Using a Rivian R1T to Launch a Boat IN Bear Lake Idaho
Updated on
I've been looking forward to this for more than two years! I pre-ordered a Rivian R1T in February of 2020 and it was delivered May 2022... oh the agony in waiting! :)
We frequently boat at Bear Lake in Idaho, which is known for very nice sand, Caribbean blue FRESH (NOT SALT) water and a very very gradual beach. There are only a few boat marinas at Bear Lake, so during the summer, launching a boat can require several hours of waiting in line. Also, the Bear Lake storms can be deadly too, so when there is a storm everyone wants to get off the lake at the same time within 20 minutes. This is a scenario where being able to launch and retrieve your own boat from the beach can save time, money, and keep people safe.
Normally people use highly modified vehicles or, more often, tractors to do this if they're brave enough to try it at all. I'm guessing this is a first for a Rivain, and I'd be surprised if the engineers even considered launching a boat from the a beach shore. Truly a good experience though.
Once I knew the R1T maximum water fording height was over 43 inches, I was instantly curious of whether I could launch my boat in Bear Lake Idaho.
The Beach: The Bear Lake Beach is hard sand under the pressure of the water, but still moves; it's just not muddy.
The Boat: This 2004 Malibu 23 LSV needs about 36 inches of water to float off the trailer. The boat weights about 4,000 lbs and the trailer about 1,500 lbs, so this is pushing or pulling about 6,000 lbs.
The Rivian: I set up the Rivian by: 1) disconnecting the trailer lights so that the Rivian wouldn't get confused and go into Towing Mode, 2) Set the mode to Off Road Deep Sand. Deep Sand mode truly ended up being better for deep sand than just normal All Purpose mode, specifically it gave more power to the front wheels. We did this three or four times over the course of a few days. We learned a few things each time, mostly about how to manage the trailer.
The Result: I drove three of the four times, and my wife retrieved the boat once. It was truly nerve wracking. You just really wanna get it over with, but with each launch we got more comfortable and confident. We had to back up the boat until the 20" AT tires were a little under the water. But we didn't have to get anywhere close to the true 42" of maximum. I'm told the 42" maximum is limited by the fact that the R1T would begin to float, not sink! The 42" mark is about at the top of the black trim around the wheel wells. Fording at this depth is using the R1T as designed. See the Rivian documentation: https://rivian.com/support/article/wh... So, I was most nervous about just losing traction and being able to pull the boat out because the R1T would float. But we didn't get close to that happening. The R1T always had plenty of traction even though I wanted to get it over as quickly as possible.
You might not do this with your R1T, but we did and we love what experiences and adventures we can have with our Rivian. By the way, I've got two more Rivian vehicles on order, and you should order one too. ;) If you'd like to reserve your Rivian, you can do it here: https://rivian.com
PS: - "There, there, little luxury, don’t you cry. You’ll be a necessity by and by."
PSS - I've NOT been compensated by Rivian for posting this.