Thread: No good launching a boat off the beach

Originally Posted by trout1105

My trailcraft is a Plate boat 5mm hull, 4mm sides Not a cheap and nasty pressed lightweight boat like a Quinnie.and it has a 2.25m beam.
I have installed a "Boat Latch" retrieving system that makes launching and retrieving the boat very fast and easy which makes a beach/bush ramp launch simple with very little risk of getting bogged in the process.
Fully loaded I carry 300l of fuel (120 in the tank and 180 in drums) which gives me a range of 300 miles @ 18-20Kts.
40l of water and enough food for a week, 3 blocks of beer, Cooking gear, pillow, sleeping bags, clothes,

dunny,

40l Engle fridge, with 2x 100AH "House" batteries which run independently via a solar panel to the 2x 80 AH boat batteries.
Plus fishing gear, cast nets, 100l esky, bait, tools/spares/oil, spare props, spare anchor/rope/chain plus various other odds and sods.
So YES it is a heavy setup.

Fair enough with your weight then, taking all the above into account. Is that tow weight or on water weight?
My 90's vintage, 6.1 metre plate Sportfish with full fuel, water, 3 batteries, fishing gear etc., weighed at a council transfer station, on the tandem trailer, came in around 1950 kg. Never camped remotely in it as t'was a bit big so no food, camping gear and the like. Also, no alcohol as I have always had "Dry" boats. I reckon the beers are always better when cleaning the catch and boat, anyway.

Originally Posted by Saitch

Fair enough with your weight then, taking all the above into account. Is that tow weight or on water weight?
My 90's vintage, 6.1 metre plate Sportfish with full fuel, water, 3 batteries, fishing gear etc., weighed at a council transfer station, on the tandem trailer, came in around 1950 kg. Never camped remotely in it as t'was a bit big so no food, camping gear and the like. Also, no alcohol as I have always had "Dry" boats. I reckon the beers are always better when cleaning the catch and boat, anyway.

The Tow weight is about 1.5t, That is without all the extra gear and fuel as I am not a fan of using the boat as a trailer to carry extra kit when travelling.
I only load up the extra food, fuel, beer, water and other kit when I do extended stays living on the boat.
I am heading up to the mouth of the Fortescue River on the 10th of this month for a couple of months fishing and exploring the islands off the coast that stretch all the way down to Exmouth Gulf, The Montebello Islands are also well within range as well.
I run a semi dry boat (3 can limit for the day) But at the end of the days fishing/cruising There is nothing quite as good as quaffing 2 or more icy cold beers at the end of the day when you have anchored up or go ashore for the night
The boat ramp at the mouth of the Fortescue is a rough and fairly steep gravel Bush ramp and with about 5m difference in tides so I am expecting that the retrieve/launch could get a little bit "Interesting" at times But I have contingency plans just in case this happens and both of the 4WD's we are taking are equipped with a winch so I cant see us having the dramas that the mob in the original post had on the beach.
With any beach or bush ramp retrieve/launch a little bit of common sense and planning goes a Long way in preventing you having "Dramas", Unfortunately all too many boaties lack the common sense needed nor do they plan for any problems they may encounter, Many also rock up to the beach/ramp with a few too many beers under their belt which is always a recipe for disaster as well.

One of the Best bits of kit I have seen to aid a beach launch is a towbar extension for the boat trailer which can give you an extra 3-4m which is usually plenty to keep your truck out of the wash zone

My bush boat is a 5m Cairns Custom Craft , 140L fuel underfloor and F60 on the tiller.
It’s the Ute of the water. Can load a shed load of gear in it.
Anyways, that trailer has a spare hub onto a stub axle just infront of the winch post. Whack on a spare wheel onto the hub and you have a three wheel trailer. Can push it down most beaches if they are steep enough and rope it out
Or just drive it down at low tide get vehicle away safely ad wait for water

Trout I’m just taking the ****, I’ve run in three trailcrafts and in my opinion they are rough even for a platey .... each to there own though!

Your trip sounds awesome - great part of the country to explore by boat

Not a beach launch but this is how some cruiser owners hitch their boats

Looks like that one got away from him!