moving a getaway

I picked up my Getaway yesterday and bought a pair of CatTrx....i went down to the beach where I;ll be keeping it and there is almost no grade (so slight) and the distance from waterline to where i will keep it is about 20-30 feet....i might be sending the cattrax back for $400 credit on my amex!!!

I was surprised when i picked up the boat to find that it came with a brand new harness ($170) and a winter cover.....

Congratulations on your new Getaway - you will love it!

Congrats, Phil. Let us know how you like it.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

how come every one but me gets free stuff

oohhhh yea, came with a hotstix tiller extension too!!! (sorry to rub it in)

Cat Trax are always great to have. Rubber wheels are best for soft sand. Hard wheels, like the homemade ones and tiger trax are good for hard packed sand and pavement.
They are a good investment to have.
During the winter, we usually have hard pack sand in Florida and in the summer its red soft sand. Out boat stays on the beach and after a good day of sailing being tired they work great! I haven't seen much wear on the getaway except for some scrathes pulling it without wheels on the sand unlike fiberglass boats, but they make life a whole look easier.
One thing to keep in mind is to tie your boat down in case storms or kids come by for a joy ride. Ive had a 16 catwhell down the beach because i didn't do that! Storms come up and so does high tides during full moons. Ive used cat trax to wheel the boat off the beach, up a beach approach and accross the street to get it off the beach when the stoms kick up and cars weren't allowed to bring a trailer down. Have a plan in place, waves can crush a boat against the sand and destroy one in a matter of minutes. You need a set of some type of wheels, cheap insurance.

Ive buried cinder blocks with a chain to secure the boat but many peple will use trailer tie downs with rope.

finally got around to assembling the trax...i have read on this forum that you can do it solo (getting the trax under the boat) so after a nice sunday afternoon sail, i beached the cat and got my trax as it was low tide and had about 55 feet to get the boat to its resting spot on the beach (i anchor it with cindars and chain) lifting the bow and getting the trax under the hulls is no problem, its rolling the wheels back to the shouds to tie it off...every time i let the wheels go, theyd start rolling forward...even when another set of hands arrived it was very difficul...should i totally have the boat floating and then put the trax under the hull>>>>help with some solo trax suggestions

I sail my Getaway without the front tramp, because of the surf. Once the traxs are under the bows, I use my foot on the inside of the hulls to roll the wheels aft. Once there under the main beam, I reach over on the outside, grab the line and tie them off to the wing mount or shrouds.

I do remeber having trouble when i had the front tramp on doing this by myself. Maybe extra long ropes on the cat trax would help.

I usually end up moving my Getaway by myself, so I had the same problem. I would push the cat trax back on one hull and they would move forward on the other hull. To keep them from moving forward. I use two of those adjustable cam tie downs. I push the cat trax forward under the hull. Then I connect the tie down from the cat trax pole to the base of the shrould on that side. Then I walk around and move the cat trax on the other hull. The tie down just keeps the cat trax from moving forwards when you're pushing on the other side. I move each side a couple of feet at a time until I get the cat trax to the balance point of the boat. Then they are already in place to hold the boat on the cat trax while you roll it around. I keep a tie down in each cooler so they are always there and they are easy to adjust because you just pull them snug.

would it be easier to float the boat and slide the trax under the boat in say 3' of water???

Depends, do your tracks float too? or will the leak and fill with 30lbs of water to push up the hill?.. Just thoughts.

hey Zhopper....where do you attach the cam tie downs to the trax?

The cam tie down has a hook on each end. I wrap one end around the cat trax pole that extends out past the hull. It just goes around the pole and hooks onto the tie down strap. The other end goes around the shroud. You push the cat trax under the hull a few feet, pull the cam strap snug so the wheels won't move forward. Then walk around to the other side and do the same thing. The straps just allow you to push the cat trax under your hulls without the opposite side constantly moving out from under your boat.

thanks all..makes perfect sense, i have cam tiedowns already!!! pray for wind...got skunked this weekend, hot but no wind.....sailflow.com is showing some wind for next saturday.....

Do I need cradles on the beach wheels to move my Getaway? I am concerned that the axle extentions are too narow and will put some dents on the bottom of the hulls.

I have a place on the beach that I share with other people. They told me I can use their wheels but most of them do not have cradles on them.

Thanks for all your suggestions and tips.

Cezar.