How to use Beach Wheels / Cat Trax for Hobie Getaway

Hello fellow sailors,
Here's a question about how to use the beach wheels or cat trax for the Hobie Getaway.



1. BEFORE SAILING
The Getaway is sitting flat on the beach sand, 30 yards from the water. As a One-Man show, how does a person get it onto the type of beach wheels specifically shown in the image?

2. AFTER SAILING
The Getaway is partly in water, but also partly on sand. As a One-Man show, how does a person get it onto the beach wheels shown in the image?

Please offer solutions that require only 1 person and that work specifically with the beach wheels shown in the image.

A one man show is going to have to be a little creative... using some combination of pulling on the boat and pushing the wheels from the bows, you can get the wheels under the boat. Foot on the axle and hands on the bridles or front crossbar to pull the boat and push off the wheels at the same time. If the beach is calm, you may have an easier time getting the wheels under the boat while it is still in the water... or pushing the boat and wheels back out into a foot or two of water. Single handed boat hauling always gets a bit tricky.

Tom

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Tom
Fleet 259, Central Coast CA
H18 ('81)
H18 ('85)
H20 ('97)
H18 ('78)

I figured out an awesome solution. Will share more later.

I'm really interest by your solution... I play like a donkey on it yesterday and I'm looking for a better solution

I wish there was a way to attach a photo in here versus linking to a url.

I'm not a PhpBB expert, but you could simply put it as share for every body within your prefered cloud system (ex.: Google Drive, Drobox or Flickr) and share it here like you've done in your first post.

Thinking at this problem tonight, I tried to figure out why a don't see any 4 wheels beach dolly on the web. It could be a great solution for our discussion if we find a way to make a lite frame... but it must be home made. Not sure I could be welling to buy 2 Cat Trax systems

I think I find a solution... a cheap one.

Following the propositions of DougHobie17 in
2005 in this post, I'll try to make a Flintstone's like beach kart with plastic barrels.

Here is an example of the previous idea:


I'll try to post photos of the project when done with some feedback about the experience on one hand manipulation of the cat with this.

I'm wondering what there is to gain in having a 4 wheeled dolly?

Wouldn't it be really hard to maneuver? Regular cat trax will turn on a dime with minimal effort.

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Zach

Good thought, but it's for the «one man show» part of this tread. I must say that I have just a little experience with a beach kart giving me hard time to put it back on the shore.

I'm not sure why you want to create a 4 wheel dolly when you can simply use two sets of beach wheels. I use a rope on each side to secure them, one set towards the front, one towards the back. This functionally makes a portable trailer. Load them in the water.

http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/chris ... sort=3&o=1
http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/chris ... sort=3&o=3

I use a winch to pull it up this ramp, but it is necessary due to the steep incline. On more gentle inclines I've ran a rope from the boat to a secure location on shore that I've attached a pulley too. Looping the rope though the pulley gave me just enough extra power to haul it up to shore.

Thanks for the sharing hobie1canobe. I think it's smarter than what I was thinking of before.

Within this time, I realise that the page list in the post I was happy to find exist no more. Geocities is dead long time ago and with him all the pages like this one where people have propose good ideas.

Well, some have think about the history of the www, so I was able to find a copy of the site from 2009 via Internet Archive.

So, here is a copy of the site:
http://web.archive.org/web/20090831014012/http://geocities.com/mec_coleman/tip13.htm

And a PDF copy I made for myself:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-I3c3DTdeoIZlFPSV9uaWlKc0E/edit?usp=sharing

Here're some photos of the beach wheels I made:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100085529@N02/sets/72157635017809482/

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Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Sparky" - 1978 Sunfish (OK, it's not a Hobie, but it's a fun little craft)
Too many canoes and kayaks

Nice work...

I have a little question: What is the material and the thickness of the axel?

aluminium 2" diameter and 3/8" thick?

I make a try with 1 1/2 " alum tube with 1/4" thick and it was not enough for my getaway...

Well, I guess we'll see if it's strong enough! I haven't actually used it yet...
It has 1/4 inch wall thickness, 2 inch diameter, 8 feet long tube from Onlinemetals.com. Cost about $107 as I remember. I stood on the tube, and it seems strong enough, and I weigh about half of what the boat weighs.

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Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Sparky" - 1978 Sunfish (OK, it's not a Hobie, but it's a fun little craft)
Too many canoes and kayaks