Let's share traveling tips

[alsantini]

This kinda follows Penn's post.  After reading about getting the Eclipse straight on the trailer, I thought it might be a good topic to see how you all trailer your boat?  Let's start with short distance (say, less than 50 miles).   Where is the outboard, do you use a stern strap, position of the furler, sails, etc.?
Here is my method:  Once I drop the mast down I remove the furler from the mast and strap it to the mast with the furler drum just ahead of the mast.  I think this lessons the impact of bumps on the furler foil.  They are expensive (over $200 - ask me how I know.  grrr)  I use 6 bungee on the furler to mast position.  I use one no hook bungee through the mast pin and the curved pin holding the mast u thingy up.  This prevents either pin from coming out during travel.  I use one 25 foot dock line starting at the stern cleat, under the foot of the outboard motor (twice) back to the other stern cleat (tied off), back under the motor and finish at the first stern cleat.  I tension this line really tight to remove some of the up and down force on the motor mount.  I pull the side stays to the top of the mast and bungee them to the front of the mast (on top).  2 small bungees pull the turnbuckles away from the boat.  One other thing I do, is after the mast is down, I take the clip that was on the J pole and pull it aft connecting it to the mast stub.  This way it is in position for stepping the mast.  Pull it tight and put the extra line into the cabin. Roll up the halyards and main sheet - I have bungee clips for these.  If I will be on the highway, I put the stern strap on.  If I will not be on the highway I do not use it.  The rudder goes into the SUV - the bolt/nut combination stays on the rudder head plates - TIGHT! Voila....  Al

[slode]

Al,

Only trip I've made so far was bringing her home from MI.  Same setup as you describe. Both sails off and in the bag.  Couple questions I have that broach this topic though.

[slode]

Don't know what key I pushed but it posted before I finished. 

What does everyone do to protect the genoa for shorter travel if anything.  The UV layer on my sail was ripped in a few places and I suspect it to be from trailering.  Strapping the furled sail to the mast leaves it exposed.  I've thought about putting it in a piece of PVC with capped ends and strapping the front to the bow pulpit and the back to the starboard boom gallows crutch.  Has anyone found anything to prevent from having to remove the sail from the fuller?

Has anyone checked tong weight on their trailer?  I thought mine was heavy and finally got around to putting a scale under it.   It was 440 lbs.  No wonder the rear end of our SUV sank more than with other similar weight trailers I've hauled!  I moved the axel forward to right behind the center cross member where the center bunk supports are.  That brought it down to 330 lbs.  A more reasonable number.  Still a bit high for the total weight but moving it further would require going ahead of that member and would lower it to the mid-high 200s. 

[alsantini]

For short travels I leave the Genoa tightly wrapped around the furler, but for long distance I take it off and put it in the cabin.  While in Florida my longest travel to sail distance is about 30 miles to Charlotte Harbor and my shortest is 2.5 miles.  I think rather than a pvc pipe you might invest in a Genoa zip-on cover.  I had a Catalina Capri 16 that came with a sort of sleeve.  I would connect it to the Genoa halyard and pull it up the furled sail, zipping it as it went up.  It protected the sail really well, was tight and never unzipped.  It came with the boat so I have no idea as to who was the supplier.

[captronr]

Other than bringing the boat back from Wisconsin, the sails have stayed on. 

I've since bought a jib cover.  Initially, I'd feed it on when on the trailer (and used it while in the slip), but this fall, I had the jib/furler velcroed to the mast, so I just draped the sock on top of the jib/furler/mast as best I could and velcroed that in place.

My main cover is loose, so I velcro it in place when traveling more than an hour.

Motor on typically for tailering.  Tarp strap over it to keep it from bouncing.

Ron

[PENN]

On all trips, short or long...

I stuff the jib down the forward hatch along with the sheets,....I ordered my boat with a hank-on jib, after considering the pros and cons of the furler.

Main gets covered (effort going into securing of the sail cover dependent on distance and speeds expected)

Tiller gets covered and locked into one of the rear cleats (seen in photos from other thread)

The stays are removed and placed into an inflatable boat nylon storage bag which is about 24"X48"
(allows for large loops in the stay wire and keeps the sharp parts from scratching anything once inside.)
The bag is put below deck in one of the berths.  Bag looks like this....


Mast is stowed as normal, and sheets are pulled tight and locked down.

I feed the Main Sheet and Halyard down the cabin slider and bring the slider back with the boards in place as there is just enough room on both sides for the sheets to sneak through.

Rudder is taken off the boat.

Motor gets taken off and put in the rear of the tow vehicle.  I have the 6hp long shaft Tohastu, which is heavy.
The fuel hose is snaked around the rear cleat to keep it out of the way (seen in photos)
The fuel hose is also disconnected and stored in this manner during sailing, as the fuel leaks out if left connected when the motor is tilted up and turned sideways.

I was told by another member to always take the motor off, as the motor mount welds will get worked on, and the gelcoat/fiberglass at the touchdowns for the stainless fittings showed lots of stress cracking on his boat, from traveling with the motor.