:: :: Does any one successfully launch and retrieve their boat
Our only choice on Maui is to trailer launch and retrieve. There are
no Travel lifts or Dry sail hoists. We have two 2 x 12 boards that
sandwich the keel support and guide the keel into the proper position
with the help of two 3/4" PVC guide pipes connected back to the aft
hull supports. Instead of a front guide wheel we have attached a
"sacrificial" 4x6 timber under the tongue that allows the tongue to
slide up and down the ramp and yet keep the tongue low to compencate
for the ramp angle. With a 50' 3/4" nylon line between the truck and
trailer, we slide the trailer down the ramp until the rear hull
supports are under water, pull the boat unto the trailer. We then
connect lines from the forward part of the trailer frame, up, to the
primary winches and suck the boat up, tight to the bow stop. Then we
haul her out and re connect to the reciever hitch and "viola". Our
hauls and launches usually take about ten minutes.
It's all in the organizing.
Aloha
Lono