launching tips anyone??? - Moderated Discussion Areas

  ContinuousWave
  Whaler
  Moderated Discussion Areas
  ContinuousWave: Whaler Performance
  launching tips anyone???

search | FAQ | profile | register | author help

Author Topic:   launching tips anyone???

flyguy posted 06-11-2002 09:01 AM ET (US)
launched my boat for the first time this weekend. no serious problems but i did notice one thing...the nauset sits up rather high on this older heavy duty trailer. i had the car's wheels dangerously low in the water just to get the stern in. tough to get it to slide off of the bunks too but like i said it did go without incident. i was surfing the net and one suggestion was to put a strong line between the trailer and hitch just to make the connction longer and then finish backing in. any ideas? thanks.
jimh posted 06-11-2002 10:22 AM ET (US)
The trailer that I use with my 15-foot Whaler carries the boat rather tall, as yours does. When I changed to 13-inch wheels it got even taller. The trailer frame is a flat bed, and the boat sits on top of that on rollers. The hull is carried so high that when trailering on the highway there is no need to tilt the engine up; there is ample clearance for the skeg even in the fully down position of the outboard.
This means I have to back in quite a way, too, to get the boat off the trailer. Helping me to this is the fact that the trailer is really a 17-foot trailer, so the tongue is a bit longer that normal.
You should measure your boat and trailer as I suggest in my article "Launch Ramp Physics" to determine what ramp angle you'll need to get it to float. Ramps are all quite variable in their rate of descent; maybe your ramp is too gentle in its slope.
You can fabricate or buy a tongue extension which will help you keep the car out of the water. In my article "Two Schools of Thought; How Ramp Facilities Affect Trailer Preference" I show several photographs of a tongue extension that was added to a trailer by Chuck Tribolet. Chuck's boat is carried very low on the trailer, but the long tongue keeps his car out of the salt water on ramps where ocean swells surges several feet up the ramp.
Here are hyperlinks to the material I mentioned above. They're pretty good reading if I do say so myself:
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/trailering/ramp.html
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/trailering/twoSchools.html
where2 posted 06-11-2002 01:12 PM ET (US)
Modify the trailer to have rollers, and stop backing your car trunk into the lake. I haven't backed my galvanized trailer in salt water since I bought my 15' Sport in '96. However, 99% of my boating is in salt water! I can winch load the boat as fast, and sometimes faster than most of the bunk/drive-on trailers that use my local ramp. Spray the bunks with silicone lube next time the boat is off before you re-load it, and it'll slide off the trailer the next laumch (or so I hear).
Bigshot posted 06-11-2002 02:36 PM ET (US)
If you do use silicon or liquid rollers, etc. make sure you do NOT untie the front clip or you will launch prematurely......quite amusing to us "sportsfans".
flyguy posted 06-11-2002 02:40 PM ET (US)
very funny. i'll try that because i really don't want to buy a new trailer this year. i'll grease her up. also the launch was the less desirable of the 2 available. just closer.
whaleryo posted 06-11-2002 05:28 PM ET (US)
My two cents;
I just bought a new bunk-only trailer and added poly rollers myself. I had to buy longer bunk supports as well so I could raise the bunks to fit snuggly against the hull. I can give the boat a little shove and it slides right off with hardly any effort.
Bill

Hop to:

Contact Us | RETURN to ContinuousWave Top Page

Powered by: Ultimate Bulletin Board, Freeware Version 2000
Purchase our Licensed Version- which adds many more features!
© Infopop Corporation (formerly Madrona Park, Inc.), 1998 - 2000.

Author	Topic: launching tips anyone???
flyguy	posted 06-11-2002 09:01 AM ET (US) launched my boat for the first time this weekend. no serious problems but i did notice one thing...the nauset sits up rather high on this older heavy duty trailer. i had the car's wheels dangerously low in the water just to get the stern in. tough to get it to slide off of the bunks too but like i said it did go without incident. i was surfing the net and one suggestion was to put a strong line between the trailer and hitch just to make the connction longer and then finish backing in. any ideas? thanks.
jimh	posted 06-11-2002 10:22 AM ET (US) The trailer that I use with my 15-foot Whaler carries the boat rather tall, as yours does. When I changed to 13-inch wheels it got even taller. The trailer frame is a flat bed, and the boat sits on top of that on rollers. The hull is carried so high that when trailering on the highway there is no need to tilt the engine up; there is ample clearance for the skeg even in the fully down position of the outboard. This means I have to back in quite a way, too, to get the boat off the trailer. Helping me to this is the fact that the trailer is really a 17-foot trailer, so the tongue is a bit longer that normal. You should measure your boat and trailer as I suggest in my article "Launch Ramp Physics" to determine what ramp angle you'll need to get it to float. Ramps are all quite variable in their rate of descent; maybe your ramp is too gentle in its slope. You can fabricate or buy a tongue extension which will help you keep the car out of the water. In my article "Two Schools of Thought; How Ramp Facilities Affect Trailer Preference" I show several photographs of a tongue extension that was added to a trailer by Chuck Tribolet. Chuck's boat is carried very low on the trailer, but the long tongue keeps his car out of the salt water on ramps where ocean swells surges several feet up the ramp. Here are hyperlinks to the material I mentioned above. They're pretty good reading if I do say so myself: http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/trailering/ramp.html http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/trailering/twoSchools.html
where2	posted 06-11-2002 01:12 PM ET (US) Modify the trailer to have rollers, and stop backing your car trunk into the lake. I haven't backed my galvanized trailer in salt water since I bought my 15' Sport in '96. However, 99% of my boating is in salt water! I can winch load the boat as fast, and sometimes faster than most of the bunk/drive-on trailers that use my local ramp. Spray the bunks with silicone lube next time the boat is off before you re-load it, and it'll slide off the trailer the next laumch (or so I hear).
Bigshot	posted 06-11-2002 02:36 PM ET (US) If you do use silicon or liquid rollers, etc. make sure you do NOT untie the front clip or you will launch prematurely......quite amusing to us "sportsfans".
flyguy	posted 06-11-2002 02:40 PM ET (US) very funny. i'll try that because i really don't want to buy a new trailer this year. i'll grease her up. also the launch was the less desirable of the 2 available. just closer.
whaleryo	posted 06-11-2002 05:28 PM ET (US) My two cents; I just bought a new bunk-only trailer and added poly rollers myself. I had to buy longer bunk supports as well so I could raise the bunks to fit snuggly against the hull. I can give the boat a little shove and it slides right off with hardly any effort. Bill