Those who’ve been following along with Fredrik and Nancy’s expedition in their 17′ Salish Voyager Wild Places may remember that they mentioned they’ve been using beach rollers to bring the boat up above the tide line before they bed down for the night.
We had several folks ask us whether they could get any footage or advice from Fredrik and Nancy about their methods for using the beach rollers. We are happy to share this video that they took for all of us! It shows how they use the beach rollers in the wild, complete with a detailed tutorial of how they are rigging up a pulley system with prusik knots and a 2:1 mechanical advantage to help pull up the boat in steeper sections of the beach!
The Salish Voyager’s deck and self-bailing floor that make this a seaworthy vessel also make this a heavier boat than most of our other models. 440 pounds can sound like a lot, but under oar or under sail it doesn’t feel like a heavy boat at all. And as Fredrik and Nancy demonstrate here, the beach rollers make it possible to travel light and explore places off-the-grid while you’re beach camping.
P.S. While we don’t stock beach rollers ourselves, our friends over at Duckworks Boat Builders Supply do and will be happy to hook you up with a pair of your own. Find them at https://duckworks.com/beach-rollers/!
These beautiful boaters and free spirits are inspiring!
Good stuff! Another approach, using the same gear and line would be a 3:1 system. Simply tie off at bow of boat, place a pulley at beach anchor, return line towards boat, prussik and pulley attached to boat line, then pull away from boat. Same gear, line, but more mechanical advantage as the 2:1 MA with change of direction in video.
Great explanation and video, thanks for sharing. I’m curious what system and gear you use for anchoring out when,camping ashore given the big tides in SE AK. Presumably some kind of clothesline-type system, must take a lot of line at times. Anyway, happy spring and safe travels!