Elevator to the water

[joe31hat]

Has anyone seen a plan for a 'Elevator to the water'? In the marina where we play with our boats, we have to contend with a 2-3' steel seawall. That's 2-3 ' to the water. Anybody have any solutions?

Joe

[fredspak]

I lower my 50 lb. Mr. Darby into the water using a couple of 2" wide luggage straps. We have about an 18" drop.

[thorsail]

Hey Joe
You need a boat launcher ! I'll post a pic - in the foreground you can see a
model we use to launch our bigger class of sailboats - but the design idea can
be adapted to many types of sail and/or power boat hulls . These are quite
easy to fit and glue together using PVC pipe and the various pipe sizes will
help you size it to whatever you are launching - if you put a "T" in the top
center you can then add a handle long enough to set a boat in and recover
it from a seawall...........I have also seen PVC cradles with simple rope handles
that allow you to lower a hull to the water level , although that works better
with power boat hulls than sailboats with keels......

Allan
Chicago

[green-boat]

How about an aluminum ladder with a sliding carraige to carry the boats up and down.

[PatricMichigan]

The Indianoplis Admirals use something similar to the ladder concept- I'll see if I have any pics of it.
You might pm 'swift16' (I think thats his rcgroups name) and ask him- he would know.

Patric

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

No plans, but I have this pic...

[Tachikaze]

Umi never seems to have any problems getting her boat in the water :cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhAUfcrMcQs

[Jerome Morris]

I bet she didn't do that in the Netherlands!

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

I bet she didn't do that in the Netherlands!

Madurodam wasn't deep enough... :( the boat needs at least 2 feet of
water to catch the boat and not bottom out the keel...


I did drop the boat straight down 4 feet into one of the canals in front of
Heinekin Brauwery then I had to sail it under the bridge to get the boat back.
But the canals are not necessarily clean, and I didn't want to completey
douche the boat... I kept a bottle of water handy to rinse it off each time I
recovered the boat.

:o

[patmat2350]

The Fort Wayne club has a ladder-built affair with a near vertical drop, can't find my picture right now...

edit: Indy, not Fort Wayne...

[der kapitan]

Most of the launching aids I've seen have been simple sling affairs made from a couple old seatbelts and a wood handle attached across the top. ;)

The boat is cradled by the two straps, lowered into the water, and drives itself out. :)

Recovery is the reverse of this procedure---. :p

Nothing very high-tech to it---. :D

[Swift16]

How about an aluminum ladder with a sliding carraige to carry the boats up and down.

This is the Indianapolis Admirals' rig. It's a cut down aluminum ladder which rests on the bottom of the pond and is clamped to the ponds concrete edge, some pulleys, an electric winch with a hand held wired remote control, and a platform to cradle/cushion the boat. There is also a dpdt electric toggle switch attached to the ladder which allows for reversing the winch's direction (up/down). It's effective and has handled boats up to 75 pounds to date.

[Jerome Morris]

Is the winch, an electric boat trailer winch?

[Swift16]

Is the winch, an electric boat trailer winch?

Yes, I believe so. 12V.

[PatricMichigan]

Thats the one! Thanks Switft 16.

[Swift16]

You're welcome, Patric. That rig has seen a lot of use but is easy to maintain.

John

[CGAux26]

I use a pair of poles with hooks on one end. Made from 1" dowel, drilled for the screw in SS hooks. 'course then you have to have eye bolts or double post bollards on both ends of your boat that will take the weight.