Dolly for CD10

[Dick Kobayashi]

i have a new to me CD 10, purchased mostly to provide a vehicle to get on the waters near my house on a point in Buzzards Bay. The question arises where to keep it and how to move it. No dockage facilities here, for sure.

I have investigated the Seitech dollys and a friend here let me try his, but are there other alternatives. Its a fair way to land above the high tide line over a sometimes rocky sometimes sandy beach or ramp.

I have considered getting a dolly and also a mooring (by buying a disused mushroom anchor, but this has its own problems.)

I welcome any advise on this

[Steve Darwin]

Hi Dick,

Given your shoreline, would a pulley system work? I keep a skiff on a 20 ft painter that I tie to a line running from shore out to a pulley block and back. The pulley block is chained to an anchor about 100 ft from shore. The pulley and line rest on the sea bottom, which is sandy where I am. Sand in the pulley bearing shortens its life, but otherwise the system works very well and saves my having to swim to or from an anchored skiff at high tide, or dealing with a shoreside dinghy. I've seen similar systems set up on rocky shores with the pulley fastened to the top of a stake.

Steve

[Joe Montana]

Yesterday I saw a dinghy with a homemade arrangement -- white pvc pipes in a "J-shaped" configuration attached to the top of the dinghy transom, left and right. When the boat is inverted and lifted from the bow, the pipes provide a sacrificial surface that drags along the ground. It looked a little strange, but I guess it works for him.

Also, I just saw online that there are wheels made for the same purpose. Here, they're shown attached to the bottom of a boat, but I suppose they could be attached at the top of the transom of a hard dinghy, for use when dragging an inverted dinghy:

https://www.whitworths.com.au/main_item ... olutePage=

[Steve Laume]

The beauty of an inflatable dinghy is that they are not beautiful.

Those wheels might look and work great on an inflatable but just don't seem right on a classic little CD-10. This is only my opinion but I didn't purchase a Feather because she was the most utilitarian dinghy I could buy. Bolting those things on, at or below the waterline would also be begging for rot in the transom. And we must admit that these boats carry a bit of extra weight which might make those little wheels more like sand anchors.

I had given a passing thought to a wheel arrangement that could be inserted into the center board slot but it would require installation while in deep water or still dragging most of the way. You could make up all manner of wheeled dollies that might clamp onto the boat but then you would have to carry it around with you.

We all have different situations. Feather stays at a dock most of the time. It is visiting various, shores where we need to move over land. Lots of times I try to set out an anchor, run her to shore and then pull her off again by setting another anchor or tying off to something on shore off at a diagonal. This works very well if the tides are not too great.

I also carry four small fenders which can be set under the keel as rollers. As one rolls out, you stuff it back under the bow and keep going like an Egyptian. This works great on sandy or cobble beaches. On some rocky beaches I have used drift wood to construct a skid path in much the same way.

On one occasion we beached poor Feather in a cobble cove at high tide. After several hours of beach combing we found that everything between her and the water was rocks and boulders. ??? The prospects were not pretty. We hunted around a bit for wood but good fortune provided a fair sized chunk of commercial fish net. We laid it on the rocks and Feather slid right in like a playful seal pup! If you were to carry two chunks of this stuff there would be no situation you could not deal with.

Mostly I just plan on adding another layer of glass to the bottom of the keel every year or two when she is home for bottom paint, Steve.

[Dick Kobayashi]

I purchased a Seitech dolly from a member of this Board over in Marion. As far as I can tell there isn't too much difference among the Seitech dollies. The one I purchased has large wheels (no problem) but I would like to have a narrower axle. It is not completely clear to me if it is best to cut down the Axle on the dolly I purchased or to by an axle of appropriate dimension and sling to match. I am not completely clear from the Seitech site whether axles are sold in various lengths or whether axle stock is sold in std lengths for owners to cut to fit.

Any thoughts would be helpful

dk