Sailboat haulout, the easy way

notfarnow · 04:23 PM

18' McVay Minuet, draws about 3 feet.

I keep it moored just a short walk from my house. Having a boom truck haul it out is $150, and then you have to either move it by flatbed or store it at the marina.

Or, you can contraptioneer something.

First, you take the utility trailer you bought 8 years ago for $100 and wouldn't pass inspection this year.

Then, you take an angle grinder. OK, two angle grinders, cuz you killed the first one.

Then you go to the marina and fetch your wooden cradle

Then you take whatever scrap metal you have and conjur/weld up a simple frame for the cradle to sit on.
The milk crates each hold 2 44lb bags of traction sand, because that trailer is gonna want to float. Ask me how I know (attempt #1). 2x4s and decking to build a 30 foot tongue extension, which you ratchet strap on.

Then, one guy drives the truck, and two guys go swimming

And then you pull the whole thing in

You remove the extension/ bags of grit. Don't forget to chock the trailer wheels (ask me how I know)

and voila, you're done!

Easy peasy!

More milk crates, more bags of dirt, and another 14 foot extension next year... might not even have to go swimming!

onewhippedpuppy · 10-10-2013, 04:35 PM

Lol, the primered truck is the icing on the cake. Well done.

Evans, Marv · 10-10-2013, 04:38 PM

Good ole Canadian ingenuity!

bell · bell's Garage

Ingenuity always overcomes :-)

URY914 · URY914's Garage

From one cheap SOB to another, WELL DONE!!!

Rick V · 10-10-2013, 04:40 PM

Very nice.

notfarnow · 10-10-2013, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Lol, the primered truck is the icing on the cake. Well done.

A while back I made up a rule that if you borrowed my truck, you had to either dent it or sign it.

My dad had it for a couple weeks this summer when he was working on his cottage, and he just took it a bit too far. He wrote some pretty bad words on it, and some lewd drawings that I had to prime over.

I love that truck! Paid $2000 last year and got used tires and rebuilt the front end. Only things I've had to do is recharge the a/c, and install a new battery, plus a couple upgrades:

analog shift indicator:

Manual windows:

TimT · 10-10-2013, 05:13 PM

I sort of want see a wrong way haul out....

Good job on the creative solutiions

onewhippedpuppy · 10-10-2013, 05:18 PM

Analog shift indicator......that is AWESOME!

Porchdog · 10-10-2013, 05:19 PM

As soon as I saw that primer I figured you were Canadian.

My truck will look like that soon enough.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Analog shift indicator......that is AWESOME!

The whole post is awesome! This is why we love Jake. Proof that rednecks exist even in canada!

notfarnow · 10-10-2013, 05:43 PM

My contraptioneering extends to the whole fleet

I don't think I posted the pics this summer when I got rear ended in the C4. Dude that hit me got lucky and the damage was just to the center reflector and taillight. He was super nice and I didn't want him to get hosed on the cost of new parts, so I bought a used set from Blackbyrd. They take a while to meander from his garage, and then across the country, then across the border, so I fixed it enough so I could drive for the 3-4 weeks it took for the parts to get here.

before:

after... you can see the same old trailer in the background. It sacrificed a taillight for the 964:

SteamWolf · SteamWolf's Garage

You had me until the 964... Think I'd rather buy a beater than drive it like that

Shouldn't be too hard to make that boat trailer properly so it can be used legally on the road. I have seen extending boat trailers before.

Good work tho! Dodgey FTW.

herr_oberst · 10-10-2013, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteamWolf

You had me until the 964... Think I'd rather buy a beater than drive it like that

Shouldn't be too hard to make that boat trailer properly so it can be used legally on the road. I have seen extending boat trailers before.

Good work tho! Dodgey FTW.

Naw, the 964 fits in perfect; gives the whole shootin' match some panache!
Best post in ages. Ages!

notfarnow · 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteamWolf

You had me until the 964... Think I'd rather buy a beater than drive it like that

Shouldn't be too hard to make that boat trailer properly so it can be used legally on the road. I have seen extending boat trailers before.

Good work tho! Dodgey FTW.

Ha, the 964 IS my beater!

As for the trailer contraption, I'm going to whip up a proper launching trailer over the winter, but wanted to get a sense of where the boat has to sit over the axle etc. This was a kind of "proof of concept". I need a total extension of about 40' if I don't want to get my truck's carpets wet again.... extension doesn't have to be super sturdy, decking seems to do the trick just fine. The whole thing actually worked really well once we got it out deep enough, and if I had a bit of a platform by the tongue to stand on, no one would have to go swimming. The boat launch is just a block away, so no need to make it all fancy and legal... but I will make it stout and a bit lower once I ditch the wooden cradle and weld in some steel uprights.

When we took our first crack at it last friday, it was just getting dark and we didn't have as much luck. I just had a 20' extension, and no weights on the trailer. The thing floated BEAUTIFULLY. if I stood on it, it'd go down, but it really wanted to float. I didn't have quite enough depth to get the boat pulled up, and was bouncing the boat up and down trying to yank it up in the cradle. It was getting dark, and windy, and I was getting tired. I gave up and ran the boat back to the mooring. As I tied the boat up and hopped into my rowboat, I noticed an odd silhouette drifting by... it was the $#%$ trailer, fully adrift, floating past my boat and being driven by the wind. It had become unhooked from the truck when I was trying to bounce the boat and trailer. I had to row downriver after the trailer, in the dark, and hitch a line onto it... the ROW back to the boat launch with the trailer in tow. Must have been 400-500 feet. what a night!

So yeah, the extra weight and extra extension made all the difference today. It was warmer out too!

onewhippedpuppy · 10-10-2013, 06:35 PM

Are you a fan of The Red Green Show?

LWJ · 10-10-2013, 06:50 PM

I dig the trailer, the truck, the 964. I gotta say however. Dude, you got hosed paying 2K for that truck! You should see my sweet 91 3/4 Suburban I scored for 850 a few years ago. I don't even need rope to roll up the windows!

This made me smile. Beautiful boat. I am going to google it now.

Larry

notfarnow · 10-10-2013, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Are you a fan of The Red Green Show?

not really, but I like the concept!

Quote:

Originally Posted by LWJ

I dig the trailer, the truck, the 964. I gotta say however. Dude, you got hosed paying 2K for that truck! You should see my sweet 91 3/4 Suburban I scored for 850 a few years ago. I don't even need rope to roll up the windows!

This made me smile. Beautiful boat. I am going to google it now.

Larry

Ha! I think you guys have better access to cheap trucks in the US. Up here, I was looking at 4-5k for 98-02 trucks with extended cabs, 4x4 and AC. This one popped up at 4k... it was newer and had less mileage than most, but it was pretty beat, had no front brakes and it smelled like old laundry. I passed, they kept calling me back until I broke down and offered them 2k. Once I did the work it needed, it's been a fantastic truck. I'd drive it anywhere.

The boat is a mcvay minuet made in Nova Scotia. It's essentially a scaled down Bluenose sloop. After ww2, there was a "one design" racing class of wooden 23' bluenoses in Nova Scotia. They were fantastic boats, I used to have one. McVay made a fibergalss version that was very popular, but these 18' Minuets are just SWEET. They look so pretty, even sitting at the mooring. I paid $1200 for this one... I should really be ashamed of myself.

I bought it last fall, and almost didn't get it launched this summer. A little over a month ago, I mentioned to a friend that I hadn't gotten around to launching the boat this summer, and I'd never even sailed it since I bought it.

The following Monday, I get a call from him. Come get your boat, it's in the water. He'd taken the weekend to get it all rigged up, bottom painted and launched!

So I only had it in the water for about a month, and have gone from sailing until 8pm sunsets, to sailing until 7pm sunsets.

Best part is that my 4yr old daughter LOVES to go out with daddy!

I'd bet I sailed it maybe a dozen times in the past month, but every sail was at sunset, and just about every sail was with my daughter. Best sailing season ever.

SteamWolf · SteamWolf's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by notfarnow

Ha, the 964 IS my beater!

Baller! That's a $40k car here even in that condition.

Red Green show cracks me up.

Boat looks good. Needs more inboard 454 though

notfarnow · 10-10-2013, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteamWolf

Baller! That's a $40k car here even in that condition.

Red Green show cracks me up.

Boat looks good. Needs more inboard 454 though

I scored one of these fellas for an outboard... I have to rebuild the carb and paint it, but I think it suits it perfectly!