Successful beach launching demands knowledge of the beach and sea conditions, suitable tow vehicles, an appropriate trailer, the right boat, and good skills. Here’s a roundup of issues to think about, gleaned from a tour of the Wairarapa’s top sportfishing beaches.
The first step is to find out what other boaties have learned. Talking to locals avoids embarrassment, saves money, and may prevent accidents. What works? What doesn’t work? Is there a better spot nearby? If there’s a local fishing or boating club, it’s worth joining up and talking to club members before trying to launch at an unknown location.
If you see a row of tractors or bulldozers with boat trailers parked on the beach, that should tell you a ute or SUV probably won’t get the job done. The beach may be too soft for small wheels and tyres. Backwash could be a problem. Water rushing back after a wave has broken will suck sand and gravel out from under the vehicle’s wheels, exacerbated when wheels are smaller. One wave can be all it takes to sink a ute or SUV up to its floor pan. Larger diameter wheels cope much better, which is why many beach-based clubs have their own tractors.
Locals may know of a spot where a four-wheel-drive ute will do the job. Even so, it’s a good idea to have another vehicle standing by in case a tow is needed.
A good trailer for beach work has a fence or cage around the boat, with two or three vertical guides (uprights) on either side and one or more horizontal bars or panels. The uprights prevent the boat skewing sideways as it comes onto the trailer, guiding the bow into the bow stop (post). Watching 50-odd boats coming ashore at Ngawi’s ‘Big 3’ fishing competition in Palliser Bay, we noticed that horizontal bars should not be too high. The bow or hull sides should not be able to get underneath any part of the fence, even when a wave lifts the stern as the boat comes to the trailer.
Some very effective trailers have a gap in front of the fence, so there’s nothing to trap the bow if the boat comes in stern-up and bow-down. Well-positioned rollers or skids stop the boat nosediving under the trailer’s frame or hitting the mudguards. Extendable drawbars are popular in the Wairarapa: a good way to keep the tractor’s feet dry-ish.
The usual launching technique is to load up the boat with all gear. A driver backs the trailer down the beach. The skipper lowers the motor as far as he dares, starts it up, and backs off into the surf. You will get wet. A self-draining cockpit and watertight cockpit floor are essential.
Some beaches have soft spots that can bog a tractor. In Castlepoint’s lagoon, tractor drivers can wade out to the boat after parking the trailer. At Ngawi, they can get a ride on the next boat to launch, but the really keen drivers swim out.
When we visited Ngawi, waves were breaking right under the trailers and boats were easily reversing clear of breaking waves. On other beaches it’s necessary to turn around before tackling the surf. The exact technique varies according to local conditions. However, there is one golden rule: never take a big breaking wave side-on.
Retrieving the boat in surf is the big challenge, but a well-set-up trailer makes all the difference. The cage works like a baseball catcher’s mitt. Time it right, line up somewhere near enough, hold your mouth the right way, and the boat will drop neatly into place. Keep the power on until the boat is secured to the trailer.
Experienced beach operators minimise tilt during the approach. Tilting the motor reduces steerage, making it harder to get that bow onto the trailer. If the trailer is high enough, it may be possible to completely avoid tilting the motor. Some fishing club tractors have drawbars that can be lowered right down to raise the back of the trailer and keep the prop out of the sand. But don’t forget to tilt the motor as the tow vehicle pulls boat and trailer out.
Timing is the key to making this look easy. The idea is to follow the biggest wave in a set, adjusting boat speed to avoid overtaking the wave when it breaks, all while staying ahead of the following wave to keep the bow up. Waves come in sets. Boats that come in on the biggest wave stay put after landing on the trailer, but if the next wave is bigger, it could lift the boat and suck it back into the surf.
It’s crucial to attach the boat to the trailer as soon as it’s in position. Most trailer boaties use a diagonal rope or webbing line (spring line) between the trailer and stern- or side-cleat of the boat. It can be attached to the trailer with a spliced or knotted loop to drop over a cleat on the boat, or it can be attached to the boat and dropped over a trailer upright. The easiest and safest method depends on the boat, trailer, and the skipper’s personal preference. The important thing is to connect that spring line as soon as the boat’s in the right place.
The right place is not hard up against the bow stop. A little slack makes it easier to attach the spring line. Once on dry land, the boat can be winched forward the last half a metre or so.
Perfection is not required, but practice pays off. Everyone on board needs to be well-briefed so they know what to expect. Following a wave into a trailer is a commitment. There may be a point of no return, beyond which backing off could lead to trouble. At this year’s Ngawi Big 3, things went smoothly for everyone we watched come in. However, this writer has experienced more interesting conditions, with a 6.5m tinny landing hard enough to bend a 50mm heavy-walled steel upright.
What happens if it cuts up rough while you’re out? It was all good when you put in, but now the waves are so high they’ll lift your boat right over the top of your trailer, cage and all?
The baseball catcher’s mitt is out of the question. Unless there is a good backup location, the safest option is to run your boat onto the beach. The idea is to run far enough up the beach that the next wave won’t suck you back out. All hands need to hold the boat steady while a towline is connected and the tractor drags the boat clear of the surf. This is where wave-riding practice pays off. If the motor has a tilt-lock, this must be unlocked. The motor(s) should be tilted only at the very last moment, with power on until the boat actually hits the sand. Time this right and momentum will push the boat up the beach.
Once clear of the surf, the boat needs to be winched up from the sand onto the trailer. For bigger boats (longer than about 4.5m), a beefed-up winch and winch mount might be necessary. It helps (a lot) to tilt the trailer. Club tractors often have hydraulics that can raise the tow-ball, tilting the trailer for easier loading.
For trailers that don’t have uprights and side guides, beaching the boat is often the preferred option, even in good weather.
This is why beach operation demands the right boat and trailer. The boat must be strong enough to take a hard hit. The bottom must withstand dragging up a sand or shingle beach. The winch attachment must withstand the pull of a tractor, dragging the boat out of the surf and up the beach. Aluminium alloy is pretty-much the only practical hull material for a beach-launched trailer boat. Some boats have painted sides and tops, but there’s no point putting paint on the bottom. Unless the motor(s) are under about 50hp, power tilt is mandatory. Propellers get knocked about.
Trailers for beach operation have some common design themes. Vertical guides need to be attached in such a way that a hard hit on the guide won’t wreck the trailer’s frame. In practice, this means attaching the uprights near existing cross-members or adding cross-members to support the guides. The winch and bracket need to be heavier duty than we typically see on trailers designed for sheltered launching ramps. Rollers, skids and (often) padding protect the boat from damage and prevent it from hitting trailer fittings such as the mudguards. Vee-shaped rollers or a timber or polyethylene (PE) skid right at the very back of the trailer is fantastic, especially when the boat can be driven on rather than wave-riding.
It would be a great shame to miss out on great boating and fishing opportunities simply because of the lack of sheltered launching facilities. Thanks to generations of trial, error, and Kiwi innovation, this is no longer a problem. Most beaches around New Zealand have been used by locals who are usually more than happy to share their knowledge. And if you happen to find a beach no one has ever used but you are sure has potential, adapting tricks and techniques developed at similar beaches should work fine.
