Boats - launching and retrieving from a beach

Spotted at Matauri Bay in Northland. Dave, an experienced beach-launcher, has come up with one of the best ideas since beer was invented.

A Maxwell winch is attached to the trailer complete with a battery and power swith all sealed off in a completly watertight housing.

As the boat motors up to the trailer, Dave throws a rope attached to the bow cleat (where the winch cable is normally clipped) to the person manning the trailer. A couple of twists around the winch, flick the power on and in a few seconds the boat is up on the trailer and out of harms way. 

A snap faster commonly used in sailing takes the place of the normal D shackle safety chain as it's much faster. (Not a bad idea for any trailer boat).

We've seen instances where people have nearly had serious injuries trying to clip the cable onto winches with the surf bashing the boat on the trailer and this idea just does away with all that risk. It's also not as hard on the boat and trailer.

You just have to ensure you only take a couple of wraps on the winch and that you flick the power off as the bow reaches the rubber stopper at the front of the trailer but Dave's managed hundreds of retrievals without any issues.

Also there's less chance of getting trailers and cars bogged as it's so quick and simple. Certainly an idea for serious consideration by anyone who launches from beaches.