Launching from seawall?

K

Kevin Pierce

New Member
I'm curious if anyone has a good single-handed method for launching from seawall.

I live a few houses away from a river. Our street dead-ends there at a small common area with a seawall. Drop to the river is about 3 feet; water next to the seawall is shallow, too: 2-3 feet.

For a doublehanded launch, we've rigged mast, sail (not raised) and rudder, lowered by bow handle and traveler, then raised the sail on the water while wading alongside.

For single-handing (which means I could sail whenever I want, regardless of available assistance <g>), I'm thinking about mounting a trailer roller on the neighbor's seawall. I'd rig the mast, sail and rudder, push the boat across the roller to the balance point, lower the stern to the water and let the bow follow. Getting the boat out would be the inverse: lift the bow handle to the roller, pull it up to the balance point, lift the stern and continue rolling it up into the grass...

Key engineering detail would be (hopefully) that the river and the roller become the available assistants, always carrying a share of the boat's weight...

Any better ideas? Flaws with this one?

Thanks,
Kevin
 
The roller may help. Less tech-y would be a piece of somewhat thick carpeting ...

My only concern would be the big drop, but if you set it in place, ready to go on the edge, hop down into the water, pull the boat out and set it down, walk to the bow and have enough water depth that the transom is not stuck in the bottom, it should work perfectly fine.
 
Agree with Gail. Carpet works for me. The big drop might be a problem. . . mine's about 18" and the stern goes pretty deep during launch and haul-out (I guess I pick the bow up a bit.). IF it IS aproblem, you might be possible to temporarily strap extra flotation to the stern (an old life jacket or a "noodle"?).
 
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