retrieving a 17" lake boat

MarcinG

Hi.

just got myself a 17" sheelin on oryginal trailer.
Just wondering how difficult will be to pull it up the slip using 1.6 passat.
Sure on the road/launching should go smooth.
Some says that even 1.0 corsa will do some says that i need 4x4 (idea of front of the car being lifted by weight at rear - so lack of propper grip as a result - trailer is quite heavy - realy difficult to lift it and move around by myself withou jockey wheel fitted).
At the moment passat is out of order so i can not find it out by trying.
And also want to save myself embarrassment being stuck on slope ;P

If passat is a bad idea would someone recomend something better to do the job in 4-5k? (max 2.0 engine may be commercial)

fergal.b

You should be fine with a 1.6 passat with a good clutch and good tyres.
If you find your self at a very slippery or too steep slip keep your car on the flat and let the boat down the slip with a rope wrapped around the towbar, do the same for retrieving this way the car won't have to pull it's own weight up the slip as well as the boat.
Check the bearings on the trailer and make sure the boat is balanced on it you should have no problems moving that boat on your own.
Jockey wheels are not too expensive and worth fitting for handyness

Best of luck.

MarcinG

>You should be fine with a 1.6 passat with a good clutch and good tyres.

they are in good cond.

> let the boat down the slip with a rope wrapped around the towbar, do
>the same for retrieving this way the car won't have to pull it's own weight
>up the slip as well as the boat.

good idea! But how to balance trailer? - i mean I do not see how pulling may lift front of it as towing bar is relativelly low.

>Check the bearings on the trailer

Any specyfic way to do it? someone adviced me just to replace them anyway (most of my journeys will be 200km+)

>and make sure the boat is balanced on it you should have no problems
>moving that boat on your own.

It has 2 "handles" at front - I estimating that weight on them is around 30-40kg? - really heavy to lift. How to balance it?

>Jockey wheels are not too expensive and worth fitting for handyness

I'm going to get one +spare wheel too.
at at the moment I'm slowing down with purchasing new stuff for her (heven't put it on water yet and spend good couple of hundred for rod holders, outboard, life vests, tow bar - you name it....)

>Best of luck.

Thank you. I know that it may be a bunch of stupid questions but this is my first boat

slideshow bob

MarcinG wrote: »

I do not see how pulling may lift front of it as towing bar is relativelly low.

Problem is when a lot of weight is on the towbar of a front-wheel drive car, the front wheels cannot get traction. Either leave the car on the level and launch/recover with a long rope as mentioned above, or have a person or two sit on your bonnet to help the driving wheels grip.

MarcinG wrote: »

>Check the bearings on the trailer
Any specyfic way to do it? someone adviced me just to replace them anyway (most of my journeys will be 200km+)

if you're towing those kind of distances definitely replace the bearings and keep them well lubricated and flush if you ever go into salt water.

MarcinG wrote: »

It has 2 "handles" at front - I estimating that weight on them is around 30-40kg? - really heavy to lift. How to balance it?

Basically, move the boat back a bit or a lot on the trailer. Usually it's getting the centre of gravity of the boat over the trailer axles. But if you have a trailer that is nose-heavy, you need the boat further back on the trailer.

fergal.b

You balance the trailer with the boat,if you find it heavy at the front it can be balanced out when you put the outboard on fill the fuel thank and put any gear on board that should make the tow hitch easy to lift.
If you don't know the trailer it would be best to do a full strip down to check the bearings, this is a link where a friend of mine shows what he does before every big trip. http://www.powerboat.ie/forums/index.php?/topic/4060-wheel-bearings/page__p__38713__hl__%2Bwheel+%2Bbearing__fromsearch__1#entry38713

No questions are stupid it's better to do this right, there are enough stupid people around who just don't think of looking after their boat or trailer.
Also you say you will be towing the boat 200km it's a good idea to let the wheels cool down before you put it in the water as the bearings can break up with the change in temp and when you are gong home pump some grease into the hub and force out any water.

Mr. Presentable

Stick it under your arm, to be honest.

Sorry, couldn't resist even though I know what you meant to write

MarcinG

thanks for so many tips.

I gues for start i'll put outboard and fuel tank onto the boat and see what kind of balance will I get (too windy today to remove cover ;P

Btw do I need any insurance or anything else to use her on the sea? (i live close to dalkey it would be nice to bring it around dalkey island for some mackrel- i wouldn't dare to go any further - I have almost new 6HP outboard if it matters). Someone told me that "stadnard" 17" sheelin is not a good idea at all - as hull is to narrow.
ps. I'm not brave at all I would use it only on calm day.

Steve

Legally, you don't need insurance but for peace of mind, should the worst happen you really should have.
If you have a collision and are liable then it could end up costing a lot if you were in the wrong.

Skuxx

MarcinG wrote: »

Hi.

just got myself a 17" sheelin on oryginal trailer.
Just wondering how difficult will be to pull it up the slip using 1.6 passat.
Sure on the road/launching should go smooth.
Some says that even 1.0 corsa will do some says that i need 4x4 (idea of front of the car being lifted by weight at rear - so lack of propper grip as a result - trailer is quite heavy - realy difficult to lift it and move around by myself withou jockey wheel fitted).
At the moment passat is out of order so i can not find it out by trying.
And also want to save myself embarrassment being stuck on slope ;P

If passat is a bad idea would someone recomend something better to do the job in 4-5k? (max 2.0 engine may be commercial)

As Fergal said, good clutch and tyres and you should have no trouble, although it will wear them. I blew the clutch out of a berlingo van I had pulling a bayliner capri up a slip although there would be a considerable weight difference from a lake boat I suppose! Bearings aswell should be checked regularly and left to cool before launching, especailly if doing 200km to get to the slip as the hot to cold will crack them!! You can get a device that will feed grease into your bearings automatically but the name of it is gone from my head, I'm sure someone will know it. They can be got cheap enough on ebay anyway!
I wouldn't go changing the car thats for sure, if you spend a day at a slip you will see people come and launch boats using saxos and fiestas and wonder how they manage it. Funniest I ever saw was someone retrieving a 6.5 meter rib with a saxo!! (one of these http://inflatables.apolloduck.ie/image.phtml?id=185380&image=1) I don't know how they didn't get pulled down the slip by it!!

Best of luck anyway and shout with any questions!

fergal.b

I just had to throw this in.

MarcinG

alan1990 wrote: »

As Fergal said, good clutch and tyres and you should have no trouble, although it will wear them.

I just drove around on some smaller hills and looks perfectly ok - no smell of clutch or anything (with my towing abilities didn't like to go through Bray in busy morning - spend 30min trying to reverse back in to my garden
Plan was - go to bray very early without trafic and put her on the water just for test - but it was pitch black at 6 and too busy at 8
Do not know is there a great difference in between starting uphill with trailer and retreiving it but hope ther isn't BIG difference on concrete surface.

Thanks for all help and patience (as probably million of same questions apperas here every so often).

MarcinG

fergal.b wrote: »

I just had to throw this in.

well.. Fiat 126p was very popular vehicle in Poland few decades ago.
This wasn't unusual view:



Car spec:
0.6 dm3
23-25 BHP

fergal.b

Reversing can take a bit of getting used to
When you are on the slip you will be using a lot more of the handbrake for control, as you come back up the slip make sure you have a good bite on the clutch before you let down the handbrake, it's a bit like a hill start on a very steep hill with extra weight pulling you back.

PS. The boat goes in first. :eek:

MarcinG

I'll keep it in mind "boat goes first!"

DOTHEDOG

fergal.b wrote: »

Reversing can take a bit of getting used to
When you are on the slip you will be using a lot more of the handbrake for control, as you come back up the slip make sure you have a good bite on the clutch before you let down the handbrake, it's a bit like a hill start on a very steep hill with extra weight pulling you back.

PS. The boat goes in first. :eek:

Broke my hole laughing :D:D

MarcinG

well I'm getting rid of passat without finally checking it on retreiving boat.
So can some one help mi in choosing right car to buy?
budget - around 4-6 grand.
Has to be able to tow ant retreive boat without help (usually ennell, may be some other lakes near by - sheelin, derrevaragh etc).
Engine 2.0 max. 2 seats will do. Prefer automatic gear box. Good reliability and fuel economy over leather interior if you know what i mean.
Preferably small diesel commercial as big cargo space for outboard fishing gear etc would be nice... (berlingo 1.9HDI?)
Don't like suv (but grand vitaras 1.6 are cheap enough to consider but on other hand heard they are terrible on fuel and doesnt drive well - how about nissan xtrail?)
Thought about subaru impreza 1.5 estate /forester 2.0- but affraid about maintenance costs.
Any car especially worth to be look at?

oscarBravo

MarcinG wrote: »

Thought about subaru impreza 1.5 estate /forester 2.0- but affraid about maintenance costs.

The brother-in-law in Chile is on his second Forester, he swears by it. We took it up the Andes and into Argentina, including some places where flash floods had washed the road away - pretty capable off-roader. It's not very "jeepy", drives more like a car.

MarcinG

oscarBravo wrote: »

pretty capable off-roader. It's not very "jeepy", drives more like a car.

i know that.
it is my dream to have forester or outback in 2.5xt but not too sure do i realy need one now - as they are too expensive in my current condition.
(tax and fuel wise + service i gues just timing belt will be around 500 ?
then self leveling suspension and all of that...).
at the moment i'm looking at primera 1.8 '00 or rav4 2.0 '96 as they both around 2k and it will leave me some space for unpredicted repairs.
japanese import impreza 1.5 would be around 3,5-4 after VRT and considering it too (but +timing kit and unknown condition may end up with 5k+ ;/

John_Rambo

Congrats on your boat OP, I hope you enjoy it and the fish.

There is great value on second hand Subaru's, reliable, quick, 4wd, with low mileage... (the look manky though).

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Subaru/Legacy/2.0-B4-A/201047200320772/advert?channel=CARS

Here's a smaller engined one.

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Subaru/Impreza/1.6-WRX-/201049200519236/advert?channel=CARS

Best of luck.

MarcinG

John_Rambo wrote: »

Congrats on your boat OP, I hope you enjoy it and the fish.

i hope so

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Subaru/Legacy/2.0-B4-A/201047200320772/advert?channel=CARS

would go for forester in 2..0
but found almera 1.8 auto '01 with theoretical 50 000km (2 people swears genuine) so i want to see it first.

Here's a smaller engined one.

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Subaru/Impreza/1.6-WRX-/201049200519236/advert?channel=CARS

mitsu on pics

MarcinG

hi.


just replaced my passat with 1.8 almera auto. launching and retrieving goes well. Same on motorway (drinking lmost unnoticable more fuel - around 0,5l/100km)

MarcinG

fergal.b wrote: »

If you find your self at a very slippery or too steep slip keep your car on the flat and let the boat down the slip with a rope wrapped around the towbar, do the same for retrieving this way the car won't have to pull it's own weight up the slip as well as the boat.

I would like some extra questions on it as i'm about to use this method in Greystones (slipway on the low tide covered with green stuff which is slippery as ice).
At flat trailer is definitely heavier at the front. Now. You drive let's say 5m away and use rope (i guess heavy duty ratchet strap would do if wrapped 2-3 times? like winch one) and what next? As obviously it will take 2nd person to push trailer to the edge of slip before i can rely on gravity to pull it down but my concern is that on the slip it may shift center of mass toward end of trailer and it can end up quite bad (if it hits the ground). I was thinking about someone walking by the trailer and pushing/pulling it as required but it sounds bit risky.

davlacey

keep tension on the rope and it shouldnt tip back. do 2 loops with rope around your towbar that way u have more control and the boat wont run away on u. after u do it once or twice u be grand

MarcinG

thx.

tin79

If you have a decent two way winch on your trailer you can connect this to your tow hitch and ratchet the boat down the slip as you walk with it. That way the car stays stationary at the top of the slip as you walk down with the boat.

This works very well but is limited by time and the lenght of your strap.

MarcinG

tin79 wrote: »

If you have a decent two way winch on your trailer you can connect this to your tow hitch and ratchet the boat down the slip as you walk with it. That way the car stays stationary at the top of the slip as you walk down with the boat.

This works very well but is limited by time and the lenght of your strap.

Good idea but it is only rated 600Kg i guess that trailer with boat are heavier (anyone with experience?). and you can extend strap by lats say a towing rope (which btw i just found in the garage
Hmm it just crossed my mind to go with boat to fasaroe (last time i was there they used weighting bridge on the way in and out to find out how much stuff we left behind)

Ned_led16

My local slip way on the wrong tidal time - a 4whd would plough straight into the water! its like ice as the council havent treated it...... thats prob up untill 4hrs after low tide...


Try launching on high tide at Ringaskiddy! perfect place for it.... low gradient - steep and quiet....
I would launch my boat off a 1.0 fiesta there at thigh tide... no bother - theres no hill to climb!!

I wouldnt launch my boat off a 3 liter tdi 4 whd at low tide or within 2hrs of it at my local slip cause the van would end up in the water!

U tube the sh*t out of it!! thats what i did and now i can launch not a bother myself ...only learnt the last 3 months and actually if others help - they only get in the way now!!!

Practice practice practice!!! 1.6 is grand!!! Its not about the car its about your skill! sit at a slip way on a sunny afternoon and watch for 3hrs!

MarcinG

Ned_led16 wrote: »

Practice practice practice!!! 1.6 is grand!!! Its not about the car its about your skill! sit at a slip way on a sunny afternoon and watch for 3hrs!

thx all.

pedroeibar1

Fergal B’s post #2 is accurate.

Google ‘towing a caravan’ and there is much advice that is pertinent to boat towing, particularly on the importance of the load weight on the towbar. Also look-up the towing capability details for your car. Any tow heavier than 750kgs needs a braked trailer. Speed limit is 80kph when towing.

My boat (unladen) is 750kgs and I have no problems towing with a Freelander. Launching – I reverse onto the slip and put two blocks behind the trailer wheels. (Leave the car in first gear after turning off the engine). I then unhitch the trailer and tie a heavy rope to it, taking a couple of turns around the tow hitch on the car. Also run a long line from the boat to the shore. The angle of the slip causes the centre of gravity of the trailer to change, so I get someone to sit in the bow of the boat; they also are useful for fending off when the boat is in the water. (Someone walking beside the boat is useless and in a dangerous position). Remove the blocks from behind the trailer - place them behind the wheels of the car if it makes you feel more comfortable - and feed the rope out from around the tow hitch. The ratchet strap you mention will not work for this as it will foul on itself. Do it slowly, or the trailer will go to one side and drop a wheel over the edge of the slip (and you might find yourself on uTube) .

Dalkey Island / Sound – be careful off the south eastern tip of the Island (near the fort) because at the beginning of the ebb there can be a nasty overfall there, particularly when the wind is in the SE. There usually are other boats around there, (good place to fish as the current stirs up the bottom) keep them in view but do not necessarily follow them as they might be hire boats with novices.

All you need now is the summer!
P.

MarcinG

Thx a lot.
I actually launched boat on the sea first time today of greystones (Previously most of my friends were working on suitable days and i didn't dare to go on my own).
I launched it around 1-1,5h before highest tide and retrieve it about 3,5h after highest tide. No rope needed (either i was there previously on very very low water before or someone cleaned vegetation of the ramp - i saw someone using powerhose on 2nd slip way today).
All went superb apart from fishing We got couple of red gurnards (one particularly big i would say 35-40cm?) one cod and few small whitenings.
No mackerel in area? Only fish we kept was cod - and it was full of crabs but we were into feathers and stuff so maybe this is reason why we did not so well.

Ps for future I will always try to get 1-2 passengers with me so i guess trick with rope around hitch (funny enough my neighbor said same thing to me yesterday evening i guess 2 or 3 of us will easily manage it.

But i would keep away from dalkey (dries out completely on low tide)
and dun laoghaire (paid parking slipway very mossy and at strange angle on one pier and very narrow on other). i guess practice will show best way.
Thank you all once again.

fergal.b

Glad to hear all went well, as long as you make it back to tell the story it's a good days fishing.