launch with a Uhaul?

[fiddledance]

Hi everyone~
Just purchased a 1983 CP19 that will be shipped out to Massachusetts in a few weeks.  Already nervous about trailering and launching, having never done it before, and not sure I want my first try to be with my SUV (tow capacity 3500#).  I'm wondering if anyone has ever just rented a Uhaul for the day and tried it with that.  Thanks!

[MacGyver]

To be honest , your SUV should handle it fine.

What is the make and model of the SUV? Maybe someone has one and launches with it.

Mac

[marc]

I rent a u-haul to launch and retrieve my boat each season. I rent one of their pick-ups. It is 2 wheel drive and comes with a hitch attachment and 4 prong flat electrical connection. My round trip is about 50 miles and total cost is about $70. The u-haul agency knows that I'm using their vehicle to launch my boat in salt water and they have no problem with that. They say that their pick-ups are mostly used for that purpose. I have also used their small box trucks for the same purpose.
Marc

[fiddledance]

Thanks everyone.  My suv is a bmw x3, 130,000 miles.  The tow hitch/assembly to install is over $1000, and I thought it might be cheaper to use uhaul until I get into dedicated trailer sailing and buy a bigger truck.  I think you're right, tho.  The bmw should handle it, especially with all-wheel drive.  Brendan

[MacGyver]

Brendan, Are you handy?

You could install your own hitch, typically it is a bolt up deal.

I looked up a 2011 BMW X3, going by your mileage I thought you probably arent like me and own a old truck with low mileage (Mine is a 2003 Ford Ranger, FX4 Level 2, 4WD, supercab with only.......71,000 miles   )
This showed a hitch to be  175 dollars, taking about 2 hours to bolt up, and no drilling required.
They usually have a good set of instructions that is helpful. You can always call the company and ask them how to install it, or to send a pdf of instructions ahead of time.

Light kit will be a little different, depending on how you are with wiring that might be a option too?

Something to think about.......

Mac

[kickingbug1]

two hours if you take an hour nap

[skip1930]

Find a cheaper hitch and bolt it on yourself.
Launching ... stick up in the parking lot.
Check everything. Ready? Look up. Trees in the way? Power lines?


Unhook the trailer straps totally. The only thing holding the boat to the trailer is friction and gravity.  
Get in the SUV and back her into the water and FLOAT the CP-19 off the trailer.
It's O.K. if the back of the SUV is wetted. Let the exhaust bubble. The vent hose for the rear end axle is usually placed up under the floor pan. Higher then axle. Above water.
Have your linesmen with bow and stern lines in hand walk the boat away from the trailer.
Back in slow. Don't try to slide the boat off the trailer with speed.
Mind the wind, have the wind blow the boat 'on dock' and have a fender midships and dockside.

Easy as pie ... watch the lines.  Don't drive over any lines that could be tightened up and rip something off the deck. Like a cleat or lifeline.

Why rent a U-Haul?

skip.

Side bar: So I'm out cutting grass on my TS-110 New Holland Tractor and 21 foot flail at the aeroport and I see a family on vacation with a kayak strapped onto a roof rack of a Toyota SUV.
At the stop sign the driver signaled for a left hand turn.

I noticed a black nylon strap on the front over the hood and down the grill and tied under the front rubber façade. The extra length of strap was dragging on the ground under the car.

Yep as the driver turned he rolled over the front strap, pulling it tight until the strap crushed the grill, hood, and rubber nose and pulled the kayak's bow off the roof rack onto the windshield. The rear strap was pulled tight and destroyed the kayak and pulled the back of the roof rack off on the Toyota. What a mess ... plus all that carnage was in the middle of a two lane country road with a 45 mph limit.  

I just smiled and turned around at the fence for another grass cutting pass. It is amazing how stupid and unaware people can be. "If it can happen ... it will." Maybe the driver  learned that accidents don't happen. You have to let them happen.

[Salty19]

$167 for an X3 hitch:

http://www.etrailer.com/hitch-2011_BMW_X3.htm

I would call uhaul and ask them what it costs to install it if you are not comfortable doing it. A BMW dealer will rape you on something like this. I bet they will do it for $80-$100.  Add a lighting outlet, you are probably looking at $300 total.

HOWEVER, find out what is in the factory tow package first. You might need way more than a hitch...tranny cooler, larger radiator, cooling fans,oil cooler for the turbo, larger intercooler, etc.  Perhaps not needed if you are talking short trips, but be aware that usually more equipment is needed to safely tow and not tear up your vehicle due to excess heat.  Turbo 4 cyl are usually not good tow vehicles due to lack of low end RPM torque.

[BruceW]

The title of this thread reminds me of a guy over on Trailersailor.com. He bought a U-haul truck with the storage shed built onto it. He hauls a Catalina 22 all around the country for races, and camps out in the truck. He's from Tennessee, and calls this rig the Hee-Hauler.

[fiddledance]

Thanks again everyone.  Love the advice about launching and the story about the Hee-Haul.  That may come soon!  I'll look into the bmw options.  Nothing cheap comes there, as you can imagine.  Brendan

[skip1930]

We have not talked about loading the CP-19 back onto the trailer.

Without actually being there I'd say this operation is by the 'Seat of the pants' affair.
O.K. let us say that the ramp is concrete and sloped nicely placing the rig and trailer into the water properly and the waves and wind are nil.

Face it. Your going to get wet. Especially on the first 'take-out'. You'll probably slip on the grass growing on the ramp so take the cell phone out if the pocket. It's a learning curve. The more times it's done the better the take-out will be.

How ever it's done back the trailer into the water alongside the dock as deep as required to launch the boat.
Release the winch and pull out a goodly amount of cable or nylon strap and hook the end to the bow eye.
Wade in there and start cranking the boat's bow into the vee block on the trailer.

Now the hard part ... place the boat on the centerline of the trailer. Bow in the vee block and stern floating over the trailer. HOW TO KEEP THE BOAT ON THE CENTERLINE?
What can happen if the boat is pulled out of the water and not on the centerline? THE KEEL COULD SIT ONTOP OF ONE KEEL BUNK and the 2000+ lb weight will peel the 2 x 4 carpeted bunk off of the three brackets.

I use those fiberglass driveway markers and I made brackets using U-bolts and a mounting plate bolted onto the last cross member of the trailer. These are set so both touch the hull when the boat is properly sitting on the trailer.

With no wind, the fiberglass markers hold the hull over the trailer on the centerline. Pushing and pulling the boat to this centerline is up to the people on the dock.

Slowly drive up the ramp as the boat settles onto the trailer with the keel between the keel bunks. If not right back down into the water and try again.

Having said this--:> " THE KEEL COULD SIT ONTOP OF ONE KEEL BUNK and the 2000+ lb weight will peel the 2 x 4 carpeted bunk off of the three brackets. "

I cut my welded keel bunks off and replaced them with bolt-on bunks and brackets. And I use a small hydraulic bottle jack and some wood to push the keel into the right spot once I get the boat to my house. About two miles on a 25  mph road. Then bolt on the bunks for the longer and faster trip to the car wash wand and storage. [With my 'KEEL BOOT' glued onto the bottom of the boat, I could also use my 3 ton floor and jack the whole boat clean off the trailer and reposition the boat that way. Requires a roller trailer and not a keel board trailer.]

It's really not as hard as it sounds. skip.

[skip1930]

As to sinking the Beemer into the water?
It's just a car. They build them everyday.
or
Find a buddy with a trailer hitch on a P-up truck.

This can and has been done with a Ford Pinto.

skip.

[fiddledance]

Skip--you're the best!  Thanks for the Part 2 of sailboat launch and pick-up.  Nice to have such people like you to help novices like me!  Many, many thanks!!!  Brendan

[skip1930]

Shucks ... 'twernt nothing.

I'm just telling you the mistakes and successes I have had.
I'd say just take your time.
Look around.
Look up.
Figure out what is going to go bad before it goes badly.

I'm wondering how long a box U-Haul truck would take to sink with all the doors and windows were shut ... Hummmmm

skip.