beaching a boat

[sueran]

Just got a new Norweigan pram, a bit heavy for one person. Any suggestions on how to pull onto a beach and still protect the bottom ? thanks

[John B]

Sacrificial rubbing strakes, perhaps a bronze strip on top,many people fit wheels to heavy dinghies, I have low profile one let into the skeg of our heavy glass tender ( But that was more for dragging down a dock and ramp).
You probably don't want to do that and small wheels get stuck in the sand anyway, so get 2 or 3 small diameter sausage fenders and roll the boat up on them.
You know the ones, inflatable plastic/rubber looking things you find at any chandler..

[Tom Hunter]

I have read about people putting teflon sheets on the bottom of beach dories that were launched and hauled over shingle beaches. Always wanted to try that, but my boat sits on mud.

[Ian McColgin]

WHEELS

I have store-bought dink wheels (from West about 14 years ago) - the bigger model with 12" or so pneumatic tyres as the little unit is worthless. You could make a set. The wheels each are axeled to the end of a box spar of aluminum. These ride in alum channels bolted to the stern. The wheel spars each have two holes and the channel has three so the top of the spar can be fastpinned to the center of the channel and the wheels can be either up or down. I actually leave mine up as I flip the boat for storage and it's easy to turn it over for dragging two to four times a day over about 100 yards of beach.

Pete Culler designed a wheel-barrow skiff that might be a suitable retrofit since every dink used in vigorous winds needs a centerboard anyway. The board is a disc whose axel is lodged in some thick flat stock that's bent in an inverted U over the top of the board. The stock rides in channels in the trunk. One pin near the top of the trunk will hold it up or down. You may need to make a shelf on either side of the trunk to make a comfortable rowing station. The board should be 3/4" to 1" thick with an iron tyre shrunk on.

On the wheelbarrow skiff, Capt Pete brought the gunnels back past the transom to make handles. The wheel takes about 85% or more of the weight, making a nice carry.

G'luck

[Andrew]

In a pinch a couple of pieces of 4" PCV pipe can serve as rollers. Even when the pipes stick in the mud the boat will slide over them easily enough.

[Yeadon]

UHMW plastic skid shoes. Tough and light.

I've seen them used on the bottom of Eric Hvalsoe's little beachcruisers, and there's a really good write-up about them at http://www.gregboats.com/pages/uhmw.html

There are various places this stuff can be bought in long strips. It can be cut on a bandsaw and planed, too.

[Rich VanValkenburg]

I'm with Andrew on using the PVC. I've used it to beach a 14' aluminum fishing boat full of gear and a 20hp outboard. I use six of them and as the transom passes one, I pull it up and move it to the bow. That way you can just keep on going.

Rich

[Thorne]

Don't know about what sort of bottom protection you need -- are the beaches rocks, gravel, pebbles or sand?

Interesting mention of kevlar felt for bottom protection was made by Todd B. in another thread.
http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulleti...&highlight=oar

Would probably be too heavy and thick (1/8" or so) to cover the entire bottom, as it might slow your rowing, but sounds like the bee's knees for abrasion resistance.

As for rollers, the PVC pipes are cool if you can leave 'em in place on the beach. Otherwise for a pram, the fenders as rollers may be the best bet as they can also be used as....fenders!

[Thorne]

According to Todd, the kevlar felt is routinely epoxied onto canoe hulls (don't know the material), and should work on wood also.