From Wheelbarrow to Trailer: A Windsurfing Transport Upgrade?
Over the past 20+ years, various trusty wheelbarrows have served me well for getting my windsurf kit to the beach. Loaded up with two boards, 2–3 sails, two masts, two booms, a whole host of fins, extensions, tools and accessories — not to mention a harness, helmet and some spare parts — they’ve done the job. It can be a bit of a chore to push it all back after a long, exhausting session, but it’s still easier than carrying everything.
However, despite the wheelbarrow being the perfect mode of transport for so long, I’ve decided to try something a little different. Mainly as a fun project rather than from actual necessity — but I thought two wheels might be better than one, and maybe pulling would be easier than pushing.
So, I bought myself a relatively cheap bike trailer and converted it.
I say relatively cheap — at £80, it cost about the same as a decent wheelbarrow, but far less than the Thule Reacha I’d also been eyeing up. The Reacha does look really nice and would no doubt serve my needs perfectly — but at £700 (or £800 with the chunkier wheels), it was far too expensive for an experiment.
So, despite my temptations, I went for the cheap-and-cheerful option instead. It wasn’t ready to go out of the box, though, so I made a few modifications. I added four uprights to the corners so I can lean boards on their sides against them, and wrapped everything in pipe lagging for protection. I even fitted a water-bottle holder — because why not? Fully loaded, it seems OK so far.
I haven’t really put it to proper use yet, but I did wheel it over to the beach in my wetsuit with a full load. It worked well — I think it was a little easier, definitely more secure, and it fits through the gate just fine. Unfortunately, the wind dropped before I could actually get out on the water, so the trailer’s first real outing will have to wait. And looking at the forecast, it doesn’t look like I’ll be using it again anytime soon.
As for the trailer’s durability and long-term performance over rough terrain — only time will tell. But either way, it was a fun little project and a welcome change from the old single-wheel setup.
