Beach Launching

[diver]

I have a 5 metre fibreglass boat that I would like to launch and retrieve over the beach on my own as I am a shift worker.I imagine the best way would be to run the boat up onto the beach and winch the trailer under it. I am keen to hear from anyone that does this and can offer some advice and tips as to how to best do this along with changes that I may need to make to my keel type pole and bogie trailer with retriever mate and presently a manual winch

[Reefmaster]

Hey Diver
I guess the first question is where your looking at beach launching your boat (what area). Different areas have different conditions and each has there ups and downs.
A 5mtr glass boat would be fairly heavy and i think trying to dry retrive your boat would be extremly hard and may damage your trailer/winch. I fish Double Island Point regulary and i would not even try to retrive the boat by myself no matter what size. But in saying that if you have the correct trailer set up such as you have mentioned it may be possible but i really couldnt see it. Firstly who is gonna hold your boat while the waves and tidal surge pushes it up the beach and soon strands it while your getting your car. Secondly trying to hold the boat in place ready to wind it on can be hard even with many people when the waves and current push the boat around. Your best option would be to fit the retriever mate and also get an extended draw bar fitted to the trailer. This helps your trailer to be in deeper water while your car stays clear from the water. Like i said it all depends where your looking at beach launching?
Cheers Greg
As you can see its quiet simple. You have a main hinge back from the tow point which when pulled out then goes through the u or c bracket which you then put a big bolt through to secure the draw bar.

[Reefmaster]

on this end it goes into another u-c bracket which is held in place by a small bolt which is easy to remove and then extend bar. There are many different extended bars outthere but this was easy to make and works great.

[Cloud_9]

Dunbier sell these as a bolt on accessory not shore on price but its the only way to go for beach launching .Multy roller trailers also help. you don't have keel rollers to aim for or slip off
i have SR16 multy roller trailer from dunbier great to retreve, haven't tried the beach retreve yet but had enough boat swell to contend with at ramp, i fish by myself 99% of the time and my boat is 4.8m Glass
their not that expensive cheaper than some non multy's.

Cheers Cloud 9

[diver]

Thanks for the info and taking the trouble to send photos Greg. The folding extension drawbar looks good.What size , length and wall thickness is it.The brackets appear to be made of 10mm ?I plan to launch the boat at lancelin here in WA. A reasonably hard beach with a fair amount of surge. I thought it might be possible to retrieve the boat by powering onto the beach lifting the motor up prior to hitting the beach. I hope the boat would be up the beach far enough to be stuck fast while I use a 4x4 to drag it a bit further up the beach out of the surge.Then I would think I would unhook the trailer and winch it under the boat. This part could be made easier with a good manual or power winch.My main concern lays with the beaching of the boat. Will it end up far enough up the beach or swept sideways and fill with water, worse case. Launching with a draw bar extension will be simple enough as a anchor and the easterly winds we get here will keep it off the beach while I park the car> The really adventure is retrieving it as the strong sea breeze in the afternoon will make a conventional retrieval without help impossible. I thought about anchoring it while I get the car but as you probably know the surge is undermining the trailer wheels while I am getting back to the boat and retrieving the anchor.Incidently cloud 9 is correct Dunbier does a drawbar extension for a sum of $500.I dont expect it to be easy but there has gotta be a way.
Cheers Peter

[blaze]

seen a lot of trailers with a center extendable bar. You just pull out the pin and
drive away untill it comes to the stop, reinsert lock pin, then launch boat, when
the boat is retrieved, put trailer handbrake on, remove lock pin, and reverse to the stop
and reisert lock pin.
This is a really good system as there is no need to unhitch your tow hitch
cheers
blaze

[diver]

Blaze this sounds interesting, do you know how the brakes are set up to cope with the centre extending drawbar and what length does it extend out to. What size and wall thickness was it . Tell me more anyone
Thanks Peter

[blaze]

Hi Peter
The ones i have seen have a 75mm rhs pole that replaces the exsisting
pole and the other on (needs to be well greased) neatly slides up inside
will see if i can find one and get a pic for you. may take a day or so in my driving about
cheers
blaze

[diver]

Yes I would greatly appreciate that Blaze. Please take note of the wall thickness of the 75x75 as it will be important that the bar does not flex or it will jam when retracting the extension along with how they deal with the break set up

[diver]

Yes I would greatly appreciate that Blaze. Please take note of the wall thickness of the 75x75 as it will be important that the bar does not flex or it will jam when retracting the extension along with how they deal with the break set up
Thanks Peter

[Needmorerum]

Diver, one thing I'm not sure about, would be running a glass boat up onto the sand. Not sure but I would be wary of any damage to gelcoats etc. As I only have a tinny, beech launching isn't a problem. Sorry can't help more.

Corry