Safety Chains

[Nude up]

Golden rule number 2 never take the safety chain off till the boat is in the water at least half way

[blacklab99]

I've seen it twice at Hastings, both were with that boat latch ( not the boat catch which is positive locking) they were pulling out, ramp a bit bumpy, jumped the boat latch and off she came !!! ouch ( no safety chain connected). I totally rely on the boat catch, drive on, click, and drive out, never secured chain until in the parking bay. Those boat latches are a danger if you try to copy the boat catch, I suppose connecting the chain all the time is the safe thing to do, but as I said, that's what the boat catches are designed to do.
Dont know if that's what happened to old mate on post 1, but Geez, your heart would sink wouldn't it !

Col

[denis barden]

Guys whom dont want to get there feet wet-I see it all the time
A $30 pair of Gum Boots saves a lot of money

[frozenpod]

At any decent ramp you should never get your feet wet so that is no excuse.

[Nude up]

i am with frozen pod if you can not reach the winch or safety chain without getting your feet wet you are in to far.

[Yota]

Not on my setup.
6M fibreglass mono hull on a tandem trailer - to retrieve solo and drive on/off I need my trailer wheels closest to the draw bar just under water so the mud guard is above water (depending on the ramp angle)
That means the safety chain and winch handle are above water and I need to get my feet wet. Happy to do so.
Even in winter it’s get the job done and move on.
I’ve always launched solo and I’m usually as quick as anyone else.
I’m happy to learn an easier way but the way I do it I can confidently do/undo the chain and grab the winch handle and I’m in control. I’m not trying to keep my feet dry or reaching in any awkward way. I don’t think I’d ever rely on a mechanism to lock my boat on a trailer for any length of time.
Feel for this bloke in post 1 though. No matter how it happened it’s a crap result.

[frozenpod]

It sounds like you need a better adjusted or designed trailer as it sounds like your boat is too high.

There is an easier way. Back 3/4 of the way stop. Bloke in boat starts motor and puts in forward gear to keep the boat in place. Unhook safety chain and winch strap which feet stay dry then back down the rest of the way and reverse boat off the trailer.

Do the reverse whilst loading.

Back trailer in boat drives up then pull the boat partially out of the water. Hook on safety chain and winch strap. Stop motor and tilt up then drive the rest of the way up the ramp.

Costs zero extra time on retrieval and 30 seconds at most when launching.

[Yota]

Thanks for the tips I’ll have a good look at the setup, how it’s set up is from the trailer factory and I was told by the boat builder do dunk the trailer up to the 2nd wheels leaving the mud guard dry.
I reckon if I stopped any shorter the boat would be too high and it would fly of the rollers. I’d prefer to have more control.
But even taking my missus (50% of the time when I go out) I regard it as launching solo, I’d love to teach her trailer reversing and boat handling but she’s not confident and not interested and I don’t want anyone else to blame but myself if it goes wrong.
Maybe it’s just the style of trailer ?
But the boat and trailer do sit pretty low to the ground ?

[frozenpod]

Typically for a boat with a decent V for launching you want the rear chines about 2" under the water.

Then work out how far the car is from the water and go about 30cm shallower for retrieval.

[frozenpod]

As to how your boat is on the trailer, as a very rough guide, if you have a deep vee and don't have a pod typically the motor should touch the ground the trimmed all the way down on the trailer.

Generally the lower the boat the better they tow and easier to launch and retrieve.