Launching & Retreaving

[Billy]

How do you do it? Do you keep your feet dry? Do you use the Motor?

I set everything up before I back down. Mast, boom, sheets, sails, All before I back down the ramp.

I hook up a bow line and have the admiral walk down as I back the trailer. If I back it down too fast the rudder will catch when it hits the water and sling the tiller to one side. So I back it down very slowly once she is in I tap the breaks and she comes right off the trailer. Couldn't be easier.

Now retreaving.......that is a whole different story.
I've tried to motor on to the trailer and it just isn't the same as a powerboat. then once I'm halfway on the trailer I can't get off unless I jump in (too cold) or climb down the bow onto the trailer winch. Done it a few times and it never works. I did however get new tires & wheels last year and kept the old ones as spares. I mounted it to my trailer and it gives me a nice place to step (see photo).

If the water is warm enough, & I'm dressed for it, I have no problem getting in. I back down the trailer. While she is still tied to the dock, I have the wife toss me the bow line. I pull it up onto the trailer (as far as I can w/ the bow line) and then hook up the winch. pull it up and away we go. Once out of the way of the ramp, I take the mast & everything down.

If the water is too cold, I climb into the back of my truck. w/ the tailgate down I tiptoe down the tounge of the trailer and do my best ot get around the winch and onto the spare tire. I'm sure it is a hoot to watch, as I always end up at best, getting my shoes wet. I make a leap of faith to grab the bow pulpit and hook up the winch. I tiptoe back into the bed of the truck and crank her onto the trailer. Once she is ready I usually have my wife pull it up, (as I am stuck in the back of the truck)

Anybody have any suggestions on an easier way to do it, w/ out getting your feet wet?

[Bob23]

Billy:
   Seems to me that you've just about got it covered. When I used to launch my Seapearl, I'd use a good pair of waders when the water was cold. I tried the tip-toeing down the tongue of the trailer thing and fell off more than once. Maybe you have too.
   These days, my cp23 stays on a mooring...no launching at all...she goes in at a marina.
   Compacs are almost as pretty on a trailor as they are in the water..boat loooks great!
Bob23

[rwdsr]

Billy,
I bought a set of hip waders, works like a champ, except once when I wemt just a tad too deep.  Sorry Bob 23, didn't see your post about the hip waders until I had this one written.
BobD.

[brackish]

I have done it by myself more often than not.  Attach an extra long bow and stern line and hang some fenders, back the trailer down to just before the boat will come off, set the truck emergency brake, tie off the bow line and stern line with a little slack, back down a little further and tap the brakes, then adjust the lines to secure the boat while I drive the truck/trailer to the park area.

retrieving a little harder.  secure the boat at the dock with bow line available.   Back the truck down until the bunks are 3/4 submerged; walk down the trailer and pull the boat until the keel contacts the rollers and is in the guides; pull out the winch strap and connect, then winch it on.  Usually retrieving will cause my feet to get a little wet, and I make sure I have some water shoes in the truck.  I don't do winter launches and retrieves.

How easy it is depends on the ramp.  Ramps that get deep quick i.e., have a steep grade are easier to use.  Ramps that have less of a grade are hard.  I have a 30" telescoping extension, but have not used it yet.  At a couple of ramps I've used probably should have used the extension, particularly for retrieving.  What you have to worry about with the extension is making sure that the ramp is long enough (improved section) so that you don't drop your trailer wheel off the end into the inevitable hole.

I'm always happy when there is someone hanging around the ramp who will offer to help.  I also try to hit ramps at the low traffic times so no pressure to do something dumb.

[Billy]

waders huh? never thought about it. Down here in Tampa I launch in the winter more often than inthe summer. While the air temp may be 75 our blood is thiner down here and the water temp is much colder than the air.

Yes, never rush at the ramp. Wait your turn, then do what you need to do. I too avoid the busy ramps on the weekend. While all the water in FL is shallow most of the ramps are in very good condition.

[skip1930]

At any boat launch in the 'cut' between the Bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan, every private and public boat launch has a long and usually floating pier that allows one to walk out on and reach over with the trailer strap and snap the hook into the eye on the bow of my CP-19.

The angle of the ramps sinks the trailer with the extended tongue fully out so the winch operator can stand on the tongue extended behind the tow vehicle and crank in the boat's bow into the vee block. Once there my boat settle in between my two driveway markers placed on the very back of my trailer and when floated up over and squared up to the trailer it's simply a matter of pulling the boat out.

Without a pier to stand on and a ramp with a sharp drop off this attaching strap and winching business could not be preformed without getting the feet wet.


I additionally can stand on this platform if needed.
That brown colored disc where the trailer extension pin is is the 2" round bottom of the hull where one of the holes for the Raymarine ST-40 unit was placed.
And note the fancy way the vee block is mounted so as not to hit the dolphin cable under the bow sprit.

skip.

[curtisv]

How do you do it? Do you keep your feet dry? Do you use the Motor?

Anybody have any suggestions on an easier way to do it, w/ out getting your feet wet?

When I launch and retrieve I definitely get my feet wet.  I back down a steep ramp and get the whole trailer in so that the boat floats on and off.  I replaced the keel boards on the trailer, removing the original 2x4s with 2x10s.  I also made them longer, extending further both for and aft.  That is a big help guiding the keel onto the trailer when retrieving.



I don't have a motor so using one is not an option.  Also motoring onto the local ramp is considered a bad practice and signs are posted about fines for doing so.  That is because the prop was over time removes sand and creates a pit at the end of the ramp and can also undermine the concrete ramp.  That doesn't seem to deter many powerboaters.

Coming up to a dock under sail is a bit of a challenge and once a season at retrieval time I get to practice.  Stories on that for another time.  After I reach the dock, I put a leash on the boat (a long line).  I back the trailer down and use the leash to walk the boat over to the trailer, then get the towing strap hooked up.  I leave some slack in the strap, pull the trailer and boat out to level ground or a slight pitch forward, then take the slack out.  Then I park and call my wife to come over and help me take the mast down.

The water can be 50 degrees or less in May or early June and in the 40s in fall.  I've lauched in mid May.  I've hauled out in November when the water was probably in the 30s and that is the only time it was painfully cold.  Salt water almost never freezes much before December but evern beginning of November is pushing it from a comfort standpoint.  OTOH running around in shorts and going into cold water at that time of year keeps you young.  Unless you have a heart attack.  Its good for you if it don't kill you.

Florida sailors might have trouble with this approach if the water temperature goes below 70 degrees.  :-)

Curtis

[LConrad]

My trailer is made by Performance like Skip's. I extended the extension feature about four feet buy removing the back pin, pulling the extension farther, and drilling another pin hole. also, I added a section of flexible brake hose and a retaining steel cable just the right length to align the pin when extended. It made a big difference in ability to get the trailer deep enough in the water without launching the truck.

[HideAway]

We launch everytime with  the rig fully ready since we can leave the mast up in the dry slip.  Our ramp was designed by either a drunk sailor or a vindictive power boater.   Your choice is a block long S turn with vehicles on all sides or a blind side jack knife.  My tongue extender is about four feet long to accommodate the low tide.  Once in the water the very rough ramp is next to a dock that actually curves away from the boat.  The dock will barely fit our 23.  If you jack the trailer to the dock then its harder to drive the boat on the trailer, but if you position the trailer for easy water access you can t get off the boat.

Therefore I carry a six foot long 2x8 plank - Yes the Capt walks the plank to the dock -- its better than jumping but not as entertaining.  Winter sailing makes the launching cold - I never have bought the waders but most of the year cold water is not an issue .  Its 75 now and gets over 90 in the summer.  I never tap the breaks to move the boat - Never

On my trailer I use raised 2x6s to capture the keel early and hold it.  That way I dont need a stern line.  After we launch the boat I have to put the trailer in its slip and decouple the truck per club rules.  I would much rather be in the wet slip but that s big bucks around here.-- Matt

We made a movie of this on the SV HideAway Utube channel below.