Beaching on a rocky beach

I spend all my weekends at a seasonal campground on the side of a lake. I bought my H16 from another camper which now has a Getaway. He keeps his on the beach in front of his trailer, since I don't have a waterfront lot, I'll keep mine next to his. I will do like he did and clean out a lot of the rocks.

He made a large wooden platform for his kind of like a pallet, but larger. It's usually half way in the water and half way on land, he then has a series of tree limbs going up the embankment to a flat area. So when he beaches his Getaway, he gets a run for it and just glides onto his platform, then slides it up the embankment by pulling it over the tree limbs.

Knowing the fiberglass hull cannot take the same abuse the rotomolded hulls can, I was wondering what others in similar situation use?

I'm leaning towards making an area smooth enough to use Cat Trax or similar style dolly either home made or purchased. Once the rocks removed on the beach, it's more dirt than sand, so even narrow wheels would roll well. But with a dolly, I can't really go from the water directly onto the dolly under sail like he does with his Getaway onto a wooden platform.

Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks,
Marc...

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

As long as the wooden platform is clean (no pebbles or nail heads), then the fiberglass hulls will slide just fine on it - better than sand.

Guys in our fleet have made "ladders" out of PVC pipe with rungs about every 6 inches. They've made two for each hull, and when they get to the end of the second they leap frog the first ladder up to the front again. Works great for their H21's that weigh a ton.

Adam

I like the idea of ladders with PVC rungs.

What diameter and schedule PVC pipe do they normally use?
Any reason they don't use ABS instead? The wall of ABS pipes is normally thicker.

Thanks,
Marc..

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

The whole thing is 2" PVC pipe and the rungs are about every foot, no reason why you couldn't use ABS. Maybe the black would rub off on your nice white hulls? Don't know for sure though.

They do sound like a freight train coming down a railroad track though.

For normal everyday beaching I have made a "H" out of 2" PVC that I pull the boat up on to just to get it out of the water without scratching the hulls.

Thanks. I think I'll go with the ladder style. Will use 2x6 on the sides to keep cost down because those tee fitting make the cost go up quick, but better to keep weight down for portability. Weight is not an issue for me as they will never leave the beach, maybe I'll store them inside for the winter.

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84