Ideas for getting boat to the beach over rip-rap

Fog Moon

New Member
I live on Lake Michigan and had to put rip-rap in last year to protect the shoreline from erosion due to high water. I have no problem pulling my Sunfish over the beach but I can’t figure out how to get it over the rip-rap. I’m thinking of a simple ramp or rails covered with carpet with a winch at top. The ramp or rails would have to be long enough to get over an 8 foot bank but I have no idea how to calculate the length for a gentle slope. Also, I can manage simple construction bit can’t construct anything fancy. Any ideas?
 
What is a gentle slope is the question...

Generally max slope for a normal boat launch for car/trailer is 15%.
That is 10' of distance for every 1.5' of vertical drop... which is a 53' of horizontal distance to drop 8'. Ramp itself would be slightly over 53' long.


Max angle for winching from some winch sites I've looked at appears to be 30 degrees (~58% slope).
That would cover 13.8' of horizontal distance to drop 8', with a ramp length of 16'
 
Well there’s your answer! Very helpful, I could not have figured it out.
So if you build a ramp based on aborgman’s measurements and get a good dolly (Seitech, Dynamic or tag) you should be ready to roll
 
Horizontal distance = (Height dropped/% slope)*100

Ramp Length = square root (Horizontal distance^2 + Height dropped^2)
 
Thank you very much for your help! I haven’t done the calculation yet but I should have space for the length.

Now I need help on how to make such a thing. I suppose something with the middle open would be best but I have no idea how to do it.
 
H16 Hull 346 HMCo.jpg
 
Herreshoff hull #341 for a US Navy H16 Flying Boat. Peeking out of the right corner of the Small Boat Shed is the bow for NC-4, the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic.

NC-4 Airborne Crew copy.png
 

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