----- Original Message -----

From: Ted Rosen

To: 'Al Schonborn'

Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 7:35 AM

Subject: WIT-trailering FAQ

Al,
I know that you are busy with the summer’s activities, so I hope this is not an added burden.
 
It occurred to me that one area of knowledge which would be helpful to post on the WIT Cruising section would be recommendations and procedures for trailering a Wayfarer. 
 
I am completely new to trailering a boat (although I’ve been sailing for 30 years)  intend to do some cruising away from my sailing club and therefore will be using a boat trailer for the first time this summer.  For those with experience this may be a no brainer.  I suspect there are better and less successful methods, and perhaps some unique aspects of the Wayfarer to be aware of.
 
I would hope that this could include:
 
basic checking of the trailer before loading the boat
Basic set-up: Your trailer should be set up such that (almost) the entire weight of your Wayfarer is supported by its keel, i.e. the keel rollers of your trailer should do all of the real support work, and the bits off to the sides should act only to keep the boat from tilting appreciably to port or starboard.
Lights board: http://www.wayfarer-international.org/WIT/maint.repair.ref/trailers/Wtrailer.html  explains my set-up in detail and lists benefits of using a trailer lights board, not the least of which is that I can leave the trailer sitting somewhere with less fear of theft because the lights board is removed before the boat is launched. 
Pre-trip checking: The only checking I do is before long trips (100+ miles), and that is to ensure that the bearings are OK and well greased - I blush to confess that I have my mechanic do this.
 
loading the boat on the trailer (mast up/down?)
Most people load the boat onto the trailer from the water at a ramp and with the mast up - but do watch out for overhead wires (or tree branches)!! More dinghy sailors have died from hitting live wires than from on-the-water misadventure to the best of my knowledge! The mast is easily lowered once boat and trailer are ashore. Unless you are about to store your mast away from your boat for the winter or some such, leave your shrouds attached to their chainplates after lowering. This will still leave you enough slack to remove the pivot pin and then the mast from the tabernacle, whereupon you should lay the mast into its towing position with its foot facing forward. Leaving the shrouds attached saves considerable time and effort and works especially well when trailering with your cover on the boat.
 
securing the boat, rigging and mast for highway travel
I hook SHADES' bow eye to the winch rope and winch it snug. Near the aft end of the trailer bed, we run a strap across the boat: snug but not tight. The strap is only there to keep the boat from falling off the trailer on sudden turns. Then the whole thing goes under my cover as shown at http://www.wayfarer-international.org/WIT/maint.repair.ref/trailers/Wtrailer.html where I also have pics that show stowage of mast & rigging. I mostly tie loose ends of rigging lines around the lower half of the mast using half-hitches. Some people cover that with a "mast bag" but I don't bother.
 
launching steps at the destination (dock? Anchor? Mooring? Etc.)
All I can really suggest is that you think ahead. E.g. if you have no tilt-bed trailer, find a place to launch where your boat will easily float off its trailer, or failing that, make sure you have several strong young people to help ease the boat off the trailer as we had to do last Fall at Clark Lake in the pic below:
 
 
 
And of course, have a suitable docking/mooring/anchoring spot picked out before launching!!
 
trailer storage while cruising
We have usually left the trailer with our vehicle in the parking lot at the marina where we launched or nearest equivalent. Some people padlock their trailer to the hitch. A removed lights board also makes the trailer less attractive to possible thieves, insofar as it will have no licence plate and thus be more likely to be noted/stopped by police.
 
use of boat cover or not on the highway
Boat cover on highway is great in my vast experience - notwithstanding Ton's gas mileage tests that vote against use of a cover on the road. For me, the boat protection and extra storage are well worth the possible reduced fuel efficiency. Uncle Al apologizes for mis-remembering Ton's views which Ton reminds us of below:

----- Original Message -----

From: Wayfarer

To: 'Al Schonborn' ; 'Ted Rosen'

Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 7:47 PM

Hi Uncle Al,

 

To add to the confusion a few remarks.

 

With regard to covering while driving, consider that with an uncovered boat the wind bangs against the aft bulkhead, any cover will prevent this. My fuel measurements on a 800 km trip to Copenhagen and back compare a boat without any cover to a boat with a flat trailer cover. The question if an over boom cover used as trailer cover saves fuel remains unanswered AFAIK. My guess is that it saves some fuel but not as much as a flat cover. 

 

The second benefit of a cover (any type) is that the loose parts inside the boat do not need to be secured, whereas with an uncovered boat everything is exposed to the wind and needs to be secured.  

 

I use a mast end bag not for mast protection but to quickly stow the halyards. I just throw them in the bag and be done with them. People that do not use a mast end bag need to carefully tie the halyards around the mast so they don't flap around in the wind. So, In my case the reason for using a mast end bag is to minimize the road preparation time. BTW my mast end bag started life as a two dollar plastic parasol cover from which I cut the top off. I closed it again using Conny's sewing machine but some gaffer tape would work too I think.  

 

Best wishes,

Ton

----- Original Message -----

From: Al Schonborn

To: Wayfarer ; 'Ted Rosen'

Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 4:51 PM

Subject: trailing with cover

Hi, Ton:

 

I totally agree that towing with a covered boat is the way to go. However, I myself found the bottom cover more trouble than it was worth to me, and have never suffered bottom damage while trailing that a bottom cover would have prevented, since I gave up on my bottom cover in the early 1980's. I will add this to the exchange on our boat towing page.

 

Best regards,

 

Uncle Al  (W3854)

----- Original Message -----

From: Ralph Roberts

To: Al Schonborn ; Wayfarer ; 'Ted Rosen'

Cc: 'Tony Krauss W4105/276'

Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 3:40 AM

If it is any help to the discussion, I used an overboom cover for trailing my boat to Sweden and back, lashed down as illustrated, and it worked pretty well in stopping the cover from billowing out when driving at speed. A further improvement would be to use 2 more straps further back, also with cross ties between them.

Best wishes, Ralph

Original Message -----

From: Al Schonborn

To: Ralph Roberts ; Wayfarer ; 'Ted Rosen'

Cc: 'Tony Krauss W4105/276'

Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 12:08 PM

Hi, Ralph:

 

Can't wait to hear about your voyage and see pictures!! I will add your info and illustration to the towing page. For what it's worth, I just let the cover "inflate" (billow but not flog/luff) and assume that the curve generates lift that reduces towing weight and thus saves gas. Untested, of course!

 

Best regards,

 

Uncle Al  (W3854)

 
special tips and precautions
don't forget to bring a spare trailer wheel - I prefer light tongue weight: 20 to 30 pounds, perhaps - even small, weak cars can nicely do the towing job: I started out doing several thousand miles towing W116 with my 1966 VW Beetle
 
travel outside Canada with boat/trailer, etc.
what I did was get a green card from Canada customs the first time I was about to leave Canada with the boat so that I would have proof that the boat had come from Canada on the way back. My first attempt was a disaster when I told them I was going to a regatta and they treated me like guys bringing in racing motor boats, wanting me to line up a customs broker. They finally relented when I lucked in by telling them if was not a regatta with prize money. In other words, it's often easier to just say you're going sailing in place X this weekend, etc. 
 
I found some basic trailer info at: http://www.sailboatsales.com/node/6    but this lacks a lot of the above items.
Some very good stuff there however, as I recall. 
 
Hopefully this WIT item would encourage others who are less familiar with trailers to explore farther afield and assist those experienced with a safer trip.
 
Thanks,
 
Ted,
W8231

Thanks, Tony! What's the wood for - pardon my ignorance. BTW, I have minimal tongue weight (20 lbs??) and have never had the oscillation problem you mention.