Launching a Wave over a seawall?

I'm a Sunfish sailor (solo) and am planning to get a Hobie Wave (for the family). I can launch my Sunfish over the seawall at the end of our street, where it's two to three feet down to the water and two to three feet deep. I back its dolly up to the seawall's edge, slide the boat back until it balances, ease the stern into the water, and slide the rest in. To get it out of the water, I lift the bow up to the seawall's edge, slide it up to the balance point, tilt it flat, and slide it the rest of the way onto the dolly. I also put a big felt pad on the seawall to keep from scratching the boat.

Will I be able to do the same with the Wave? Sliding it into the water would seem to work (where gravity is my friend), but will I be able to lift the bows up onto the seawall to get it out? Perhaps a two-person job?

I'd appreciate any thoughts or experiences...

Best,
Kevin Pierce

Should work. The Wave is more durable as well.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Tie a line to each bow to make a bridle. This will allow you to pick up both bows at once.

I lift this boat onto a Hobie 20 that is on a trailer alone. Once the bows are on the padded board across the transom, I move to the rear crossbar, press/lift the rear of the boat by lifting from the rear crossbar and then slide it up. It's awkward, but possible. Easier with a little help though.

Our wave sits on a wooden dock 1 1/2' - 2' high. The only difficult part is getting ahold of the bows by the bottom, I have thought about adding the cross bar from the jib kit. ahother thought is to attach a line to the front cross bar(same as the righting line) pass out board over the top, then under each hull, this shoul allow you to lift the bows high enough to pull them over the wall. Once you have a bow over the edge you shouldn't have any problem. Be careful with the rudders, I lock them up and off to one side just in-case I lose my grip, 2' -3' of water isn't much of a buffer when the boat is point up and the stern submerge.

Getting the bows to the sea wall (2-3ft) will be easy. Getting the rest of the boat to the balancing point of coming over the sea wall will be harder. I lift mine up about 1 - 1.5 feet onto a dock. The initial lift is easy. Dragging it back far enough to hit the tipping point is much harder. (and I have to be careful not to go off the back end of the dock.)

Make sure you have some slick carpet on the seawall. It can probably be done if you lift the bows up on the sea wall the get UNDER the front cross bar so you can lift, pull 5ft. forward and then pull down and over.

the waves are heavy boats. if you had wheels for it it might be kind of hard to ease it off the wheels without dropping it into the water. however the boat is very durable. but for launching off the seawall, i would suggesst you find a more level area.