Dinghy Dolly

Jim Cornwell · Post by **Jim Cornwell** » Dec 22nd, '10, 07:36

Now that the days are lengthening, it's time to cram all those winter boat projects into what's left of the non-sailing season. Some means of single-handedly moving my hard dinghy, an 8'-6" Puffin, to the dinghy dock from where she's stored in a rack up-ended on her transom, is on my to-do list. I've tried a set of soft wheels, "Wheel-eez,"intended for canoes and kayaks, which works surprisingly well on the straightaways. But this method doesn't help for the launch off the dock. So now I'm pondering a wheel barrow-like arrangement with bunks like a boat trailer that would allow me to tilt up and slide the boat off into the water stern first, then later retrieve the same way (with application of some muscle). Anyone know of something like this, proprietary or (more likely) home-made? Pictures of same? Happiest of holidays to all! Jim.

Stan W. · Post by **Stan W.** » Dec 22nd, '10, 11:12

I have seen photos of a dink with one wheel under the bow and holes high on either side of the transom. The idea was to stick the oars through the holes and use them like wheelbarrow handles with the dink itself serving as the barrow.

Dick Villamil · Post by **Dick Villamil** » Dec 22nd, '10, 23:30

http://shopna.laserperformance.com/temp ... upGuid=924

I am interested in getting a dolly for my CD 10 and this website has many dollies cusom fitted for many dinghies. We use these at our boat club and they really make launching and transporting dinghies easy. They may be a bit pricey but well worth it for the long haul!

Jeff and Sarah · Post by **Jeff and Sarah** » Dec 23rd, '10, 07:42

Sietech dollies are tough to beat. They are light and simple and even have several wheel options to suit your needs. I'd guess that an The Sietech Opti dolly would work for you, but they do offer some generic versions.

SurryMark · Post by **SurryMark** » Dec 23rd, '10, 08:30

On my puffin I put a stainless half-round on the skeg, to keep from wearing the usual hole in the skeg. If all you do is slide the boat on a dock, that may do fine. I pull my dink onto rough beaches at least a few times a week, sometimes a few times a day for a week or more on end (I sail with a dog), and there's been no problem.

river-rat · Post by **river-rat** » Dec 23rd, '10, 13:07

Years ago I built a single wheel fitted to a plywood piece that fit into the dagger board trunk on an El Toro.

The plywood extended above the top of the trunk so I could attach a snap shackle through a hole to keep the wheel in place under the hull
while I unloaded the car topped Toro.

A light line from the wheel side of the assembly to the gunwale allowed the assembly to be retrieved after pushing it out with the dagger board when afloat.

It worked great.

Duncan · Post by **Duncan** » Dec 23rd, '10, 14:26

river-rat wrote:It worked great.

Genius idea. I guess you could also give it tricycle gear, or even a hydrofoil

Steve Laume · Post by **Steve Laume** » Dec 23rd, '10, 14:45

So how do you get the wheel in there when you come into a beach?

For the dock launching situation a roller on some sort of cap that fit the edge of the dock might be the ticket. Once up on the dock it would be pretty easy to roll it on a hand dolly.

The problem with the CD-10 is that it is heavy.

This past summer we landed on a very barnacle encrusted rocky beach and were not ready to leave until low tide. It was also gently sloping so there were a lot of rocks between Feather and her floating depth. In the past I have used washed up logs and or fenders to slide her back in with minimal damage. While scouting the beach for suitable material we happened on an old piece of commercial fish netting. The net laid over the rocks not only cushioned their effects on the bottom but also made the dink slid nice and easy. For rocky shores a couple of 8 to 10 pieces of this net would make dragging much less of a chore. They could be rolled up and kept in the dinghy for just these situations.

A little more glass on the keel when I paint the bottom has thus far kept up with the abrasion. A piece of kevlar would be even better, Steve.

Jeff and Sarah · Post by **Jeff and Sarah** » Dec 23rd, '10, 19:36

I plan to coat the skeg of my Dyer Dhow with graphite-thickened epoxy. It works well for abrasion resistance when you are dragging the dink up the beach.

M. R. Bober · Post by **M. R. Bober** » Dec 24th, '10, 10:58

We have a set of wheels that clamp onto the transom of an inverted dink. You lift the bow and roll it as you would a hand truck. It works very well on flat hard surfaces. Mud, soft sand and stairs are a different story.

Mitchell Bober
Sunny Lancaster, (Where there are no dingy dollies; only well balanced ladies.) VA

John Stone · Post by **John Stone** » Dec 29th, '10, 21:05

Jim,
This is not home built so maybe this is not of interest to you. I routinely push our 9' Fatty Knees sailing dinghy about 200 yards to our neighborhood launch ramp. Our dinghy sits on a Seitech Dolly that I think was designed for an 11'6" Interclub. I also installed an optional double wheel under the front of the dolly so I don't have to hold it up while I push . . . just roll it along. It also works great for launch and recovery. We have had the dinghy dolly in constant use for five years without a problem. I can send you some photos if you are interested.

John

Jim Cornwell · Post by **Jim Cornwell** » Dec 30th, '10, 15:22

Another vote for Sietech! I've seen these and I've looked at photos on the web. Most show use of the dolly for beach transport of small craft, so I'm interested to hear that it works in a dock situation, too. My launches are at a floating dock which has about 16" of freeboard, so the design issue I need to solve is negotiating the distance between the water and the dolly's sling. - both launching and retrieving. Any pictures of how this is done would be very helpful. Thanks, Jim.

Jeff and Sarah · Post by **Jeff and Sarah** » Dec 30th, '10, 16:05

We used Sietech dinghies to launch all of our 20 boats from a floating dock in college. We wheeled them right up to the edge if the dock then lifted the bow off the dolly until the stern hit the water- then just push it away from the dock and gently lower it down. Personal preference for installing rudders with the stern hanging over the edge of the dock while still on the dolly or just do it after the boat is floating. Recovering the boat was the same in reverse. It's also helpful to tie the painter around the handle with several hitches while you are pulling the boat around.

Sietech dollies are great but I always seemed to think their larger tires were far better than the standard 'slick' ones. No real complaints about the smaller ones but I always liked the bigger knobby ones better. It seemed like they held their air a little longer and towed easier.

John Stone · Post by **John Stone** » Dec 30th, '10, 19:51

Jim,
I don't know what your floating dock looks like but we used to have outdoor carpet on the floating dock at our dinghy racing club. The dock was padded at the edge under the carpet. We slid the dinghies off the dollies onto the carpet. Then we slid the boats over the edge into the water. We retrieve the same way in reverse. It worked well with little fuss. 18" sound like a pretty long drop but you could test it out and see if it works . . . or build a short ramp on the edge of the floating dock and carpet that. I am sure there are other ways to do it as well. Good luck.

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Dinghy Dolly

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