Boat transport horror story

[Mariner]

A few weeks ago, my girlfriend got a call from one of her old college friends. It seems he had decided to buy a boat. We all spend time together, but these are definitely "her" friends, not "mine". Realizing that he had gotten himself into a bind, he called her, knowing that she was his ticket to me, the resident boating expert in the group. So, I eventually get on the phone with him and get the scoop:

He found a 25' sailboat on craigslist. It's located in Bellingham, about two hours up I-5 from Seattle. He has arranged for a slip on Lake Union in Seattle, but the boat still needs some work. He took the advice of the seller, and hired a gentleman out of Canada to handle the transportation. $500, for lake-to-lake service. Only, there's a few catches. The boat is on Whatcom lake, which has no travelift or sling of any sort, just a launching ramp. The boat is a fin keel and draws 5'. It is not retractible, and it weighs 4,000#. He tells me that when the driver arrived, he brought a pretty decent looking adjustable steel sailboat trailer, but it was not designed for submerged loading. And then it started snowing. Unfortunately, the driver, who had indictated that loading the boat onto the trailer would be no problem, was a somewhat aged man. I believe the description he used was "old man river". So, it quickly became apparent, that he was not going to be able to load the boat on the trailer himself, and it's now up to my friends to do the heavy lifting.

Because the boat draws 5', and they're loading on a ramp, they disconnect the trailer from the tow vehicle and let it coast down the ramp, into the lake until it is completely submerged. They then float the boat over the trailer and plunge into the freezing water to adjust the stands, position blocks under the keel, and generally get the boat into position. Keep in mind that it's 32 degrees out and they're wearing street clothes, not wetsuits. After something like 4 hours, they are ready to pull the trailer up the ramp. They use a come-along to drag it up the concrete ramp, and eventually reconnect it to the tow vehicle. I have no idea how long this takes, but at some point, they stop, go home for the night, and return the next day. They finally get it out of the lake, but the wooden blocking under the keel has not stayed in place. The driver says he's ready to go, but after inspecting his 1985 Chevy Astro van, they decide it's not up to the task of carrying this 5,000# boat and trailer combo, and send him on his way, sans trailer. So, that's where they called me.

After a few days of discussing it and determing if it's possible to tow this thing safely, we make the drive up there and I get to see it first-hand. It's not as bad as I was expecting, but there are some problems. The cribbing under the keel needs to be beefed up, the trailers wiring needs to be modified to fit my truck, and it's got a 2 5/16" hitch. So, we drive to the local auto parts store and get the parts we need and make the modifications. It's starting to get dark, so we hit the road. It was our plan to make the 2 hour drive in the evening, to avoid the stop-and-go traffic that the Seattle region is known for. We make the drive back to the freeway and stop at the first gas station we come across to air up the tires and do a walk-around. As a matter of precaution, I put my hand around each wheel hub to see if it's warm. First one...fine. Second one, fine as well. Third one... all's good. Fourth one.......








OUCH!!!!! It burns my hand. It's not just warm, it's hot enough to fry an egg on. We've gone probably 2 miles, and not exceeded 25 mph, and this thing is on fire. I hop back in the truck and move the rig, listening to the wheel as I go, and I can hear it grinding. This wheel is completely shot. So, we start making calls. All the local tire shops are closed. We go ahead and just drive it to the nearest one and leave it there, hoping to make contact in the morning. On the drive home, I start wondering how the driver thought he was going to make this trip safely. The trailer is in decent enough shape, but at least one bearing was shot, the brakes were inoperable, and he wasn't even liscensed to transport for hire in the United States. Oh yeah, and his tow vehicle was woefully undersized. Did I mention that the trailer had no suspenstion? The axle was simply welded directly to the frame.

The next morning, the repair shop gets a look at it and decides that the trailer needs $750 in repairs to even be roadworthy enough for them to let it leave their lot.

And that's pretty much where the situation's been for the last two weeks. The boat is still sitting in the repair shop's lot, and we're weighing alternatives that include driving it to the nearest marina and bringing it south under it's own power (a two day trip), and just letting Old Man River do it and claim ignorance if he gets in an accident.

[jcollins]

<smile> Been there...messed with that. It's not very often that a "deal" ends up being a good deal. Where's Old Man River? Did he go back to Canada?
Is the trailer legal? (tags)

[Pitou]

Mariner, you're a good friend! John, as I was reading the horror story I was thinking "know when to pull the plug"! Not the one in the transom though.

I have a buddy with a trailer repair and hitch business. He says that for the most part boaters seem to be the one's that don't maintain their trailers well or wait to the last minute. The old "I only use it 2x per year" .... and "the ramp is only a mile from my house" crowd and so on "just do the minimum". It always seems he gets a dozen or two calls the week before Memorial Day Weekend "I need it this weekend" and he'll say "busy time of year, sorry" and then they say "I'll bring it in over the summer after I drop it in". Guess who calls in the fall and says "remember me ole' pal, I need the trailer this weekend the docks are being pulled. Could you help me out?" No one like this on the AOG.

[jcollins]

We will spend more on a boat than our home and thousands for maintenance. But when it comes to trailers...

I have a small utility trailer that I paid 500.00. I use it for dump runs, ATV, and just stuff. The plywood sides are held in place with bungee cords.
It's almost embarresing. I'll be the guy you see on the side of the road with a rusted out axle or burned up bearings.

[Mariner]

Yes, the guy went back to Canada. But apparently he now wants his trailer back. Big surprise. So what we've done is arrange for him to transport the boat to the nearest boat yard. That way, he saves face, gets paid something, and gets his trailer back. The boat will stay at the boat yard for a month while the needed maintenence will be performed below the waterline, then we will launch it and bring it home through the sound. It's really the way it should have been done in the first place, but oh well.

The buyer, a guy who's never piloted a boat above 15' for more than a day sail, is going to get a great experience bringing it south. He initially asked if he should do it himself, but I told him I wasn't letting him. When he asked "is there actually, like, navigation involved?" I knew that I was going to need to take the trip with him! He's a great guy, and we're going to have a fun time, and he's going to learn a LOT.

[fairtide]

While all of this seems humorous in retrospect and not being involved with it directly, I will suggest that if this sort of mishap seems to be "fun" to read about, Farley Mowat's, "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float" might be something that you would get some smiles and laughs from. There are no trailers in this story, but Mowat is Canadian and he is quite a writer.

[Russell]

I second that comment about Farley Mowat's book. Being a long time sailboater, I got a lot of laughs out of that. I still remember the incident where he had the sails all up but there was not enough wind to leave the harbor. The old single cylinder engine in the boat started in either forward or reverse and he could not predict which one it would be. So without wind he started the engine and this time it started in reverse. He proceeded to head out of the harbor in reverse with full sails up. I am sure any onlookers would be questioning his sanity or sobriety.
His other book "Never Cry Wolf" is also a great read.