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Aldinga beach launch/retrieve


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New to boat fishing down aldinga way since recently picking up a second hand 5m quinny coupla months ago. lots of “fun” trying to launch/retrieve off the beach – most of my friends are newbies to boat fishing and I’ve never beach launched b4 so its been a big learning curve! Broken winch strap, bruised arms from the winch handle banging me, boat turned 90degrees to the beach, its been great! the retrieval seems to give me the most grief.Have researched a bit on beach launching on the forums with the rope technique seeming to b the safest to prevent car sinking, but I was wondering if it was worth trying leaving the trailer on the car, investing in those TREDS/maxtrax things esp on the retrieve, placing them under the back car wheels so they don’t sink. Does anyone do this? are they worth it? any other tips? should the back car wheels be in the water or is that too far? btw I have an xtrail. cheersnick

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I had it down to a fine art with my oldboat, admitingly smaller (but fibreglass). You've obviously sussed the launch, so here is my retrieval:Firstly ,no, dont get the car wet, always leave have it on the firm sand ( plentiful at alding unless a very big tide)come in and totaly beach the boat, so the bow is on sand and the transom barely in water, the motor all the way up. Get out to get your car, back up, once close,( but not wet ) unhitch the trailer and wheel it so the first roller is hard up against the hull. ( I nice big ipnuematic jockey wheel helps a lot)Hitch attached, start winching the trailer UNDER the hull. You may have the front of the trailer head for the sky, just be carefull it doesnt crack ya in the head na dkeep winding. Depending on boat weight and your fitness, you may need to take it in turns on the winch with a mate. Once the boat is on the trailer, strong rope onto the trailer A frame, other end on tow ball, and as your mate holds the jockey wheel up out of the sand you drive forward. This is when it gets tricky, the trailer wheels will be burried in the sand, depending on weight, softness of sand and how long its taken you as to how deep. A good trick is to have the car at a slight angle to the trailer, so you are pulling slightly from the side and only un burriying one wheel at a time. Once on dry, firm sand, reverse car back to the trailer, hitch it and your done

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Thanks Ale, I've tried that way with some success (as in noone breaking anything), the biggest problem seems getting the nose down - two of my friends were pulling on the hitch but couldn't get it down until the boat was pretty much fully on the trailer so i was winching uphill the whole time! i need stronger friends :P thanks for the tip re angling the car to the boat

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Hi mate ,well this is a subject that i have put a bit of thought into with my own rig ,i use an electric winch all the time either at boat ramps or beach launching ,i have not launched at adinga but have at secliff a number of times ,here is what i have,, i have a fold down spare wheel an electric winch,approx 20feet of 25mm silver rope one end with an eye splice on it the other just back spliced a electrical extension lead with ando plugs on it ,the third wheel is a god send when pulling it out of the water with the rope ,i would not get the car to close to the water either if you do make sure you turn it of, as vibration will help settle it into the soft wet sand ,sometimes i still have to use the hand winch on the electric, as i cant get the car close enough for the extension cord from the winch to the car but once the boat is on i just tie of the rope to the trailer and to the tow bar gently take up slack until you feel tension then "FLATTEN IT" na only kidding just gently move forward and the boat and trailer should come out ,one thing to be carefull of is when you get the boat out dont just suddenly stop ,you will end up with boat in back seat,winchingideas001.JPGchment:2]winching ideas 005.JPG[/attachment][attachment:3]winching ideas 002.JPG[/attachment]winchingideas006.JPGwinchingideas003.JPGwinchingideas004.JPGwinchingideas007.JPGwinchingideas005.JPG so keep an eye on it until it stops rolling ,then hook up and of ya go

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Is the Xtrail an all wheel Driver or a "standard " 4by ?Either way you've been wise by asking here, with a lot of knowledge and experience here ;) Ive always used the rope and pnuematic Jockey wheel method myself, as there's just way too many stories of cars that just dont make it out past a rising tide, 4wd or 2wd :S :blink::d/ The wind down spare wheel is a cracker of an idea. Hopefully someone will post a pic of it up ;)

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thanks for the tips all, the fold down spare wheel looks v useful, is there an attachment i can buy to make one of my own? Having a spare wheel seems like a good idea in any case.an electric winch is probably out of budget for me at the moment, i've been told a good one with all the wiring is about a grand. Probably look at a anchor winch first cos i'd get more use out of it so for the moment I'll struggle on manually winching the boat on the trailer.

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afishyfish' date=' the xtrail is a all wheel drive, can be locked into 4wd mode. not much grunt but apparently rated to tow 2tonne and has been okay so far. and sure do appreciate the exp of all here, long time browser first time poster so thanks for all the info![/quote']No worries, seems to me that on a beach it's all about torque and how to best use it.Keeping your cars and even trailers wheels out of any moving water is half the battle I think ;) Like most things there's an easy way, and a hard way, and pulling a boat in off a beach can sure teach u the difference :c :d/ :whistle:
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hi mate ,i own a pathfinder and i think the towing capacity is the same ,mine has got the electric transmision where you can select low/high/and a standby which runs when the wheels dont get enough traction ,thats a drop down spare wheel in the photo cost me 300 dollers but was money well spent it locks into position with a pin and i adapted it with a screw lock to stop vibration noise when locked away ,bit late now but ill see if i can get a pic of it folded down tommorow winchingideas002.JPGwinchingideas006.JPG

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