The city of Riviera Beach closed the Catamaran Launching Ramp. Short of joining a Yacht club there is only one place left in Northern Palm Beach County to launch a Catamaran excluding concrete ramps. The place is Jupiter Beach just north of the Jupiter Reef Club. Nice place and a few cats are left on the beach. The city is in the process to limiting how many boats can be left on the beach and residency issues. There is a cut into the curb so you can back down of off A1A on the top of the dune. The boats go down the dune easily on set of beach wheels.

The problem is that a 400 lb boat on Cat Trax up a 15 plus foot dune is a lot of work. I like to single handle and it is almost impossible to get the boat back up by myself. It usually takes four people to get the boat back up the dune to the trailer.

I am in the process of developing a motorized set of beach wheels that I will call Dune Dog. Dune Dog in the front resembles the standard type of beach wheels using knobby ATV tires that bolt to a custom made hub. There is center tube and a rear wheel for steering. The boat will sit on the Dune Dog and the press of a button will run an electric motor to drive the Dune Dog. The Dune Dog will disassemble to three pieces so it can be carried on your trailer or hulls as other beach wheels. The prototype will be complete by the end of next month. I hope to make modification to carry any type of light boat.

Anybody interested in this project can Email me at mikeshappell@sprynet.com