous line
attach the dink to the ring (use the bow line run thru the ring then tied off to the dink's transom (or OB)
You can now use the loop line to pull the dink to the shore... and then send it back out
It's like a clothes like concept... the dink being something on the clothes line
Tide is a consideration.. plan for high tide when you attach the shore side of the loop.
Obviously not theft proof but it might be workable. No?
something like this:

I've seen people doing this and it seems to work well.

We have a stern anchor on long bungie cord. Drop it before reaching the beach, step onto the beach, let the stretched bungie pull the dinghy back out in the water, put the bow anchor on the beach. When the dinghy is needed again, pull it up to the beach, get in and it pulls itself back out to pick up the stern anchor.

Mark

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colemj

· #70 · 5 mo ago

To add a detail to the above post, it is 50' of 1/4" bungie cord placed inside 100' of polypropylene hollow braid: https://www.amazon.com/Hollow-Braid-Polypropylene-Rope-inch/dp/B01N81EG0R?th=1

The hollow braid protects the bungie. We use yellow color because it is easy for others to see that there is a stern line out. The 2:1 length is necessary to accommodate the bungie stretch.

The trick is in judging the distance correctly. The other day I dropped it a bit too far out coming into a dock and just as Michele was about to step off the dinghy we started slingshotting backward...

Mark

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colemj

· #72 · 5 mo ago

No, she's gotten a lot more cautious around these types of situations after living with me...

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colemj

· #75 · 5 mo ago

hpeer said:
That is how they dock their boats in Newfoundland when the dicks are too small.

You just pissed off the Newfies on Sailnet...

Mark

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colemj

· #76 · 5 mo ago

wsmurdoch said:
I started off doing this with a bungee cord inside a piece of tubular nylon webbing. Like you I got a 2:1 extended to contracted ratio. That year in the Bahamas I talked to another boater who had used surgical rubber tubing inside a piece of polypropylene hollow core water ski rope. He had a better ratio than I did, so I set out to copy his setup. Before I got around to it, I ran across an Airhead Anchor Bungee and bought it. It has rubber bands inside its ski rope and gets a ratio of 3.5:1. I bought it and replaced the plated steel hardware with stainless. https://www.amazon.com/Airhead-AHAB...fd-8c96-d944a4360a5c&pd_rd_i=B00SMDQW3Q&psc=1 Others have what appears to be the same but cheaper. https://www.amazon.com/Greenfield-P...fd-8c96-d944a4360a5c&pd_rd_i=B003BM5LUI&psc=1

And yes, judging the distance from where the anchor bites to the beach is a challenge. I added a bit of rope to the dinghy end of it to compensate for my shortfalls.... or should that be long falls.

That's a great product and price (amazon). The only complaint is that it is shorter than I'd like, but I suppose two of them together would work.

Usually not too much of a problem on most beaches because the slope is shallow enough that getting it short just means you are knee deep water instead of land.

Mark

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