Ideas for hauling boat out of water

[tincan]

Hey guys, hoping some of the more creative/handy forum members can help me clarify my options to build a boat haul-out at my cabin in the gulf islands. I want to be able to periodically take my boat out of the water in order to fix/clean/paint/store it. I'd like to get it far enough out of the water so that I could put it on blocks in order to do work.

The 'beach' I have to work with is classic gulf island sandstone so not very even or particularly gently sloping. That said, I'm open to suggestions on how to best deal with what I've got in order to achieve my goals above.

The system/pic below is somewhat similar to what I had in mind but looks far too light-weight. I am looking for a system that could handle a boat in the 5-10K lb range. In cruising around the gulf islands, etc I've seen a few boat shed near the shore with home-made launches. Some are concrete, others are metal structures. I'm open to whatever so if you have any home-made solutions or know of any companies that specialize in this sort of stuff let me know. I'll try to dig up some more pics as I find systems that look viable. thx

http://www.roll-n-go.com/

 

[casper5280]

Lots of boat haul outs in Saanich Inlet use old railway tracks. I saw one a long time ago that was train tracks and a dodge straight six to power the winch to haul a 28 ft old wooden boat out worked great.

 

[TheBigGuy]

Yes there are quite a few of the railway track setups in the gulf islands. Most have been there for ages. With all the regs over there I'm not sure you'd be allowed to put steel tracks in below the high water mark these days. I'd make some inquiries before I started spending any money if I were you. Highest NIMBY quotient on the planet is in the Gulf Islands, so I'd definitely do some checking first.

 

[Gong Show]

You said Gulf Islands.
I say Islands Trust and so sorry.

High tide, beach boat on some logs that are 'pinned' to the beach. You have a tidal grid and a few hours to do your thing.

 

[trophywife]

an old trailer... my bam dry dock.

 

[cracked_ribs]

A lot of the people on my island actually just use logs. Pretty easy to find a couple of long straight logs most places in the islands, and if most of the log is on shore they seem to stay in place fairly well. And if you keep them separated with a bit of wood and rebar, say...well, if someone REALLY complains, you can push it off into the sea and be out twenty bucks.

There's zero complaints about this kind of thing where I am but then we have a community so relaxed that the annual meeting charges a cover to attend, but includes free beer. But probably you have a sense of what your neighbours would tolerate. In my experience (which includes my place, but also living with someone for years who had a job surveying and recording information for disputes that Islands Trust had to rule on) the really small islands are super relaxed and friendly, and the larger ones full of retired Victoria bureaucrats are...well, let's just say in the event of a zombie apocalypse, I intend to turn to piracy full time, and they better know how to row to a drumbeat.

 

[sly_karma]

Take a slow cruise in your boat along the waterfront of residential areas with similar terrain to your place. Tons of different ideas and solutions to be seen. As others have said, some of those concepts may not be acceptable to 'the authorities' of the 21st century. Would the foreshore profile suit a trailer solution? I've seen something like this at the Sunshine Coast where someone rigged a solid pipe connector with ball joints to avoid getting their tow vehicle into the water. Wasn't a proper launch ramp by any means, just a way of retrieving the boat for winter/storm storage. They chocked the trailer wheels and removed the pipe extension, hauled the boat above high tide and tarped it down for the season.

 

[ziggy]

As a kid I remember the old fellows all had a large manual winch mounted on their bulkheads ( sea walls). They would clear a path in the rock and use lengths of 8' boat ladders to pull their clinker builds up the beach. The boat ladders were simply two 8' lengths crosse hatched with boards. Nowadays, I guess you could use a 12 volt winch and build ladders with rollers?

 

[TheBigGuy]

All very innovative solutions guys, but I'm not sure they would be workable for a boat his size. Tincan's stated his boat is going to be in the 5000-10,000 lb range. I'm thinking with that kind of weight it will be very difficult to find a backyard solution that will meet Island Trusts regs and not risk damaging a boat that size.

Does your property have road and ferry access Tincan. Do you already own a trailer for your boat. You could pay to have a landing craft deliver the trailer to your beach if there is no other access. You could possibly safely winch the boat and trailer up your beach if there is a semi level section. I feel for you with waterfront property and regulations limiting it's use. I hope you can find a workable solution.

 

[ziggy]

I think you nailed it. There are so many regulations attached to waterfront properties (many for sound reasons) a permanent solution is likely to be extremely costly, time consuming and still likely to never gain approval.

I think it wise to concentrate on a temporary system that can be removed when not in use and one that requires little interference with the shoreline. A lot depends on the beaches surface makeup.

Its another can of worms if you plan to paint or work on your boat on the beach.

 

[tincan]

Thanks for the input guys! I will be paying much closer attention to some of the other launches/haul-outs in the area when I'm cruising around this Spring. I will be able to get a trailer over to my property so perhaps this might be the best solution although I'm a little concerned about the uneven sandstone 'beach' that I'll have to work with in order to get the boat well above the water line on onto even ground. We do have a vehicle/trailer as an option however. If that does end up working I'd be able to put the boat(s) on blocks and do work when needed. If it turns out the even sandstone beach is too much of an obstacle then I'm back to the drawing board. Keep any other input/suggestions coming! thx

 

[TheBigGuy]

Do you have road and ferry access to your property? It would suck to pay for a ferry fare every time you have to take your boat out for maintenance. However, given the possibility of damaging your boat hauling it up the shore yourself perhaps that is just the safer alternative. If there is no ferry access but there is a beach road access point, then you could load the vehicle boat and trailer onto a large landing craft to bring the boat safely to your property. I'm sure that would get very expensive, so I can see why you'd like to come up with a home solution. Good luck.

 

[trophywife]

i have seen boats going to savary before launched with the trailer strapped to it.. drove across the water with tied on underneath! worked great!!!

 

[TheBigGuy]

i have seen boats going to savary before launched with the trailer strapped to it.. drove across the water with tied on underneath! worked great!!!

Too funny, that's a very innovative way of moving your trailer.

 

[tincan]

no road or ferry access for me... boat access only. We have a small dock/ramp that we tie up at so everything is brought in/out with boats. We do have access to a vehicle that could haul a boat/trailer but I'm just a little hesitant about 'testing' that option out as I'm not interested in damaging the boat/trailer. Would be ideal (although very expensive i'm sure) to build a nice permanent boat launch but as others have mentioned that is not a realistic option for many reasons (islands trust, cost, etc).

Do you have road and ferry access to your property? It would suck to pay for a ferry fare every time you have to take your boat out for maintenance. However, given the possibility of damaging your boat hauling it up the shore yourself perhaps that is just the safer alternative. If there is no ferry access but there is a beach road access point, then you could load the vehicle boat and trailer onto a large landing craft to bring the boat safely to your property. I'm sure that would get very expensive, so I can see why you'd like to come up with a home solution. Good luck.

 

[sly_karma]

What about a trailer with a sturdy nose wheel assembly and a winch to haul since you can't get a truck to the site? Building any kind of structure on the foreshore is out, but you could maybe build a winch base on your property and pull the trailer and boat up with that. Use an ATV wheel and tire on the trailer so it doesn't bog in soft ground. Should be able to test the concept using a come-along anchored off a tree before you commit to something more serious.

We do something similar each year at our cabin, but the boat is much smaller, just a 14 ft Starcraft w/ 40 Johnson and helm steering. We have a collection of timbers found on the beach that we lay down on the sand like rails, then on top of that we have six or so driftwood logs about 6" diameter to act as rollers. Pull it up with 3/4" rope tied to truck bumper. Wouldn't work with a big boat. Some on the island have old trailers brought over for this purpose, allows them to get the boat right away from the water and into more sheltered location. Tricky location for the trailer retrieval, only works on a really high tide. We have to winterise and tarp ours up right there on the beach.

 

[RiverBoy]

i have seen boats going to savary before launched with the trailer strapped to it.. drove across the water with tied on underneath! worked great!!!

That was me. For the life of me couldn't figure out why I couldn't get my boat up on plane

 

[agentaqua]

Here's one:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10213922207827402

 

[Oly1]

I’d hate to pay for the maintenance on that tractor after a couple years of launching and retrieving. Would make the cost of a ferry ride seem pretty small I’m thinking.

Oly