Single handed recovery

[floater]

ROPE A BOAT !!

thats the one i saw at SIB last year

Andy

[rib-x450]

I have some docing arms on my trailer, it makes it much easier.

Use some scaffolding pipe and fittings.

I may have a picture I will have a look.

Chris

[jyasaki]

Guide posts are great if your boat tends to skew on the trailer. Also great in crosswinds/crosscurrents (though I've found currents often overwhelm the somewhat wimpy guideposts that are commercially available. Gotta be careful about that.)

They won't, however, help with the original problem of how to secure the boat to the trailer without getting wet.

That said, I have seen one guy who often solo recovers; he's got a ladder attached to the trailer tongue that allows him to climb off the bow and take care of the winch strap to bow eye connection. I believe he motors on, drives the boat up to nearly loaded, leaves the boat in forward idle, climbs off and secures the strap, then climbs aboard and shuts everything down. Having some sort of platform on the tongue makes it less likely that you'll lose your balance and lie down in the water next to the trailer (much to the amusement of people watching.)

Me, I'm usually in my drysuit when recovering, so I just wade in and drag the boat onto the trailer.


jky

[Limey Linda]

On mine it is the bow that tends to skew so I hope the guide roller are going to fix that. My trailer touge is rather short so no room for the ladder, but I think I can attach one to the truck tow hitch or bumper.

[gtflash]

always used to follow similar system as cookee with old boat! But new one has d ring on bow under winch post so i cant release it without getting off boat!! Im not keen on getting my feet wet!! I did also once read somewhere that majority of winches are not designed to haul boats on trailers! usually indicated by their significantly inferior load stamped on them in comparison to the wight of ur dingy!!

Go down lymington slip though and you will see plent of idiots winching onto a bunk trailer all red faced and flustered!!!

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by gtflash

I did also once read somewhere that majority of winches are not designed to haul boats on trailers! usually indicated by their significantly inferior load stamped on them in comparison to the wight of ur dingy!!

Well, to be fair, when you're winching your boat onto a trailer, you're not lifting it, but dragging it across the bunks/rollers.

A 2000lb boat should do quite nicely with about a 1000lb winch load rating.

jky

[Limey Linda]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Well, to be fair, when you're winching your boat onto a trailer, you're not lifting it, but dragging it across the bunks/rollers.

A 2000lb boat should do quite nicely with about a 1000lb winch load rating.

jky

Yes, in the theory. However, it assumes alot. Angle of pull is parallel, rollers run free, bunks are adjusted properly and not binding, winch is in perfect condition, etc, etc, it only takes one little problem to magnify the load a huge amount and you can get seriously hurt and cause damge to boat.

[gtflash]

Originally Posted by Limey Linda

Yes, in the theory. However, it assumes alot. Angle of pull is parallel, rollers run free, bunks are adjusted properly and not binding, winch is in perfect condition, etc, etc, it only takes one little problem to magnify the load a huge amount and you can get seriously hurt and cause damge to boat.

exactly!! how much the boat ways dry is considerabbly less than real world with fuel, people, clothes, water, junk etc etc aswell!!

I did once assist someone at lymington (the slip that attracts the bigggest laughs) i couldnt watch anymore as he was winching onto bunks, but with not enough water so was effectively lifting the boat 6" ASWELL as pulling! he may as well been tring to pull it through a brick wall!!

My step dad is a crane driver! its amazing what he cannot lift in different locations. rated at 29t/m at 1m will lift 29 tonne at 12m full stick it will only lift 5 tonne sometimes! but other times only a couple of meters he gets stuck and cant move a sausage cause of inclines, angles, loads, trousers hes wearing etc etc!! The in built sensors lock it up on overload and its amazing how frequently it occurs

I would seriously reccomend ya do not fully rely on a winch to haul some decent load and as sensible as it sounds a back up fasten to trailer is advisable as a broken catch once nearly cost me hugely!

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Well, to be fair, when you're winching your boat onto a trailer, you're not lifting it, but dragging it across the bunks/rollers.

A 2000lb boat should do quite nicely with about a 1000lb winch load rating.

jky

So would my 8000lb winch be a little over the top

[gtflash]

Originally Posted by bedajim

So would my 8000lb winch be a little over the top

better to be safe than sorry!!! oh no thats durex

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by bedajim

So would my 8000lb winch be a little over the top

Depends. Are you running a guided missile cruiser?

Most of the winch selection vs boat weight can be found on the Fulton website (among others, most likely.) My point was that you are not lifting the boat out of the water when you are recovering onto a trailer. You should *never* need a winch with a rating that will lift the boat (though it also won't hurt anything other than your pocketbook to get one); if you do, there's something wrong that should be corrected first (or your procedures should be re-evaluated.)

jky

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Depends. Are you running a guided missile cruiser?

Most of the winch selection vs boat weight can be found on the Fulton website (among others, most likely.) My point was that you are not lifting the boat out of the water when you are recovering onto a trailer. You should *never* need a winch with a rating that will lift the boat (though it also won't hurt anything other than your pocketbook to get one); if you do, there's something wrong that should be corrected first (or your procedures should be re-evaluated.)


jky

Here you go, first test run and with remote control so you can do it from on board

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Q78MW4wSMKs

Its had a few mods and still some more to come

[Nos4r2]

That looks good
Should cut down the bruises

[mark-f]

A friend has one of these fitted to his caravan and they now have a marine version available.

http://www.powrlaunch.co.uk/

hmmmmm

Mark

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by mark-f

A friend has one of these fitted to his caravan and they now have a marine version available.

http://www.powrlaunch.co.uk/

hmmmmm

Mark

I fitted one to a customers trailer and it is working just fine!

[Rogue Wave]

being bily nomates I always launch and recover on my own, and my advice is it all gets a lot easier if you have a pair of fisherman's waders, Prior to getting a pair of these I used to define a bad day at he slipway as getting your nuts wet

take the rig down to the slipway when its quiet and work out how you are going to do it and practice it a few times.

when I am recovering big boats 25foot plus I leave a line attached to the trailer with a little norwegian (round) bouy ( boowee to you) floating near the end of the trailer. make sure the line is no longer than this, as the boat mounts the trailer the boowee gets pushed away by the wash and you can pick it up with a boathook and secure the line to the inside of the boat. This the lets you secure the boat properly on the trailer in a more relaxed manner. Well it works for me !

sugest you play the river by 'The Boss' on the way to the slipway

[Apherel]

Hi LL

I tried fitting a recovery hoop made of fibreglass tent poles with a rope attached - feasible, but probably not worth the hassle.

Here are a couple of more solutions. The first is a "new invention" that is not yet available commercially, but you could be made something similar pending its release - they are talking around $70 US for it. For retrieval, you would just need a fitting on the winch post to catch the loop.

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s2271796.htm

This is a cheaper version of the D ring catch. I saw some of the more expensive versons (ie $500) used on the weekend and it makes recovery a breeze if you can drive the boat fully on.

http://www.recoverezy.com.au/

I do like Rogue Waves idea - it might the easiest of all!

Cheers

[Limey Linda]

Yup, I like RW's idea also. Will give it a try.

[prairie tuber]

Originally Posted by Rogue Wave

sugest you play the river by 'The Boss' on the way to the slipway

One of Bruce's better tunes...

[jyasaki]

This weekend, I helped a CA DFG friend launch his patrol RIB (Hurricane 733/twin Yammie 150's, in case you're interested.)

His boat and trailer were fitted with a self-latching recovery thingie. It consisted of a large hinged arch of stainless (I think) tubing that mounted onto the trailer frame rails (such that the arch would raise and lower) that was spring loaded to sit up at about a 30 degree angle (roughly). The bow catch on the boat was an open "C" shaped catch (opening facing upwards), with a spring loaded lever that closed on the opening of the C shape (like a gate clip, but with an extension so you could open it without having to stick your fingers in there.)

To recover, you drive the boat onto the trailer. As the loop on the trailer contacted the bow, it was forced to ride down the line of the prow, until it met with the "C" part. the loop forced the latch thing open, dropped into the hook of the "C", and the latch closed.

Didn't look that closely, but there must have been some sort of hold-open thing for launching.

Seemed pretty simple (if not all that secure - It would be enough to recover, but I wouldn't use it as a primary way of securing the boat to the trailer), and reasonably bullet-proof.

jky