Launch and Recovery upgrade

[RMurphy]

Hello all!

I'm living at a 'remote' lightstation in the Pacific Northwest just south of Vancouver Island. I have a 3m tide range and the ebb and flow currents reach 7 knots. There is a concrete jetty on the N side of the 300 yard wide island that I call home (see racerocks.com). Winds are predominantly from the W (~30 knots) which are manageable because of the lay of the island, but winter brings a lot of wind from the E and NE both of which deliver heavy swells right on the jetty.
Currently I have a boat carriage that runs down a concrete launch on rails and a hydraulic-powered winch at the top of the ramp in the boat house. It fits my 15' Boston Whaler pretty well, but any swell at all on landing and the "vvv" shaped hull slips over the carriage's rungs much too easily.

I'm looking for ideas for a more weather-proof and safer launch and recovery system, including (if need be) a new boat, new carriage, new ramp, etc.

I've looked at Sealegs and it's almost the "right" solution. The current ramp is too narrow and would have to be expanded to accommodate the boat driving up. The boat house is just big enough for 6.1m rib I test drove. It is a little pricey for my budget, and while better-suited for rougher landings and launches it has very little room for hauling gear and passengers.

I'm not necessarily set on an amphibious craft, another avenue I'm interested in is a more stream-lined landing system. If I could deploy non-motorized wheels, hook into the winch and remotely start it pulling me up, I'd be A LOT happier!

Any ideas, experiences, suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Ryan

[TeddyDiver]

Nice place.. can you put a few photos of you current docking equipment. Sea-legs didn't convince me (if I googled in the right product?) The first thing camed to my mind if there's a way to improve the excisting.. some "surf" absorbers around the car maybe and perhaps slidings or rollers under so the car itself could stay a bit higher ?? Quite tricky I think..

[RMurphy]

I forgot to mention I also have to contend with an abundance of wildlife that I share the island with. The ramp is the only access to the elephant seal breeding grounds, and hundreds of California sea lions and Steller sea lions crowd the jetty area for months at a time:


It's usually not this bad, but here's something I contend with during the year:


This is a different perspective looking from the jetty to the rest of the island near low tide:

(bigger version here: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2734/...49720611_o.jpg )

Pictures of the carriage and boat to come...

[Kaluvic]

Looks like getting fire wood is no problem!
Excelent pictures...looking forward the others.
Thanks Ryan