Launch Ramp Sightings

[jimh]

I happened to be going through Leland (Michigan) last week, and could not resist making a short detour to see what was going on at the launch ramp. To my very great surprise I found a Hinckley 36-foot picnic yacht sitting on a triple-axle trailer in the parking lot. That was quite a sight. To see how she loaded onto the trailer via the launch ramp would have been very interesting. That's 14,600-lbs of boat to get on the trailer. The slope on that ramp is 8-degrees. The waterline length is about 33-feet. That means the bow is going to be 4.5-feet higher than the stern as the boat comes up the ramp, which is quite a big difference in height--much higher than the freeboard at the transom.

The Hinckley has beam of 10-feet 1-inch, so hauling her on the trailer on the highway was going to need some special permitting. And there is a lot of money riding on that trailer. I suspect the boat is not going very far--probably to some heated winter storage. The home port on the transom was from down the eastern seaboard. I forgot to look at the trailer plates to see where it was from. Maybe she was heading south for the winter.

[Wweez]

Jim, you may have missed the crane which may have lifted it ever so delicately onto that trailer.
I often underestimate and overlook the problem solving abilities of a few thousand dollars. Possibly because of availability.

[ConB]

The Hinckley Picnic boat was still sitting there in the Leland marina parking lot at 2:00 PM today. Trailer plates are Michigan.

I have seen many boats that size and larger ramp launched and hauled out. Ramp needs to be a good one with deep water.

By the way that Picnic boat was back from the bow stop about a foot. Always seems to happen ramp hauling a bigger boat.

Jim, we used to have a pair of guys that would haul and launch boats at the Suttons Bay marina ramp. They would take them to the owner's back yard and unload them on blocking. The pair were quite the local characters and we referred to them as "the Earl and Ron Show." Very entertaining.

Con

[jimh]

A few years ago I saw a 57-foot Sea Ray get hauled out at the Charlevoix public ramp. I have some pictures of that, and I will post one if I can find them. That was quite a sight to see, too. I think the boat was going down the road about a mile to Bergmann's Marine for some work. With the price of waterfront on Lake Charlevoix now, no one could afford to have a boat yard there unless they bought the land 100-years ago.

[ConB]

This one Jim?

http://www.bergmannmarine.com/art/NEW%20STORAGE/boat_storage%20(7).JPG

[jimh]

That looks like it. Thanks for posting that. It saves me from looking through about 20,000 images in my digital photo library to find some pictures I took ten years ago.

The trailer has many adjustable support pads that are operated hydraulically. And that tow-vehicle is also a hoot. I think they have that load of stone to put some weight on the drive axle.

Also, the overhead utility lines are very nicely arranged so that from the ramp to the boatyard location there are no overhead wires to get under, as I recall. (Similar to the Northport Boat Yard arrangement on North Shore Drive.)

[jimh]

I found the old images from the Charlevoix launch ramp. I took them July 2009. The boat being hauled out was a 56-foot SeaRay. I recall that Steve (BACKLASH) used to complain about launching and loading at Charlevoix's ramp with his 21 WALKAROUND because the boat did not seem to load easily onto the trailer. I guess the ramp slope was just right for this bigger boat.

I remember heading over to the ramp that day to haul out my boat. I saw this big SeaRay going directly toward the ramp. I thought to myself, "What the heck is that guy going to do at the launch ramp?" I soon found out. Here is a look.