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Big-Trailerables - Tell us your Nightmares!

3K views 15 replies 14 participants last post by  JohnBoelte 
#1 ·
As I was responding to Hartley's thread on big trailerables I could not help but reminise about my trials and tribulations that drove me to seasonal slip/moorage.
First of all, I had never pulled a big trailer before, :eek: especially a honkin big boat, add to that, backing up one those monstrocities before an audience was an unexpected circus. :eek: Imagine the state of mind a newbie is in upon arrival :mad: - Stressed to the Max -:mad: after having towed through a busy city, being cut off and cut in front of by every jerk motorist on the road who has no patience for a long load. Add to that the fear and apprehension of your first experience towing, set-up in the driveway, planning the easiest route, arriving in time for the tide and allowing time for rig set-up, then the stress of making sure you did not forget anything and can safely back down the ramp and not make a fool of yourself. You have to check and re-check everything and still you make a few mistakes. You finally arrive at the parking lot and set-up the boat in the lot away from the ramp so as not to inconvenience others. Mast is up, fenders down, lines ready, electronic equuipment set-up, straps are off and the heart is pounding now, so hard I can hear it. Sweat is pouring off me as I wait my turn and then it comes, I try to back that thing up, first it goes one way, then the other, then where I don't want it to go, others are waiting for me to get out of the way and start to get impatient. Next thing I know someone is backing down along side me, too impatient to wait for me to get out of the way and so now I am feeling crowded and more stressed. Finally someone says something they shouldn't and all hell breaks out, hollering, swearing and fisticuffs. Man, what a circus! So after much ado we finally get in, tie up the boat to the dock and park the truck/trailer. We are not happy, only somewhat excited, mostly angry and not on the best of terms because I lost my temper. The day wears on and we forget about the dock ordeal as the pleasures of sailing take over and we make our apologies and enjoy our lunch.
So later we look at the time and realize some got away on us and we'd better hustle back or miss the tide at the ramp. As we close in on our target we douse the sails then slowly motor down the channel towards the ramp and discuss the reverse procedure for haul out. Well, things start getting out of hand before even getting to the dock. Harried powerboaters take one look at us and assume the 30' stick in the air means we are bypassing the ramp and heading to the marina, so there I go blasting my air horn and hollering at them to quit cutting in front of me, meanwhile still being a rookie it is all I can do to maintain my position against the current and again tempers rise. The yelling starts all over again accompanied with threats that "I'll see you on the ramp", and yes that is me in the avatar, I can be intimidating. I finally jockey my way through all the boats as everyone is heading back at the same time, so the dock is even busier than at launch time. Another circus ensues and the onlookers are getting their days entertainment. We finally get her on the trailer and pull up into the parking lot where we can take down in a more civilized manner. Talk about loosing ones cool, you never know how hot tempered you can get until severely provoked. You also learn how inconsiderate and ignorant other boaters can be not to mention the drivers I will encounter towing back home as I mentally prepare for some of the worst behavior from other motorists. We discuss alternatives on the way home and my wife realizes that towing is not an option and promptly anounces that next year we are getting a slip and that is final, end of story. I shut up after agreeing, yes dear, yes dear.
So is it really worth it to trailer? All the aggravation, stress and effort for a few hours sail? I say nay, what ever it costs to avoid the circus I will pay it. Besides, it only takes one summer season of slip/moorage to appreciate the benefits and even if it is a bit pricey we do sail a lot more and relax a lot more. It finally becomes a part of sailboat ownership, you factor in the cost of moorage and eat it.
Trailerable???? What's that mean?:rolleyes:
 
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#2 ·
My only problem was when my first wife took out a stop sign with our 18' SolCat, tore up the hull and trailer.

One trick to backing up a trailer is to put your hand on the bottom of the sterring wheel and push it the direction you want the boat to go.
 
#4 ·
I used to trailer a 7000 lb power boat. We very much loved the flexability to go far afield and enjoy other cruising areas.

I had a weight distribution hitch rig. Followed the instructions to the T and talked to the manufacturer to verify what I'd rigged. I was going down hill in a light rain and a vehicle stopped at the bottom of the hill to turn left. I had no trailer brakes! I blasted the horn & thank God the guy heard me and saw me in the opposing lane passing him. If he had made the turn I would have plowed into him. And very luckily there was no oncoming traffic!
Pulled that rig off right away. DO NOT use a weight distro hitch with surge brakes. Just do not do it.

I loved jockeying that rig, the trailer was 32' long overall. I was definately 'the show' at many a boat ramp. I was used to trailering because I also pulled a large equipment trailer.
 
#5 · (Edited)
...
So is it really worth it to trailer? All the aggravation, stress and effort for a few hours sail? I say nay, what ever it costs to avoid the circus I will pay it. Besides, it only takes one summer season of slip/moorage to appreciate the benefits and even if it is a bit pricey we do sail a lot more and relax a lot more. It finally becomes a part of sailboat ownership, you factor in the cost of moorage and eat it.
Trailerable???? What's that mean?:rolleyes:
Yes and Amen, Capt'n. :(

I'm not intimidating and we don't have a big boat, but after two years of tangling with stinkpotters, my wife has lead me to the same conclusion ...and I thought it was just me and our pretty little Hartley! :D

Being able to go and launch someplace else an hour or so drive away is really the only thing holding us back.
 
#6 ·
Great post. The launch ramp is a high stress area.

Advice?

Realize the launch ramp guys are always looking out for themselves. Even if it comes to the dummy (me) who helps them tie up, they only care for themself. Period.

Use your boat more than yelling to get in line at the ramp. It will only piss you off if you yell. Point to where you should go rather than yell. Handle you're boat well. Be prepared. Be agressive without saying anything.

GET A SLIP. Done Deal.


Thanks for the balls to tell your story the way it was.



BT
 
#8 ·
800 ft? Lucky beggar.. some of us have to drive for an hour just to get that close! :)

I'll tell you a story that didn't happen to me, but to a friend of mine:

He'd had his eyes on a particular Hartley TS21 and had spent the day with the PO on a sea-trial on Westernport Bay prior to handing over his hard-earned cash.

The PO helped him hook up his Ford Falcon station-wagon (probably a bit light-on for the job) to the trailer and retrieve the boat, and with a kindly wave he pulled out of the Hastings boat ramp and was soon on the road taking his new-found prize back home to Melbourne.

Well.. the Dandenong-Hastings road is very pretty drive on a two-lane country road with a 100km/h speed limit, but is a bit hilly in patches. Apparently the trailer wasn't loaded correctly and he was going a wee bit too fast in his eagerness to get home. Coming down one particular hill, the trailer started to sway and, never having towed anything that size before, he gently applied the brakes to slow down.

At around 40km/h, the boat/trailer decided he was going too slow and tried to overtake. The entire rig, car and trailer, did a 180-degree spin in the middle of the road and ended up off one side with the boat upside down with the trailer on top, still attached to the car. He was lucky - it's usually a very busy road - but he had to wait for a crane to rescue him and the road was blocked for quite some time whilst they got him unstuck... :eek:

The only damage to the boat was a broken main hatch! Try doing that with a Plastic Fantastic and there'll be bits of it all over the highway. Hartley's rule! :D :D
 
#9 ·
My Dad and I towing a 30 foot Shetland on an old four wheel trailer.
Dad says "look round and check the wheels will you son?"
Im peering through the back window at a wheel as we go over the Orwell Bridge.
"its kinda wobbing" I get a chance to say before the wheel pops off, bounces neatly and bumps the rear window as it makes its escape.

"...err... Dad...!"

I had an eventfull childhood.

Another towing adventure on the A1 near Welwyn Garden City.
A twin fin Caprice 19 on an old farm trailer.
We'd left the outboard on the back and the damn thing set up a wicked snake till it was JUMPING from one wheel to the other. Dad managed to guide the little Rover 213 into the hard sholder.
When I got out i noticed score marks on the rear wheel hub caps had made contact with the trailer. Neat driving Dad. How the boat wasnt matchwood Ill never know. Dad had to leave me by the roadside to nip home for the biggest rock hammer to beat one of the wheels back into alignment.

Got lots more (but then havnt we all).
 
#11 ·
Normally just a lurker, but couldn't resist this one. Been using launching ramps for over 50 years, still do. Launching ramps, kill or be killed, dog eat dog and so on. Can't imagine trying to launch a large sail boat at one.Typical happening is the guy that passes everybody in line, getting ready to launch, he goes down the ramp then takes 10 to 15 minutes to get ready to launch.
When a polite comment is made about getting in the "get ready line" next time
the person says: "F.O., A.H., I can do any G.D. thing I want, get out of my face brfore I break yours". Such nice people, seems to be worse as time goes on. Drove an 18 wheeler for a while. Capt Kermie's comments about other drivers just having to get in front of you are right on. Also had a sailboat in a slip in Sausalito for 10 years, the only way to go.

Dabnis
 
#12 ·
Trailering gets easy with practice, I have years of experience with race cars, and even more in the military towing, so backing a boat down the ramp was easy. Size makes no difference really. I hate crowds though so when launching I do it during off peak times, or rig the boat nowhere near the ramp, and just launch like a power boater. With the new boat I did it in really crappy weather because I was worried about the much deeper draft, and my home modified trailer :) But it turned out to be just as easy to launch as my last boat, just had to get a little deeper in the water.
 
#13 ·
I guess I have been fortunate but people have always been polite do far including some power boat actually backing out and giving some extra room when needed. That said some of the other problems related to keeping the boat int he water that don't surface when the boat is kept on dry land.

A leak starts and you return a week later, after a hard week at work, to find your boat submerged.

A storm comes through and puts your boat on dry land for you or uses it to batter your neighbors boat

Lets not forget the constant maintenance of the bottom, the top and every caulk joint on the boat below or above water. You can't just walk out your back door and do that small repair whenever a free hour pops up.

Limits on where you can go without large outlays of time and often money. I can take a week off and spend the week on the west coast of Florida after a short 3 hour road trip, if you have to sail there you spend the week sailing and who knows what the weather along the way has in store.

Mine is not really all that big so some issues I don't have to worry about like tides at most ramps.

That said my wife would prefer a boat at a mooring for all the reasons originally stated. We will eventually compromise and it keep it rigged up on the trailer at a marina only taking it down for trips to places that there is not time to actually sail there and still have time to enjoy it.
 
#14 ·
Worlds fastest launch

To set the stage, a 30ft 12,000lb boat on a 3 axle trailer parked at the top of a long steep boat ramp. Add a borrowed tongue extension and start down the ramp toward the water about 200 ft away. After hearing a bang and feeling a sickening snap watch your pride and joy rapidly pick up speed as it rushes toward the water totally on its own. I am not sure how fast it was going when it hit the water but it made one hell of a splash. After I got my heart restarted I had to swim after her, thank goodness the ladder came down, I got her back to the dock to check for damages. The most severe was to my pride and my nerves! That was one day I hope to never repeat, well maybe as a spectator next time.
 
#15 ·
To set the stage, a 30ft 12,000lb boat on a 3 axle trailer parked at the top of a long steep boat ramp. Add a borrowed tongue extension and start down the ramp toward the water about 200 ft away. After hearing a bang and feeling a sickening snap watch your pride and joy rapidly pick up speed as it rushes toward the water totally on its own. I am not sure how fast it was going when it hit the water but it made one hell of a splash. After I got my heart restarted I had to swim after her, thank goodness the ladder came down, I got her back to the dock to check for damages. The most severe was to my pride and my nerves! That was one day I hope to never repeat, well maybe as a spectator next time.
Wot, and deny the entertainment for everyone else?!? :)

Having "boat-surfed" myself on at least one occasion - in a smaller boat mind you - to my warped way of thinking this sort of thing should be encouraged! There's nothing quite like the sight of a 12,000lb sailing boat launching itself to keep the sort of stinkpotters dabnis mentioned in line behind everyone else.

Good for morale and all that fuzzy sort of stuff. ;) :D
 
#16 ·
So far, my only boat launch excitement was when i forgot to put the drain plug in our ski boat. I backed the trailer down, my wife motored the boat over to the dock while I parked the truck. I got back to the boat and noticed a little bit of water hear the engine cover. It took me about a 1/2 second to realize why there was water there!! I got the bilge pump going and motored to shore where I could put in the drain plug.

When my daughter and I were bringing our sailboat home (International 23 - about 3300 lbs), it started swaying pretty bad on the highway. I was doing about 60 MPH and had just recently passed a tractor trailer. Fortunately, the other driver gave me some room to recover. Also fortunate was we use a Suburban to pull with, so I had the truck's weight to help me out. It was quite scarey!!
 
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