Can't get boat back onto trailer (Bow eye sits 1" ABOVE trailer bow stop)

[Carl Wonderful]

-Catalina 22.
-Regular bunk style trailer. (1 bunk on each side).
-"V" guides for the keel that are bigger in back and come to a few inches in front.
-Do have an extension on the trailer that gives like 7' elongated, but when I tried it, it bottomed out on the cement and I had to stop.
-Regular winch on trailer. No power, no special features just a trailer winch. (Think it should be pulling from below also, while now its pulling from above? Not sure why any of it is like it is?)

I posted the photo of the boat as it was when I bought it from owner late last year... so you can see where the bow eye is situated on the trailer. I don't know how he got it up to there ever.. or why it is like that?

So I knew this time would come and I wouldn't know what to do. When I took the boat off the trailer and into the lake, the bow eye got caught up on the bow stop and was holding the whole boat up by it for 10 seconds of so until I went far enough in the water to get the whole boat off of the darn thing. My truck was pretty far into the water at this point but was only way I could figure out to get the bow eye "unhooked" from the bow stop. I figured this is what would happen here too and It unfortunately was. Seems fine but I need to change either my technique or my actual bow eye placement or maybe move the bow stop up on the trailer... or get a new trailer cause it ain't gonna be easy on the trailer I have to do that.

Am I missing something or doing something wrong... or is it the bow eye that sit right on top of the bow stop that is the whole problem and just an impossible situation as it is right now? I attempted to get the boat on the trailer and the bow eye was like 2' lower than the bow stop and didn't seem even close to getting up there without trying to pull the boat up that whole way, out of the water, with the winch to force it up? Didn't really want to have to do or try that until I knew I might need to.

The ramp is not particularly steep... I'd say its a normal angled ramp that most everyone else uses for their sailboats. There is also a ramp that is much steeper at the marina but that one looks scary and I actually..... Im thinking I might need an even LESS steep ramp to make my trailer work? There might be a less steep ramp on the other side of the the lake if anyone thinks that would be best? (I can flip my trailer hitch on my truck (u haul) so its in the higher (~6" higher..?) and maybe the trailer wont bottom out on the way into the ramp but I'm not sure this extension would even help my situation? Might even make it worse...? cant tell...

If I back any further in the water to get the bow eye close to the bow stop....the trailer will be so far in the boat will be completely floating on the water and not really touching any of the bunks.

So i don't know what the answer here is to make it work as it. The trailer is illegally parked at the boat ramp and I need to get the boat out in a few days or it'll prob be towed out?

any insight would be greatly appreciated!!





I

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I'm a little confused on how it's supposed to be but this doesnt look that bad in the pic. I've heard of many C22 owners short stopping to make the boat move forward or back on the trailer. You might be able to back it up, put some tension on the winch line (with it properly routed above or below the roller) and then short stop it to move it forward again. Once again, I might not have a thorough understanding of what is and what is supposed to happen

 

[Carl Wonderful]

I'm a little confused on how it's supposed to be but this doesnt look that bad in the pic. I've heard of many C22 owners short stopping to make the boat move forward or back on the trailer. You might be able to back it up, put some tension on the winch line (with it properly routed above or below the roller) and then short stop it to move it forward again. Once again, I might not have a thorough understanding of what is and what is supposed to happen

Sorry for the confusion. That is just a photo of before I put it in the water. That's a photo of the boat was when I bought it late last last year. Its now in the water and I cant get it out cause see how the bow eye sits right on top of the bow stop.

 

[pgandw]

I am assuming that the boat/trailer combination is new to you. I also assume that the trailer was correctly to your boat at one time.

My guess is that the bow eye should be below the bow v-stop (roller on your trailer). You want the bow of the boat held down while trailering, not lifted up. Don't count on the previous owner to have done it right. If there is no way for the winch strap to feed below the bow roller, I would think about replacing the roller with a v-stop. Or adjust the winch stand - in the photo there appear to be plenty of u-bolts holding in its current configuration. On my Mariner (19ft), I have a safety chain straight down from the bow eye to prevent the bow bouncing up as well as the winch tight.

To get there, you are going to lift/jack the hull near the bow an inch or 2 to free the bow eye. A strong back might do it. To launch or retrieve the boat, the stern has to be floating with the water taking the weight, not the bunks. You cannot power launch most sailboats from a bunk type trailer because the bunks and boat after section curve up. Planing power boats have straight lines for the after third of the hull.

Finally, do not pass go until you have a set of "PVC goal posts" on your trailer. You can pay me after you try retrieving your boat in a significant crosswind. I learned this the hard way.

Perhaps some other Cat 22 owners can give you better advice. There is a Catalina 22 National Sailing Association - Blog. I know the Mariner Class Association has an active and helpful forum.

Fred W
Stuart Mariner 19 Sweet P

 

[jssailem]

Just thinking about this issue.

The bow eye will always be at a fixed height from the water. It seems that you need to get the trailer lower in the water. The steeper ramp may be the solution. Yes the boat will be floating above the trailer bunks. As you pull the trailer forward the boat should follow in line and settle in the proper place. I would have a helper at the boat as you pull the truck & trailer forward to guide the boat on to the trailer.

I have seen several trailers with PVC poles to keep the stern in alignment as the boat is pulled from the water.

 

[Carl Wonderful]

Just thinking about this issue.

The bow eye will always be at a fixed height from the water. It seems that you need to get the trailer lower in the water. The steeper ramp may be the solution. Yes the boat will be floating above the trailer bunks. As you pull the trailer forward the boat should follow in line and settle in the proper place. I would have a helper at the boat as you pull the truck & trailer forward to guide the boat on to the trailer.

I have seen several trailers with PVC poles to keep the stern in alignment as the boat is pulled from the water.

If I can manage to get the 7' extension on my trailer to not bottom out... I can then back the bunks way into the ramp and my truck will still be safely just in the water a bit. So at this point the bunks will be like 1' under the water even at their front/highest point. I would just get those bunks as deep as they need to go, until I can just pull/float the boat up and get the bow eye on top of the bow stop. Then winch it tight...then just pull the truck forward? Is this my bets bet?

Pretty sure it will still be lifting the boat up just by the eye for a bit, but I guess it can handle it. It handled it when I put the boat in so....Just worried that putting the trailer in too far the trailer might get stuck of fall off a cliff at the back of the ramp?

Any thoughts and am I correct about my thinking here at all?

 

[pgandw]

Put a tongue jack wheel on the extension to support it. Also, when attached to your tow vehicle on level ground, the boat trailer should be level - neither tongue up or down. Raise/lower the hitch ball as necessary to make it so - there are numerous models of hitch bars to do just that.

The photo is of Sweet P ready to launch. Note bow eye is below roller, trailer is level, and there is a tongue jack wheel for moving trailer without being towed. I had to install a 6" rise bar on my tow hitch to get the trailer level with the Palisade. In case you are wondering, the carpet on the wheel fender are to prevent the hull from banging when trailering - the clearance is that tight for easier launching. And the stern trailer roller doesn't support anything except the bow during launch and retrieval. Lastly, photo is pre-goal posts. I learned of the need during retrieval on this trip.

Fred W
Stuart (ODay) Mariner 19 Sweet P

 

[...3TacksontheWater]

On a Catalina 22 your bow eye should be several inches above the bow chock. I suspect that you have a misaligned bow roller and that needs to come up a bit to help raise your hull as you winch the boat in. As others have mentioned you need to basically float your boat over your bunk boards but as you snug the boat to the chock, it should be lifted a bit by the roller so that you can winch it up tho the chock.

George

 

[jssailem]

a misaligned bow roller

I think that may be the issue. The image he posted does not show a “Bow Roller” on the trailer.

 

[Indysailor]

I think an extension will do the trick, and if you add a wheel to it, I suggest one with an inflatable wheel because they handle typical ramp pavement better.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I would flip your hitch to elevate the tongue. Using a wheel on your extension while the trailer is attached to your vehicle puts a ton of upward pressure on your extension. Unless you have a chain or strap to connect it to your tow vehicle, a wheel is a bad idea.

If you need to lift your bow, you can throw a piece of foam on the ground, lay on your back and push up with your legs. I've done this on the stern of a boat.

 

[...3TacksontheWater]

This is how my bow eye sits on the trailer:

 

[dLj]

This is how my bow eye sits on the trailer:
View attachment 239394

I'm not seeing anything particularly wrong with that position. Am I missing something?

dj

Oh - just realized that was not the OP posting and that's a photo of a well placed bow eye and winch... so yeah. I am missing something... not the first time...

 

[Timm R Oday25]

There are several aspects of launching involved here. From my experience , the steeper the ramp angle the easier launching and retrieving is going to be . I would not compare launching a particular sailboat with any other boat ..
We use a 20’ extension ,2” Steel tube with 1/4” wall . Heavy and cumbersome , however this allows me to get the trailer completely under the boat . Depending on the ramp , my rear tires of the truck still get wet .
Yes , the extension scrapes , makes a rather horrible noise . I added a caster wheel that lifts up and is held up by the same pin that holds it down when being used

 

[Indysailor]

I would flip your hitch to elevate the tongue. Using a wheel on your extension while the trailer is attached to your vehicle puts a ton of upward pressure on your extension. Unless you have a chain or strap to connect it to your tow vehicle, a wheel is a bad idea.

If you need to lift your bow, you can throw a piece of foam on the ground, lay on your back and push up with your legs. I've done this on the stern of a boat.

I have launched dozens of boats using a launch wheel. You have to support the connection where extension and trailer meet. This is not uncommon at all.

 

[LLoyd B]

An extension added to the trailer would allow you to push the trailer out deeper and settle the boat onto it. Then after having done that you would have to pull the trailer back out of the water. Many ramps are set up for ski boats which assume that the boats can be slid up onto the trailer that is partially or even totally submerged.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I have launched dozens of boats using a launch wheel. You have to support the connection where extension and trailer meet. This is not uncommon at all.

Yes but in this case, it's bottoming out without a wheel. It sounds like it's hitting the apex at top of the ramp. I've had this happen on an unloaded trailer that was not bowing in the middle. It ground to a halt, I told the new owner and he said go for it so I hit the gas. Chicago ramps are STEEP!!

 

[Indysailor]

Yes but in this case, it's bottoming out without a wheel. It sounds like it's hitting the apex at top of the ramp. I've had this happen on an unloaded trailer that was not bowing in the middle. It ground to a halt, I told the new owner and he said go for it so I hit the gas. Chicago ramps are STEEP!!

I have encountered this at the top of a ramp where it transitions to the steep part, so I block the trailer at the waters edge, then attach the extension. Use a safety cable too, of course.

 

[ShawnL]

On my '72 Catalina 22, I have to back my truck into the water until I hear the exhaust going glug-glug-glug. That's mainly from experience from my ramp. My wife is always telling me I'm going too far into the water, but that's what what works there. Then we winch the boat up until it's tight. Then I keep cranking -- I have a strap-winch and I know once it gets under serious tension, it'll stretch some. The winch strap goes over the bow roller (as does yours) and needs to be as tight as I can make it without risking breaking things. Then I go back to the cab and pull out slowly while my wife makes sure that the boat is loading straight-ish.

It can be kind of tough to get it loaded straight because you really need to float the boat onto the trailer, and any current, wind, etc. can make it move a little. Once we're mostly out of the water, we do a quick check. If the winch line has stretched too much, or we're too much off-center, I back down and reset. We only put in and take out once a year, so I try to time those days when there's minimal activity at the boat ramp.