Rolleez sand-wheel cart review w/ photos

I bailed a bit early from work yesterday when I saw that the ocean was pretty calm and about to blow out to 20' for awhile, and I went over the hill to the Cape and hauled one of my 9' Mainstream boats down the beach with my new Rolleez cart with sand-wheels.  After cruising a mile down to Fish Bay I didn't end up with enough time to go boating and I didn't hook up off the rocks in 20 minutes--several bites but no hookup.  The R&D with the cart was great--I need the workout anyway.  With about 10 # of gear and the 40 # boat the cart worked great.  I was often going over sand with gravel, or sand with shells, or sand with sticks, or all of the above plus some bedrock poking through too.  With the light load everything was great, but I did realize that if I had a bunch of gear on the boat, or if I let one of the kids ride on there I'd have a much better chance of puncturing a tire on a stick or shell in those conditions.  Side-hill on minor waveslopes was no problem.  In all I was very pleased with the performance and ease of use for the 2 mile roundtrip.   

In this photo I'd just waded across this creek with the cart on the yak--no problema!

After about 5 minutes I came across this head of what had been about a 15# lingcod...  it's nice to have some validation of why I do these things...   

Farther down the trail. 

Skip all the "kayak, $350; cart, $150"...    Walking down the Lost Coast towing all your gear on your yak and a good beer in the other hand------sooo freakin' priceless!  (I'm definitely overworked and WAF-deficeint!).

REAL nice.  Glad the cart worked well.  Those wheels are tougher than you think.  We pile the crap on and do the Elk hill of hades all of the time...so far zero boo-boos.

I got to Fish Bay and, like I said, I didn't have time to unload and paddle to all the best rocks (that are also accessible at low tide by walking/wading), so this is the last shot--catch a live-shot of Fish Bay by getting in touch with me!  The beach-combing is excellent on this trail and world class along one 200-250 yard stretch for the area's reef flora and fauna.  I like to collect the very small abs, urchins, scallops, and to generally appreciate all other including pink coral, sponge, and many others.  The cabezone like to eat the funky, spiny crab.

I would LOVE to check out the Lost Coast by kayak sometime.
I bought my Rollez wheels and cart last year and after the 1st time out with it I was sold!
I took it to Van Damme and I was absolutely amazed at how it made the sand and rocks seem like I was pulling the cart on pavement. The cost is worth every penny and the value goes up the older I get.

abking, great, almost surrealistic post as usual!
good thing you have pictures, I would never believe it otherwise!

here is a possible tip:

my backpack has an ice-pick loop or something on the bottom of it.

I hook the toggle on the bow of the kayak through the ice-pick loop,
put the back pack on, then you can walk no hands facing straight ahead
while towing the kayak, no need to have your arm twisted behind
you holding the toggle.

best,

J

John:  great advice--I can drink two beers at once with that setup!   

I've been working so much that the thought of dragging one of my longer, more fully-loaded yaks about 10 miles down the beach in a storm sounds real good right now!     I am going to focus my wanna-go-fishing energies on getting all of my gear ready--22 days 'til ab season and lingcod opens off the rocks or spearfishing!

nice promo ad for Rolleez....makes me wanna buy one myself 

It's more an ad for GWKC! 

In all honesty, it's really an 'ad' that's trying to get someone to get their ass up here and go fishing with me!!!   

That's a big cabezone caught off the rocks about 10 years ago--didn't weigh them back then!   

Abking - I'm actually thinking of upgrading my "wheels".
I bought these and they work well and are very sturdy. The thing I like about it is that it only requires one strap to secure it. BUT, it does roll over loose sand like the rolleeze. I wonder if I can just replace the tires with the rolleeze type....that would save me some bucks.

Mooch--the big sand wheels require a wider wheel base, but there may another alternative out there. 

BK--I know what you mean!  Walking to Bear Harbor from the parking lot with my boat on my head (.3 miles) is rough...

Here's a shot of how to un-hook a baby lingcod:

Mooch-The axles on the COD cart you have in the pic isnt wide enough for Roleez sand wheels, sorry braddah. 

Abking-as soon as fishing is open and the ocean behave, we will be back to join you.  We had a grand time!

mooch, I have the same cart.

two tips:

1. rolling over the sand is a function of weight and surface area. when you get to loose sand, put the wheels way
at the back of the yak, you have to carry more of the weight yourself then, but the kayak will roll over the sand
more easily.

2. let out most of the air. this will increase the surface area of the tires on the sand.

3. make bill carry your kayak over the sandy bits.   

4. do not sit in your kayak while it's on the cart. the holders will bend out to hit the wheels, 

best,

J