My last sail of the season was Sunday the 24th of
November. Sailed the length of the lake on a broad reach, then back
uphill. I wish I had my satnav to get an idea of speed. It sure seemed a
lot faster than a 15' boat should go. I sailed for 5 hours in high
30s to low 40s weather. There was one other boat on the entire 13 mile
lake, and they were sitting, waiting for ducks to land within
range.
The docks are coming out this week so the owner of
a 27' Catalina had just arrived to get his boat out of the water. I sailed
for 5 hours and pulled out of the marina parking lot with my boat on the trailer
15 minutes after he did. He had 3 friends helping. I was by
myself.
Attatched are 2 photos of the additional roller I
installed on the trailer to help lift the bow up into the yoke. The boat
did not automatically float up over the new roller. However I went
forward, sat down on the bow and to my surprise realised that the wood plank I
installed to support the roller acted as a convienient step down to the
trailer. I just stepped to the front and hooked up the winch. The
boat easily slipped up on the roller and forward to the yoke. It still did
not fit snuggly into the yoke. I am beginning to think the boat sits in
its most comfortable position in the bunk boards and the snug fit to the yoke is
not that important. It trailers smoothly even thogh the bow is a few
inches away from the yoke. Am I correct that this is a non
issue?
I like the extra roller and mounting plank and will
definately keep this set up. As the photos show, the roller is ownly there
to help lift the boat to the angle of the trailer. Once it sits in the
bunk boards the boat is several inches from the additional roller.
Jerry Williams M-15 #516
PS I tried to send the photos of roller but it was too
large for list. I guess I need a little computer
coaching