Hello Rickshaw Dolly


add an axle, some tarred seine twine and a wee fender to chock the tongue under the bow. No U-bolts or metal fittings needed.


by Emiliano Marino


Hello Dolly! Well, Hello Dolly, it’s so nice to have you back where you belong. You’re lookin’ swell, Dolly!


Alright, I know Satchmo’s big- gest hit song wasn’t about some- thing to trundle his dinghy in and out of the water! However, given his early riverboat days in New Orleans and on the Missis- sippi River, he sure coulda been singing about that kinda dolly. But, jeez, given the scads of


instructionals and videos out there on how to make your own milk crate dolly, do we really need another recipe? Seems sorta like building a better mouse trap. Be that as it may, I believe the jinrickshaw lash-up I am about to reveal is superior and besides, I am thinking about dismantling mine and want to share its virtues with you.


Requirements Te following formula yields a dolly ca- pable of carrying a fully loaded 15.5 foot Gloucester Gull dory outta the water, up hill and down dale, along 5 miles of highway and over lumpy terrain. That feat was accomplished when TASWENS circumnavigated Kitsap Peninsula and had to be portaged across the strip of land that separates Lynch Cove (Hood Canal) from North Bay (South Puget Sound). Besides being light, strong, cheap


(even free) and easy to build, the dolly had to fit in the boat. Consequently, parts of the cart served multiple pur- poses. (Te box was also a backrest and storage locker, the tongue was also the mast and sprit rig, even the wheels also served to chock the box in firmly.) To the milk crate, tongue and wheels,


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Construction TASWENS is a flat bottomed dory so, other than cutting a handy slot for the keel, only one other adaptation of the crate was necessary. The crate is positioned right side up. The keel slot


easier and you can haul the boat right outta the water. A rickshaw dolly tongue must be


long enough to reach from the bow of the boat to the balance position where the dolly crate will be located under the boat. TASWENS’ dolly tongue was the sail rig; but, any stick, long and strong enough, will work. A wooden closet pole works well for a tongue and the gap between tongue and boat can be filled with a cushion, fender or life-jacket. I liked having the crate sit on top of the axle with the tongue stuck through and lashed about a third of the way down from the rim of the crate. That’s the other crate mod: If there are not pre-existing hand- holes, trim the lattice on two sides of the crate to create holes for the tongue to go through.


ABOVE—TASWENS and the rickshaw dolly.


aids immeasurably in aligning boat with dolly and provides some lateral stability. To accommodate a V or round bottomed boat a more cradle-like form could be devised. Obviously, the wheels can’t be so big


in diameter that they rise above the top of the crate or they’ll hit the bottom of a boat that’s wider than the crate. The axle is conveniently lashed lengthwise to the bottom of the crate. That’s one of the wonderful things about rugged milk crates: the lattice-work provides so many places for lashings and support for the tongue.


Te Tongue Many dolly designs are simply a frame with two wheels. I used one for years on a canoe, but it was a pain in the patootie setting it up, getting the boat on top and you couldn’t easily float a boat onto it. With a tongue, positioning is much


Doin’ the Dolly I tested the rickshaw dolly by hauling Salty Sue ‘round the shop. Ten I had a yen to take TASWENS for a spin up and down the local terrain. Bike wheels are great on hard sur- faces, but suck in soſt sand. Te boat rides high; but, I never had a capsize. You can lower the center of gravity by putting gear in the crate before loading


the boat. With practice, you’ll get a pretty good


idea where to place the dolly for fore and aſt weight distribution if, for instance, she’s a little bow heavy. With the boat lashed to the tongue and fore and aſt re- tainers set up on both sides, it’s the boat you are pulling on, not the tongue. I also lashed the boat to the dolly athwart- ships. Solid! Almost like the boat had its own wheels. I also rigged up a safety line/ harness. Ya wind up lowering the boat, stern first, down the steep hills. Te rest is a matter of steering control up and down hills and over bumps. (Have a stick for handy chocking of the wheels!) It‘s amazing how free-wheeling and


maneuverable TASWENS and the dolly are. It’s also possible to single handedly situate the rather heavy boat atop the dolly, on land. A kayak or canoe would be a cinch. You’d think someone would want to buy TASWENS just for his dandy rickshaw dolly! •SCA•


SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR


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