Monday, Oct 19, 2009 at 23:57
The bitumin i was referring to is at
Inskip Point, it is where you go to get on the barges after leaving
Rainbow (i have assumed you'd be coming this way, as i wouldn't recommend trying to tow an old van through the middle of the island, i'd only do it on the harder sand up the eastern beach at lowtide). there is a sand track at the end of the bitumin road that leads you out to the barges on the beach, you still need to cross the sand to get on the barges at
Inskip Point. we stop at the
carpark area at the end of the bitumin, and deflate the 4wd tyres here before hitting the beach, you should then go for a walk (about 200 mtrs at a guess) through the track which starts off as a hard base, then exits out onto the softer sand of the beach. you will need to cross about 100mtrs of sand which can be anything from very soft and powdery, to if rain has fallen recently it could be quite compact and alot easier to negotiate.
once you've walked the track you'll atleast know what your in for. i deflate my tyres to 18 psi, but if it hadn't rained for quite a while would consider going down to 16 psi and possibly reinflate them alittle bit once on the harder sand of Fraser after departing the barge. don't be afraid to let your tyres down below 16psi if you did get stuck going out to the barges, the guys on the Manta Ray barges (green in colour) even have some Maxtrax you could ask to borrow. dig any sand away from infront of your tyres (front and back), pop the Maxtrax just infront / under of the back wheels of your fourby, select 2nd gear lowrange and you should be able to drive out once the tyres get traction on the Maxtrax. i know this works because i did actually get stuck towing the van once whilst exiting the barge back onto the mainland, but it was my fault as i was being lazy and hadn't deflated my tyres back down to 18 psi, i'd pumped them up to 25 psi to drive up and down the hard sand of the beach for the 2 weeks we were there. once i knew i was going to get stopped / stuck in the soft sand, i stopped wheels spinning straight away before burying them, hoped out and did what i have already said above (deflated tyres to 16 psi and borrowed the Maxtraxs). i then drove straight through the remaining soft sand from a standing start with the van on the back and tyres at 16 psi, the only run up i had was the lenght of the Maxtraxs i had borrowed from the Manta Ray barge guys.
if your really concerned then maybe make your first trip to the island without the van so you can see what your in for the next time you return with the van in tow. just don't listen to those who haven't done it before and say it's impossible, because we regularly do it and 99.99% of the time it is without a problem. it's just the one time when i got lazy and complacent about tyre pressures, i got a kick up the backside to remind me what i should have done before tackling the softer sand.
cheers RP
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