I have a 14' aluminum Jon boat, for fishing, that sounds like what
you're looking for. Very light, rows easily. They can be found used
for a few hundred $$.


--
Scott Vernon
Plowville Pa _/)__/)_/)_

"Roger Long" wrote in message
news I had a long time to ponder this during eight hours of driving out to
the in-laws and back for New Year's. The need for an outboard on the
short trips this boat will make is driven almost entirely by the
weight and drag of wheels and suspension capable of operating at
driving speeds.


For reasons of:


Aesthetics

Cost

Ecology

Teaching kids seamanship

Aggravation (not dealing with a balky "bargain" outboard)

Storage

Maintenance (frequent water pump impeller replacement operating over
sand)

Peace

I would prefer to row the short distance back and forth to the boat,
just as long as I don't have to do it a half dozen times at the
beginning and end of each trip.

Getting a boat on and off a trailer is primarily a problem if it is
done in the water on this shallow beach. The wheels on the boat will
be a big help at the water's edge of this kind of beach, however. The
answer is a boat with beach wheels only. These won't need springs and
will operate only at low speed so they can be light and minimum drag.
No springs or axle needed. A rowing boat, even large enough to take a
daysailing party, will be light enough to drag up and down the beach
on its wheels. With a winch, it can quickly be gotten on and off of a
light, snowmobile type, trailer.

I'll have a sketch of this idea on the web site soon.

http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Tender.htm

Thanks to everyone who responded to the original posts. The comments
(mostly negative) really contributed to giving this some more thought.

--

Roger Long