trailer fitting

[motthediesel]

Now for the first stern bilge bunk.

The 2x6 is first capped with 3/8" PVC in lieu of carpet. Next, it is jacked up into position with simple screw jacks made from 1/2" water pipe, flanges, and all-thread rod. There is quite a bit of shape to the hull here, so we had to fiddle with them to get full contact for the length of the bunk.



After that, we cut and drilled 4"x4" squares of 1/4" steel to make the top and bottom flanges for the supports. Sections of 2" EMT were then cut to make the columns. They needed to be cut to exact length, with just the right bevel on top, so that was a bit of a trick, but do-able.



Then it was just a matter of doing it four more times, and the starboard side was complete.



Next we'll do the port side rear, then move on to the front.

Tom

[nebulatech]

Hey Tom, the pictures are all working for me now, and I've got to say that all looks awesome!

Do you have a plan to align the boat for the keep board? I was advised to go with a 2X10, and I ended up using a 2x12. I've only put the boat on the trailer twice, but both times it rides right on the edge of the keel board. I believe the guides Bob Noodat recommends might help in my situation, but you're doing such awesome work, I was wondering what plans you had for that.

[motthediesel]

Thanks!

I'm "thinking outside the box" in terms of centering the keel when pulling the boat. My thought is that the best way to center the boat is by using the keel itself to do it. I have purchased two big 3" diameter PVC conduit sweeps. These are really BIG, they are bent to a 2' radius, and they look a bit like grey plastic elephant tusks. I plan to mount them on each side of the keel in such a way that they will force the boat to center over the keel bunk as it moves over the trailer.

Maybe a great idea, but only if it works

[nebulatech]

That sounds like a good plan. I'm sure the PVC is strong enough, and you're well qualified to make sufficiently strong mounts. I'm excited to see it! The more I look at my trailer, the more I'm thinking about rollers, but I'm not sure how I would configure them. Job for another day I guess. Good luck and great work!

[DesertAlbin736]

That's a pretty bottom job! The flat stock braces between the Eye beam & cross members is a good idea. But gosh that looks like a narrow keel rest to center on. With the A27 you have somewhat of an advantage vs A25 in that a) the full beam width is carried all the way aft and the keel is a flat profile & doesn't "dip" at the stern, and c) doesn't have the "deadrise" curvature like A25 so your bunks are mostly flat instead of bowed. So it would be quite easy to center the boat by installing side guide posts at the stern and maybe placing those V keel guides you're talking about as far forward as you can get away with. Consider how deep the back end of the trailer is when it's backed in deep enough at the ramp to float the boat off & on. Another thing to consider is what if you wanted to launch & haul out by Travelift? Can you get lift straps under the hull in the right places? With a sailboat with a deeper keel it's easy to place a V guide near the back of the trailer & "catch" the keel as it is driven/pulled onto the trailer. But a shallow trawler keel is a different story.

You've seen these photos of mine before, but here's how my bunk supports are designed with adjustable square channel struts. The 2nd photo is a little clearer. These struts are galvanized steel & the set screws are 3/8th coarse thread galvanized bolts (3/4" wrench). This arrangement allows placement of the bunk supports anywhere along a cross member & a full range of up/down adjustment. This came in handy when taking boat off the trailer for bottom painting by supporting the hull with a gantry crane & forklift & dropping the bunks down to pull the trailer out from under the boat. And of course the keel rests on rollers instead of a board.

The big mistake on my part with strap & gantry chain hoist was not having spreader bar or 2nd chain fall.

Bunk adjuster.jpg

DSCN3632.JPG

0418160938.jpg

[motthediesel]

Yes, determining how far aft to mount my vee tube keel guide is a bit of a quandary. I guess I'll just make my best estimate and then try it out.

I did think about putting gaps in the bunks spaced for travel lift straps, but decided against it. If I ever did want to lift it that way, it would be pretty simple raise the hull with screw stands under the transom and a jack under the keel forward. That would easily make enough room to pass the straps through.

Meanwhile, I got my transom graphics back from the local shop I use, we are delighted with the result

[nebulatech]

That looks beautiful. Did you put it on, or have the sign shop do it? I've put those graphics on different things with varying degrees of success. You only get one shot to get it right.

Oh, and what is the thru hull on the topsides for, just curious?

[motthediesel]

I put them on. I have some experience, as I had a summer job years ago in a State Park sign shop. I’ve also put lots of graphics on my rally car.

It just comes down to careful layout, but the eye is a funny thing, and you can still go wrong. For instance, those pine trees are very accurately centered, but because of that “y” on the right, the pine looks too far over — oh well!

That through-hull on the transom is the discharge for the aft bilge pump.

[DesertAlbin736]

Purdy! That last picture really shows how much narrower the trailer is than the boat. No wonder you mounted the bunk struts on top of the trailer frame! Primo canvas work by the way.

Well, we didn't make it back there this year for obvious reasons. Maybe next year if COVID is fully behind us by then & Canada opens its borders to Americans once more. Probably rethink our route & make the cruise in the fall starting around mid September. Since NY canals close in mid October that would mean dropping the idea of the full Triangle Loop & instead launch from either Clayton or Alexandria Bay across the river from Gananoque, ON & visit sunsetrider (see his latest post on the windlass thread) before heading out to Kingston & running the Rideau Canal system to Ottowa. Then either return on the Rideau or continue on the Ottowa River to Montreal & back up the St. Lawrence to haul out. That would take a good two or three weeks & put us into October. Then haul out & drive over to Plattsburgh for a few days to a week on Lake Champlain & run down to Fort Ticonderoga & back. Then haul out once again & drive south to Chesapeake Bay & launch near Annapolis. We'd probably miss the Annapolis boat shows by then but maybe not? Spend another couple weeks or on the upper Chesapeake between Baltimore & Cambridge gunkholing around the Eastern Shore into early November before it turns too cold & haul out for a final time & head home. In fact we could take the southern route westbound & visit my elderly aunt in Panama City, FL for her 90th birthday in November.

[motthediesel]

Forward bunks are next on the agenda. Again, we spring and twist the plastic covered 2x6 in place with those simple screw jacks.



Then we make and fit the center supports.



We complete it with the end uprights.



We'll do the other side next in the same way. After that, it will be the forward keel block in that aluminum V frame that you see. At that point we can remove the boat stands and keel blocking, the hull will be fully supported by the trailer.

We will still have the winch stand and stem snubbers to do, and the front boarding ladder, but we are getting closer!

Tom

[motthediesel]

I was leery of carrying too much of the hull weight on those front bunks. With the angle they make to the bottom I was afraid they might tend to spread under load. The trailer already had an aluminum vee support bolted in forward, and I had removed the rotten old wood that had been inserted into it.

I wanted something there as well to positively center the bow, but it would need to be much higher than the old 4x4 blocks had been. After having seen some 2'x4' panels of 3/4" PVC sheet now available at Home Depot, I decided to make a stack lamination of those to fix into the aluminum channel and carry the load.

I cut a cardboard pattern first, fitted it, then sawed out the four plates. They were then bolted together with SS bolts and glued with PVC plumbing cement. Here you see how it came out.





The blocks were than removed from under the keel, and the jack stands were screwed down and hauled away -- the boat is now supported by the trailer alone -- yippee!

Next, the winch tower and front boarding ladder, then the keel centering guides, and it will be time to launch it. I just hope the weather holds so we can get some use out of it before we have to pull it again

[hetek]

That's "A #1" workmanship there!

I wondered about the forward bunks splaying apart if they took much of the load. Seems you thought the same and addressed it perfectly.

PVC plumbing cement on PVC board. So obvious I never would have thought. Gotta remember that one!

[DesertAlbin736]

Well done! What's your waterline height above ground & distance between trailer hitch & bow stop? Have you figured how far you'll have to back down the ramp to float off? What about longitudinal stresses on the laminated PVC V notch board? When we had our Catalina 25 sailboat the waterline was better than 3 ft off the ground & we had to back so far in to float off & on that we had to "strap launch". That is back down to water's edge, stop & chock the wheels, unhitch the trailer and attach a 14 ft tow strap between trailer & truck hitch, take up slack & pull chocks then back in far enough to float off by which time the truck's back wheels were at water's edge. And that was with a fairly steep ramp. We had fixed dolly wheels on the trailer tongue so it would roll straight & not fishtail. Ah those were the days!

[DesertAlbin736]

Funny story, one time we had the strap thing all set up and launched the sailboat with the admiral driving the tow vehicle which at the time was a near new Chevy Tahoe. On this ramp you had to drive up a steep hill & make a hairpin turn to get to the parking lot. So normally you set up the strap thing, launched the boat, pulled the trailer back out of the water, stop, chock, remove the tow strap & hitch the trailer back up to the truck & drive up the hill to park the rig. I'm on the dock tying the boat off while the Admiral goes to park the rig. Only this time she forgot to stop so we could reattach the trailer and starts driving off with the trailer being pulled by the tow strap. I'm down at the dock jumping up and down waving my arms & yelling STOP STOP! at the top of my lungs. Of course she couldn't hear me & didn't realize what happened until she went to make the hairpin turn but now the empty trailer is careening out of control and about to crash into my brand new truck. Luckily it rolled to a stop & the hitch lightly bumped into the front tire of the truck, no harm done.

[hetek]

I am always concerned about boat height on trailer, ramp angle and quality, parking, ease of launching and retrieval... Probably, for me, the most nerve-wracking part of boating, second only to docking with an audience.

My 18' Baja was a piece of cake. My wife's 15' Boston Whaler... let's just say I had a bad experience once that still makes me cringe. The trailer rollers worked so well that the boat slid off the trailer and landed on the ramp. No damage, except to my self-esteem. Note to self: NEVER disconnect the winch cable until the boat is wet.

Around here the ramps have an "end", meaning that after about 20' under water, the concrete ramp just ends - usually with a hole just past. Drop a trailer tire off the end? Not fun.

Guess there is no way to predict exactly how well launching or retrieving will be. I'll be sure to bring a 14' tow strap just in case.