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