TI with Hobie Dolly

We're breaking in our new TI at the beach. The boat and trailer are left on the beach. Each evening I winch the boat back onto the trailer. In the morning I can singlehanded position the Dolly behind the trailer and pull the boat onto the Dolly. At the surf line, if I'm alone, it's difficult to remove the TI from the Dolly. In the evening, again if I'm singlehanded it's difficult to position the Dolly back under the boat.

I've watched a video where the person braces his foot against the boat and uses long straps attached to the Dolly to pull it underneath the TI.

Has anyone found or devised a better "mousetrap" to position the Dolly when alone ?

thanx,
bill

Bill,

I had similar difficulties in the past with my TI. I solved it by extending the handle on the beach dolly so that, when the dolly is in position (at the point of balance), the end of the handle is just at the bow of the boat. I also added a "T" grip on the end to make it easier to grab. Now the bow of the boat and the end of the handle are near one another and easy to maneuver.

When I retrieve the boat, if conditions allow, I point it into the wind, stand on the "T" handle and pull the boat onto the dolly with a bow line. Always in water sufficiently deep that I am floating the boat onto the dolly, noting of course that you are pushing against the buoyancy of the beach dolly.

I've been doing it this way for a long time and it is no longer a struggle to get the boat on or off the dolly as long as it is floating enough so as to not drive the wheels into the bottom. While this part is now easy getting the boat up a steep beach is still a chore when I am alone. When practical I prefer a trailer launch.

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Martin Hochberg
Tandem Island 2012
Pro Angler 2015

This is where a skyhook would be handy !

Have you tried putting the dolly alongside the TI and lifting only the front of the TI and then moving sideways to place it on the dolly ?

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I'm just thinking out loud here, but you could take two pieces of 1 1/2 PVC pipe about 8 to ten ft long tie the two ends together by just drilling a hole in each and running a piece of paracord through with a 4 ft piece of cord dangling down with a clip on it. To raise the boat up (to put the wheels under) you just bury the ends of the two poles in the beach and slide the boat forward, the poles will catch and raise the back of the boat up into the air (like a a frame hoist). The weight of the front and resistance from the sand/ground will help hold the boat long enough to get the wheels under and strapped down.
This would take all the heavy lifting out of the job just using leverage to raise the boat up. You will need to work out the lengths of everything of course since nobody has ever tried anything like this before.
When you go out just leave the poles and the cart on the beach or on your trailer (cause your not goin to fit that huge cart on the boat (lol)).
I'll be honest with you I never bother with any scupper or dolly carts anymore. It easier for me to just unhook the trailer from the car walk it across the beach and launch and retrieve right from the trailer (which also has a cheap harbor freight winch so no heavy lifting). With the 12 inch tires on the trailer it actually roll thru the sand fairly well ( unless you have one of those 500 lb galvanized trailers of course, my trailer weighs around 160 lbs).
Before figuring that out I used to pull the boat off the trailer or roof, tip it on it's side then slide the trax 2 cart into the scupper holes then walk the boat to the shore (without the AMA's, which I would carry down separately), then once at waters edge I would tip the TI up remove the scupper, then snap the AMA's back on. I have never had good luck trying to transport my full TI withe the AMA's on, anywhere, it's simply too heavy for me to drag the whole works over any beach or and distance, but just the hull alone is no worse than it was with our oasis (or any tandem yak (they are all heavy)).
It will cost you about $15 bucks worth of PVC to find out if the tripod idea works or not.
Note: the beaches here in sarasota are the finest pure white sand on the planet and soft like sugar, and it can be a 1/4 mile walk to get to the water, I know of nobody who could walk a fully ladened TI across there even with Hobies biggest dolly. We just carry the AMA's separately, then it's not a big deal.
When storing the pole you would just throw them in the boat on the trailer or on your roof.
Good luck
Bob