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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

Water Sky Cloud Vehicle Wheel

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

Mark

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61 - 76 of 76 Posts

hpeer

· #61 · 5 mo ago

Tried the fender thing at the Exporer Island BBQ yesterday. Not so great, better than nothing. So this was with a Porta Boat, may work better with a rigid hull form. The PB hull just kind of mushed around the fender. Still easier than without.

But got it enough off the ground to clean the bottom chines of growth. Not all bad.

The PB got repurposed as a pig resistant storage container. They made a quick raid and got a baguette. After which they were thwarted.

Thinking roast beast.

Reactions: 2

williamtheax

· #62 · 5 mo ago

colemj said:
Maybe you need to rethink this altogether?

View attachment 145892

love it....it looks ******* though

mermike

· #63 · 5 mo ago

I use 2 of these under my 800 lb wooden whitewater dory. Granted it takes a team to pull it up on the beach, but they work and don't take up much space.

AERÉ Docking: Inflatable Beach Dinghy Roller | Fisheries Supply

AERÉ Docking Solutions has offered innovative products for the marine industry since 1998. Shop for inflatable beach rollers at Fisheries Supply.

www.fisheriessupply.com

Reactions: 1

SanderO

· #64 · 5 mo ago

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:

LaPoodella

· #65 · 5 mo ago

williamtheax said:
love it....it looks *** though

LaPoodella

· #66 · 5 mo ago

MarkofSeaLife said:
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
View attachment 145844

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

Mark

I have some that just fit over the hard part of the stern and then tighten against it. I take them on and off my hard dinghy that I put in the water in June and remove in Sept. I did have them on a Zodiac but I haven’t used the Zodiac in years bc it’s a pain to inflate (and I think it sprung a leak that I haven’t bothered to mend). I rarely use a dingy but the wheels I have weren’t this fancy and were easy to use.

LaPoodella

· #67 · 5 mo ago

MarkofSeaLife said:
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
View attachment 145844

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

Mark

I have these: Dinghy Launching Transom Cart Wheels – Pacermarine

They were out of stock at that link but maybe you can find them elsewhere. I like them bc I can transfer them onto different dinghies. BTW, my latest dinghy is very light weight. But I don’t use dinghies much. Many places I go have launches. And I prefer my inflatable kayak.

Reactions: 1

zengator

· #68 · 5 mo ago

mermike said:
I use 2 of these under my 800 lb wooden whitewater dory. Granted it takes a team to pull it up on the beach, but they work and don't take up much space.

AERÉ Docking: Inflatable Beach Dinghy Roller | Fisheries Supply

AERÉ Docking Solutions has offered innovative products for the marine industry since 1998. Shop for inflatable beach rollers at Fisheries Supply.

www.fisheriessupply.com

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

I seem to recall Practical Sailor or some other publication describing a technique like this 10 years or more ago. (And I’m STILL waiting to try it out . . . . )

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

Reactions: 3

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

Reactions: 1

MarkofSeaLife

Discussion Starter · #71 · 5 mo ago

Did she go for a swim??

colemj

· #72 · 5 mo ago

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

Reactions: 1

hpeer

· #73 · 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:

That is how they dock their boats in Newfoundland when the dicks are too small. Very common.

I have anchored my dink in shoal water and waded ashore and back out.

Reactions: 1

wsmurdoch

· #74 · 5 mo ago

colemj said:
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

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.

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

Reactions: 3

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

61 - 76 of 76 Posts