Solo launching and retrieving

Hey I'm keen to try sailing my 16 solo. From the posts I've read here it doesn't seem too difficult - I'm 200 pounds and have righted it by myself before pretty easily (crew still swimming

The thing I don't get is how to launch and retrieve it without having to drag it over the beach. The bay I sail in has a few pebbles and stuff on the beach, the hulls are in really good nick and I would prefer to keep them that way.

Two words . . . . "Beach Wheels!"

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Happy Sailing,

David

lol, I have beach wheels already. They are awesome... but what am I supposed to do when *solo*? Launch the boat then leave it unnattended in the water while I sprint the wheels back onto the beach?

When I solo my 17 and there's no one there to help launch, what I do is roll the boat into the water on the wheels until the wheels are floating off the bottom. Then I slide the wheels out from under the hulls and walk everything back up to the beach. Let the wheels float in the water for a few seconds while I pull the boat up on the beach just enough so it won't blow away (actually I stand between the two hulls and lift the boat up by the front crossbar, bows out of the water, walk forward and then gently lower the bows onto the beach- this really minimizes the scratches to the hulls). Then I go back, grab the wheels and put them up on the beach. I do the reverse to put the boat back on the wheels.

It's a little bit of extra work, but it really helps to keep the scratches to a minimum. I also find that, unless there are breaking waves, it is much easier to take off and put on the wheels when the boat is floating in the water.

sm