Launching from the beach without hurting my back?

Hello all, another newbie question

My launching spot forces me to drag the AI over 100 yards of grass followed by 100 yards of very soft sand. I have been doing it with the boat disassembled, and even sacrificing the time for three or four separate trips back to the trailer, I have frequently hurt my back (I am 66, overweight); the mechanics of dragging on the sand over the balloon Hobie wheels, while at the same time keeping the front of the boat up (compressing my back), and keeping my balance on powdered sand are already quite complicated for me.

So, now I am in the process of upgrading to a TI. My previous (first) post convinced me that it makes more sense to keep the boat assembled, and move all pieces together. Seems to make sense, saves trips and time. But... My questions are about how that works for someone with a damaged back like me:

1. Which wheel/cart (s) do you recommend? Is the C-Tug Kayak Cart a better option to Hobie's balloon wheels (the ones that fit the holes on the hull?
2. Is it possible to use TWO such wheeled devices to eliminate the need to compress my back from partially lifting the weight of the boat?

Many thanks in advance for answering

I had similar issues, eventually got so bad I had to sell my TI recently under doctors orders. Hoping a few months of rest will help me recover.
We ended up buying a cheap harbor freight utility trailer. When I modified the trailer to fit the TI, I made the trailer in two pieces so the tungue portion ( with the ball hitch part) can be easily removed so the trailer can also be used as a launch cart.
Instead of hobie cradles, ( which are very pricey) I made cheap PVC rails to store the boat on, ( on the trailer, mounted on 11” centers, two 1 1/4” ten ft pvc pipes mounted lengthwise on the trailer, (cost about $12 bucks).
The boat lives fully assembled on that trailer, (stored in our garage complete when not in use). If we can’t back up to the water and launch, I push the boat back on the trailer so it is balanced over the wheels, then put one strap on to hold it down. I then disconnect from the car and walk the boat on the trailer down to the water.
With the boat balanced over the axle there is no weight to lift. Because of the hard air filled large tires and the axle bearings the boat rolls very easily thru and over pretty much everything. We even pull the boat with bikes and our buddy scooter sometimes, (lol we do that 10 blocks or so thru the streets from our house in key west down to Higgs beach sometimes, ( key west is pretty lax on that kind of stuff). We also do that thru campgrounds as well when needed.
Having to walk the boat in pieces then assemble at waters edge really bites, and takes me an hour, (not worth it).
I took the trailer apart once, (as designed) but never again, I just mounted a carry handle up front up by the hitch instead, (worker better).
Hope this helps
FE

Thanks, fusioneng, this is VERY interesting!

Follow-up questions about the “PCV-solution” (which I see now that you pioneered):

* I noticed that sitting the hull and the amas on the same level puts a lot of strss on the akas. With mi AI, the amas end up sitting almost 2 inches BELOW the hull. So, my home-made cradles accommodate for that difference by having the template “sink” below the level of the hull’s. >>> How do you keep the amas lower than the hull when you use PVC pipes? Or do you?

* I travel frequently with the boat trailered behind. >>> Do the PVC pipes work for that type of use?

* The trailer I got for the TI is the Malone, which is heavier than the utility HF I used for the Island. I will try hand-pulling the whole thing, but I may need to resort to wheel-sets, possibly two of them. Do you have any expeiences to share with them?

Thanks, FE, very obliged by your kind response, be well, and heal that back!

The bed on the HF trailer is 4x4 with 3 cross braces. The reason I used small dia pvc (I think it wa 1 1/4”, but don’t remember for sure). So when the boat slides over the frame it just clears by an inch our so, (the center and side swoopy parts of the hull). Doing it this way if the boat eventually sags a little, (as they do in hot and sunny florida), it only settle a little and rests on the cross bars, but never goes any further it seems, (after 3yrs living on the trailer).
On our TI (because of the small dia pvc) the ama’s just lay on the cross bars/side frame. I just laid some foam on the side frame in a couple spots, then wrapped in electrical tape, (like you would do bike handlebars). The ama’s sit on the pads so they don’t scratch and rattle. I fully expected to have to redo the tape every 6 months or so going in. That was back in 2013, never touched them ever since, (who knew they would last that long). That 3m electrical tape is amazing stuff. Actually when the boat was brand new (2012) I wrapped all the aka bars with the same electrical tape, who knew the tape would protect the aka bars so well and for so long, used weekly for over 6 yrs, I don’t baby my stuff at all, I use the heck out of my stuff, the aka bars just get tossed into the back of the truck. The bars under the tape, still look brand new, and they don’t clank and clunk laying in the back of the truck.
To make the thin pvc pipes a little stronger I just stuff wood broom handles into the pvc tubes ( wood doesn’t deform). Make sure you have the pvc tues stuck out the back of the trailer a foot or so, you will thank me next time you try to load the boat on the trailer in a cross wind. I’m old, so I went to harbor freight and bought a $30 dollar ratcheting boat winch to pull the boat up on the trailer, saves a lot of heavy lifting and dragging the fully loaded 300 lb boat, (lol it’s always partially full of water when we come in, (they all leak like a siv, nature of the beast I guess, (we had 3 of them, all leaked)).
I know of no better way to store and trailer a TI.
FE

I'm older than you (76) and I've successfully used the Hobie Dolly to move the assembled boat, drives, mast, etc. over approx. 75ft of soft sand. I have a Trailex trailer and place the Dolly about 5ft behind the trailer and gradually slide the boat off the trailer directly onto the Dolly. Returning is the reverse, using a winch to pull the boat back onto the trailer.

The Dolly includes buckles&straps at each end. I thread these straps through the handles on either side of the hull and snug them down. I've replaced the rubber on the Dolly with indoor/outdoor carpet and the TI slides easily. You can position the TI so it's almost perfectly balanced. At water's edge I pull the Dolly forward from under the TI.

To get the TI back onto the Dolly either takes one person to lift the bow while the Dolly is positioned......or when I'm by myself I have 20ft straps - one on each side of the Dolly - stand at the stern and gradually pull (jerk) the Dolly into position.....restrap the Dolly to the TI handles and walk it back to the trailer.

There's a video by a TI sailor who sails in the Black Sea who uses this single handed method to get the TI on and off the Dolly. I think he calls himself Absail (?). Maybe you can find him on YouTube or someone else is familiar with his videos.

Yes, this is exactly what could work for me (even if my trailer is different brand - Malone). The video you sent me shows how to balance the boat on the cart, and the rest is pretty much just pulling. Particularly like how the person in the video pulls the cart to center it with those straps... VERY helpful info, thanks for going the extra mile to l9cate the video.

I will try the new setup in two weeks, when all pieces come together, and will try to picture/film the results.

Sincere thanks to all who helped, you folks all rock, so helpful and engaging! I hope i get to correspond
Zorzal

Fusioneng, now i understand it: i just need to size the pvc to make sure it lifts the hull high enough relative to the cross bar. That’s GREAT! I can use the 4 lb cross-linked foam that i have left over from the Island trailer to cover the cross bars (even add a flat piece to increase the contact area between the amas and the crossbars).

I also like a picture I saw where the PVC tubes are extended with a downward 45 degree join to failitate the sliding of the boat. I will send pictures once I do mine.

As usual, ver helpful, thanks!

Another option I saw recently when away was how a larger boat was trailered for a beach launch. This beach was long and shallow with about 1’ waves. They didn’t want to get the vehicle wet so at the waters edge they unhitched the trailer and pushed it into deeper water. Instead of a jockey wheel they had the spare tire set up on a stub axle in place of the jockey wheel. It rolled well and they just pushed the now 3 wheeled trailer through the surf. Retrieving it they tied a long rope to the trailer, hooked it up to their vehicle and drove it out.
Lowering the tire pressure a bit might help with the sand. The advantage of the 3 wheeled trailer is that all your effort is concentrated on pushing and not lifting.

Stringy:
That’s a pretty good idea. To get all the weight off the hitch, I just slide my boat back on the trailer, then hold it down with just one strap.
I also lock my ama’s out and put the tramps on, and sometimes put the mast in back in the parking lot.
I have a small caster mounted just behind the hitch on the trailer so I can roll the trailer around on blacktop, but that doesn’t work in sand.
However after hearing you discription of a third wheel, I’m wondering how well it would work to mount a non swivel large castor wheel to a 6x6 plate, then mount a hitch ball to the top of the plate slightly off center. I know you can buy swing down castor wheels for trailers, (we had one on one of our popups), of course that’s an option too, you can get those flip down castor wheels at places like camping world. I tend to always think the cheap inexpensive route, (not sure how well the reciever ball and plate solution would work), would likely be further ahead to just buy a ready made swing down caster from a trailer place, actually harbor freight has them for $25 bucks, (lowes also sells them). By the time you buy all the parts to design and build your own, which might work iffy, your probably better buying one ready made, probably only takes 15 minutes to mount permanently to the trailer.
I like the idea and will be putting one of those suckers on my next trailer.
FE

Have you considered inflatable boat rollers? If you bought about three 12" by 48" rollers, you could move everything in one go. Not the most elegant, but the price is right, and once you deflate them, you wouldn't need to go back to your car to store them

_________________
Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Tony:
We actually tried something like that once, we used 6 large diameter pool noodles with pvc pipe in them. It’s a half mile plus trek thru very deep super soft sand from the closest, (always crowded) mega big parking lots to anywhere you can launch any kayak (all the sand around here feels and looks just like table sugar), it’s difficult to even walk thru, (hard to describe). You can’t have any types of boats or kayaks in the life guard protected areas. Just sayin it didn’t work out well for us, and I’m pretty sure we looked pretty silly, (should have had pirate outfits on, (popular pirate heritage area, lol).
We obviously like to hang out at the beaches, but getting our kayaks there is not fun. This is the main reason we added motors to our TI, the closest launch is 5-7 miles away on the intercoastal (no surf). What we do is launch off our trailer then motor sail to where we want to be for the day, where we often meetup with our powerboat friends.
The main reason we like to hang out there is our sand is 99% pure quartz, (not coral) and is so reflective it doesn’t get hot, (lol it’s really hot and sunny in Florida), we spend most of our time in the water, not in the boat.
The only downside about the area is the really tough offshore surf/breakers just off shore, (they don’t make it to shore) that you have to get thru to get to shore, (not fun in our kayaks).
Actually that beach has 1,000 parking spaces, always full, most of the time we have to drive around the lot for up to an hour just to find a parking spot year round, kinda sucks.
Getting a motor solved all our problems, just sayin.
Just sayin, the closest launch point may not be the easiest and best, just stuff to think about, that’s all.
FE

I hadn’t thought about inflatable tubes (heck, i didn’t even know they existed), but it would take quite a few re-positioning switches to cover the distance (200+yards between grass and sand) thta I need to cover (assuming an effective separation of about 12 ft between them). No?

I think carts are the way to go for me. I wander whether the Hobie carts or the C-tug carts are better, though. I am really intrigued by the “deflated” wheels on the C-tug... Any recommendations about specific carts?

Alternative solution: motor (???)
I hear you, fusioneng... in my case (southern California) even when I live a couple of miles from the coast, launching sites are either inconvenient (Mothers Beach, from where I launch currently), convenient but far (Dana Point, 30+ minutes drive) or expensive ramps (upwards of $25). But there are a couple convenient spots slightly far from the actual ocean (such as the Aquatic Center in the Newport Beach back bay) which would be rendered much more convenient (time-wise) with a motor. Mmmmm..., FE, which motor do you use? Isn’t the gas engine a little “excessive” (in terms of bulge, logistics, weight, etc.)? Is there such a thing as a recommendable e-motor? I own an electric car, and I am convinced that the e-mobility technology is still immature to say the least (batteries life cycle being the main culprit).

I love the idea of a 3-wheeler. I can’t get closer to the water’s edge than the parking lot, and therefore the 3-wheeled trailer won't work for me, but building a 3-wheeled cart shouldn’t be too hard. The only issue is positioning it well under the boat.
I saw a video online where a Hobie owner folds one side, raises the other (with the akas on that side still extended) and slides the cart under. I wander if putting the hull with one ama folded on the side would hurt the boat or the akas...

Here is the video: what do you think? Of course, I would replace the "2014-custom-made" with the regular Hobie track I used with my Island:

Two scupper carts?

You reduce by half, the weight born by each wheel. Scupper holes are close enough together it should pull like a tandem axle trailer.

Before I swapped to dolly carts I used scupper carts and the method detailed in the video often, with no problems.
What I didn’t like was having to remove haka, undo tramps and empty the hull of any loose gear before tipping it over.

I’ve also tried two scupper carts and the problem with the TI is that the balance in the forward scupper holes is near perfect but as soon as the rear scupper cart wheels touch the balance is all mucked up and the bow handle gets very heavy.

A cart under each drive well works best for balance. You could use a combination of scupper cart in forward scuppers (rear drivewell) and dolly cart under front drivewell.