winching a cat up the beach - on beach wheels

MN3 wrote:
What do you do when there is....unfavorable winds or a wind shift?

Tack! Duh.

sm

kinda tough to tack a boat on 2 sets of wheels when solo

Dogboy wrote: [quote=MN3]
What do you do when there is....unfavorable winds or a wind shift?

Tack! Duh.

sm

So maybe I am becoming obsessed with the idea, but I now see that other sportsmen have the same set of issues.
Here is a link to a pretty ingenious gas powered capstan winch that hunters use to drag their game out with.
A bit pricey, but totally useful.
No shortage of cable/line length
Totally portable
All you have to do is figure out what or how to anchor for the given circumstances
http://www.capstanropewinch.com

Edited by windwardde on Jul 27, 2016 - 01:32 PM.

A bit pricey, but totally useful.

for $1000 - it better wash and wax your boat too~!

I know, I know.
However, every now and then I love it when a product looks like it will do exactly what is needed.
But like most of us, I do not have an unlimited budget. If I did I'd hire a wench, not a winch, to haul the boat out and back!!

Having said all that, I have concluded that the hand crank capstan winch, which I can mount to my post is exactly what is needed and will be delivered to my home tomorrow. Hope to try it out this weekend if winds and tides agree.

But like most of us, I do not have an unlimited budget. If I did I'd hire a wench, not a winch, to haul the boat out and back!!

That's awesome!
I had started to say for $1000 you can hire a team of swedish bikini models to help push the boat up the hill
but i guess you would run out of funds quickly ...

have concluded that the hand crank capstan winch, which I can mount to my post is exactly what is needed

cool beans - hope it works out
please post pics - even a video of it in action if you can and a review when you can

Did you get the "GREENFIELD PRODUCTS SkyWinch, Manual Trailer Winch"?
Where did you order it from?

Edited by MN3 on Jul 27, 2016 - 01:28 PM.

windwardde wrote: So this might have limited interest, as I may have a unique situation, but thought I would ask the question and see if I can get any great/better ideas than I have come up with.

A little more interest than you thought! 😀

Beachcat sailing is full of both real engineers and "shade tree mechanics" so I knew this would get some interest.

My first mail list for beachcats back in the mid 1990's, called the hobielist, was full of folks with .edu and NASA email addresses, lots of pilots as well.

Damon,
Yes indeed - a lot more interest than I thought, but pleased as can be with all the interest, ideas and a few controversies. This continues to be the forum for me. My interest, my type of "engineers" and just enough controversy to make it fun.
Funny you say that about NASA and edu addresses. My beach has two rocket scientists, one world renowned NASA program manager and they both sail. A b=number of the other sailors are also pretty engineering or backyard mechanic savvy, as well. I think it must run in the blood of sailors. Some sort of symbiotic thought process insailing and engineering. Maybe I'm giving all of us too much credit 😀
MN3
Against all personal and forum advice, I went to West Marine for the Skywinch, as I had been given a $50 gift certificate that I hadn't used in over a year, so the price really ended up being right. I also struggle with West, as they only really have epoxy, paint and other general items I need - very little in the way of sailing gear. However, I don't 100% agree with all the price comments, as I have first hand knowledge of brick and mortar costs vs on-line. My West locally, has a pretty good group of boat owners in the store, so they USUALLY give decent advice. Somewhat making up for the high prices. However, I do take advantage of on-line stores and personal favorites, whenever I can. My sailmaker in NJ is a perfect example. I use him all the time, for repairs and "adjustments". Even a monohull sail from time to time. Haven't used him for Cats, as he readily admits he is not expert in that area. But... service beyond compare and fair - not the lowest - pricing.

I'll definitely send images when I hook up the winch - no wench images to be posted by me.

However, I don't 100% agree with all the price comments, as I have first hand knowledge of brick and mortar costs vs on-line.

what knowledge do you have?
come on !!! let's argue about it! (jk)

Thanks for the info - i look forward to seeing the pics and report

[quote=DamonLinkous]

Beachcat sailing is full of both real engineers and "shade tree mechanics" so I knew this would get some interest.

My first mail list for beachcats back in the mid 1990's, called the hobielist, was full of folks with .edu and NASA email addresses, lots of pilots as well.

Having been a pilot for 35 of my 53 years on this planet, I wouldn't trust them!

i use a harbor freight 12V winch with remote control. i hook it to the tie down, a cement block buried a foot under the sand with a length of chain attached, and winch my NACRA 18 square up the beach. i only have to winch the boat about 30,35' to where it is tied down. i hold up the bow as i winch it up the beach, works great.

i use a harbor freight 12V winch with remote control. i hook it to the tie down, a cement block buried a foot under the sand with a length of chain attached, and winch my NACRA 18 square up the beach. i only have to winch the boat about 30,35' to where it is tied down. i hold up the bow as i winch it up the beach, works great.

So I was able to get out for a very poor sail this Sunday, but didn't care (much) that the wind was almost non-existent as I wanted to try out the Skywinch I got last week. Pictures will come next time I am able, as I didn't have my phone with me.
Mounted it about 42" up from ground on a 4x4 that is buried in the ground with concrete. This height gave me a decent crank height.
My boat rests about 30 feet to beach side of this crank, on the sand and has 4 "shed augers" that they use to "hurricane proof" temporary sheds. These augers are buried in the ground about 3'. I use a couple of ratchet straps across the beams to tie it down - I just don't pull the ratchets too tight.
At typical tide for me bringing the boat back in, I have another 120' or so to pull the boat up the beach. First 60' are every bit or more of 10 degree incline.
Landed at the tideline and popped the Supercat on two sets of beach wheels and wrapped 3/8" triple strand line around the front beam at the mast location and fed the line through the Skywinch. Worked fine as long as I kept slight hand tension on the out feed line. Braided line would have worked better and not have had a tendency to gum up the out feed. But...I had this line and didn't want to go buy new. Fed the line straight down into a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket.
It worked fine. A few things I learned.
- Better to have the whole setup exactly in line with the crank. In other words, perpendicular to the beach at exactly a straight out position from the winch. It wasn't, so I had to go back down the beach and reposition the aft of the cat a couple of times. It was easy as I had all that tension on the boat from the Skywinch, but it would have been nicer to just crank from the post and enjoy the beer.
- It could have been a bit faster. Would love to have had a bigger bail, so that I would have gotten more than about 5-6" line pull per crank of the winch. Not that big a deal though. I suppose if I get impatient, I can mount some sort of drill motor or other device to the crank to speed it up.
- Winch crank is not difficult
- Nice feature of the Skywinch bail is that you can loop the line around the bail at any point in the line. This saves you not having to feed the line in from the end.
Conclusion on my end is that this was a pretty low-cost way to save my back. Retail on the winch is $70. Retail on the line is about the same (though I had it already). Couple of galvanized carriage bolts, nuts and washers. For less than $150, I have a solution for single handing my cat up the beach, and I sail it single more often than not.
I'll follow up with either video or pictures when able

Conclusion on my end is that this was a pretty low-cost way to save my back

Nice!

How's the quality on that Sky Winch? I may put one on my trailer mast support for mast raising.

I like the quality. Plastic parts look to be carbon loaded plastic. Sturdy bracket. The bail is cast and I can't really tell what its made of, but it is a good casting, well flashed and polished. I think its worth the $