Solo launching question

Here’s a dumb question but coming from a canoe to a 14ft aluminum I was wondering what techniques work to solo launch when there’s no dock. Like how do you get back in without a dock after parking the trailer? I assume you have to beach and awkwardly climb in?


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What I did was beach the front of the boat just enough to keep it steady to climb in. Then move toward the back of the boat and the front would "unbeach" itself to where you could easily back away from the beach.

Make sure you beach it enough for when you go park. You wouldn't want to have to swim to it. I use a pushpole to debeach after I get in

Here's what I did a couple years ago when we had crazy floods and I was basically dunking the boat from the parking lot.

1. Straps off, plug in, normal routine.
2. Back down, stop at the water line.
3. Drop your winch strap. Take a dock rope that is a few feet longer than your trailer with a carabiner on one end, tie one end to the bow eye and snap the carabiner onto the winch post or somewhere on the tow vehicle.
4. Back in, once the boat is floating, stab the brakes, and then start pulling forward slowly until the boat is beached.
5. Hop out, fully beach the boat and unhook your rope. That's it.

As for getting back in, I will kind of shove off and hop on the front deck at the same time, but I am young and agile.

MrGiggles said:

Here's what I did a couple years ago when we had crazy floods and I was basically dunking the boat from the parking lot.

1. Straps off, plug in, normal routine.
2. Back down, stop at the water line.
3. Drop your winch strap. Take a dock rope that is a few feet longer than your trailer with a carabiner on one end, tie one end to the bow eye and snap the carabiner onto the winch post or somewhere on the tow vehicle.
4. Back in, once the boat is floating, stab the brakes, and then start pulling forward slowly until the boat is beached.
5. Hop out, fully beach the boat and unhook your rope. That's it.

As for getting back in, I will kind of shove off and hop on the front deck at the same time, but I am young and agile.

Click to expand...

That's the procedure I use for launching my boat any time, and I am old and not agile. If someone is with me, I get them to hold the rope instead of attaching it to the trailer, and that saves me having to get out of the truck. I can take the truck directly to the parking area while my partner gets the boat parallel to the dock if there is one. If there is not a dock, I just get him to pull it up to the bank and we both enter at the bow. One of the nice things about an aluminum boat is that you can beach it anywhere without hurting it.

I got behind a guy with a big fiberglass bass boat at the ramp the last time I went fishing. He had backed his boat down the ramp and was just sitting there in his truck. I asked if I could hold his rope for him, but he said he didn't have one. He was waiting for his buddy to get there to drive it off the trailer, and there was no other way to launch it. I wouldn't want a rig that I couldn't launch by myself.

With a boat of 14' or less, I always preferred a tilt trailer. All I needed was to be able to get the trailer wheels near the water and I could launch it anywhere. Take it loose in the middle of the trailer, lift the bow, and it was going into the water. To get it back on, just use the winch. We launched my dad's boat off the side of the road many times.

MrGiggles said:

Here's what I did a couple years ago when we had crazy floods and I was basically dunking the boat from the parking lot.

1. Straps off, plug in, normal routine.
2. Back down, stop at the water line.
3. Drop your winch strap. Take a dock rope that is a few feet longer than your trailer with a carabiner on one end, tie one end to the bow eye and snap the carabiner onto the winch post or somewhere on the tow vehicle.
4. Back in, once the boat is floating, stab the brakes, and then start pulling forward slowly until the boat is beached.
5. Hop out, fully beach the boat and unhook your rope. That's it.

As for getting back in, I will kind of shove off and hop on the front deck at the same time, but I am young and agile.

Click to expand...

I use this same exact method.

I have had a power trim unit for a couple years now and will say that really helps being able to easily tilt the motor up when pushing the boat off and beaching it when coming back to the ramp. Prior to that, if I forgot to manually tilt the motor up a little and beached it, sometimes the skeg would drive into the mud when I pulled it up and make it a slight annoyance to push it back off into the water.

On some ramps I'll bring the hull in towards the ramp 'side on' and just step aboard without even getting my sneakers wet. But my 14' is beamy and stable enough to stand on the gunnel and she won't tip too far. Then I just push off with an oar, which is required for small crafts to have aboard anyway ...

MrGiggles said:

Here's what I did a couple years ago when we had crazy floods and I was basically dunking the boat from the parking lot.

1. Straps off, plug in, normal routine.
2. Back down, stop at the water line.
3. Drop your winch strap. Take a dock rope that is a few feet longer than your trailer with a carabiner on one end, tie one end to the bow eye and snap the carabiner onto the winch post or somewhere on the tow vehicle.
4. Back in, once the boat is floating, stab the brakes, and then start pulling forward slowly until the boat is beached.
5. Hop out, fully beach the boat and unhook your rope. That's it.

As for getting back in, I will kind of shove off and hop on the front deck at the same time, but I am young and agile.

Click to expand...

I do the same here with my 15' Lund. Because I have trailer guide-ons, I use a 35' line of the bow cleat which I tie to my trailer winch bracket, before backing in and floating the boat. I need to be able to clear my guide-ons, especially when loading. The long line allows me to do that in all kinds of conditions. Also, the guide-ons themselves have been a big help when launching solo.

MrGiggles said:

Here's what I did a couple years ago when we had crazy floods and I was basically dunking the boat from the parking lot.

1. Straps off, plug in, normal routine.
2. Back down, stop at the water line.
3. Drop your winch strap. Take a dock rope that is a few feet longer than your trailer with a carabiner on one end, tie one end to the bow eye and snap the carabiner onto the winch post or somewhere on the tow vehicle.
4. Back in, once the boat is floating, stab the brakes, and then start pulling forward slowly until the boat is beached.
5. Hop out, fully beach the boat and unhook your rope. That's it.

As for getting back in, I will kind of shove off and hop on the front deck at the same time, but I am young and agile.

Click to expand...

Exactly what I do as well!


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Our ramp drops off at a certain point and is very flat in one section so the unloading/loading all depends on the water level of the river. I always wear boat shoes and walk it off/back on regardless of how cold the water is. I did it one year in Feb when the water temp was around 34 degrees and the air was in the 60's for a couple of days. I should probably buy some tall boots, but I don't usually take the boat out in cold weather (less than 60 degrees) so getting my feet wet is not that big of a deal. I've never backed a boat off the trailer by letting it float loose on its own. Probably because the current would swing the boat around and put it in a bad spot before you could get out of the vehicle.

MrGiggles said:

As for getting back in, I will kind of shove off and hop on the front deck at the same time, but I am young and agile.

Click to expand...

Might be OK for you young fellers. Being a little more "seasoned", I can safely say it ain't gonna happen.

I'm lucky that every ramp I've been to so far as a dock. I carry a small step ladder in the truck. I use it to climb in the boat to put the top up before launching. If I ever have to launch & beach the boat, I guess I could use the step ladder to climb in.

LDUBS said:

MrGiggles said:

As for getting back in, I will kind of shove off and hop on the front deck at the same time, but I am young and agile.

Click to expand...

Might be OK for you young fellers. Being a little more "seasoned", I can safely say it ain't gonna happen.

I'm lucky that every ramp I've been to so far as a dock. I carry a small step ladder in the truck. I use it to climb in the boat to put the top up before launching. If I ever have to launch & beach the boat, I guess I could use the step ladder to climb in.

Click to expand...

I watched an old timer skillfully walk/hop a ladder all the way from his truck to the front of the boat without dipping a toe. Was quite a feat to watch, I couldn't do it without getting wet.

Our ramps have docks as well, but the COE will pull them if the water is really high. If there's a dock I still use the rope, just let the boat drift off, hop out, grab the rope and tie off. Takes maybe 10 seconds.