Hauling a Cat22 on h23 trailer?

[C Jones]

I am going to loan a friend my h23 trailer to haul his Catalina 22 shoal keel boat. He has a 3/4 ton truck so thats no problem with towing or braking. I told him when he pulls it out of the water to block up to his shoal keel with 2x wood for this 50 mile trip from his old marina to my marina. Is this best or could he just let his swing keel down until it rests on the bunk my wing keel rests on? Which is the best for this short trip. Thanks Charles

 

[MrUnix]

Lower the keel

When towing a swing keel boat, you should lower the keel once the boat is on the trailer to relieve the tension on the cable. A couple of 2x's would probably work, but it might not relieve all the tension on the cable.

Cheers,
Brad

 

[Scott2]

I have an H23.5 trailer for sale if your friend is interested. Parting my boat out :-(

Scott

 

[C Jones]

Thanks Brad and Scott, He has found a Cat22 trailer for sail locally but the $4,000 cost is prohibitive at this time. They will not loan or rent it, he tried. I will tell him to buy some 2x12 lumber and shore up to his shoal keel. Worst case looks like $100 for the lumber cut into 24" pieces. No charge for my trailer. Scott, I called him and told him you had a trailer for sale but a round trip to Wi. from Texas at this time is not feasable with his work schedule. Thanks again, Charles

 

[MrUnix]

Finding a good used trailer for a reasonable price is a PITA! I just went through the same thing with a 17' inboard/outboard boat that I have, and I finally found one after looking for almost two years. Also, when I was looking at sailboats to replace our H27, I ran across a bunch of really nice, well equipped and very inexpensive boats that I would of loved to purchase, but they didn't have trailers. I actually kept an eye out for dirt cheap 'project' boats just to see if they had a decent trailer that I could use for them. I found a couple, but didn't act fast enough and they were sold by the time I was able to contact the owner. One was a 21 foot Macgregor that needed 'TLC', but had a brand new float-on aluminum tandem axle trailer.. guy wanted $1500.. he sold it about a 1/2 hour before I contacted him about it.

Moral of the story? Remain diligent, act swiftly!

Cheers,
Brad

 

[Claudia]

When towing a swing keel boat, you should lower the keel once the boat is on the trailer to relieve the tension on the cable. A couple of 2x's would probably work, but it might not relieve all the tension on the cable.

Cheers,
Brad

Pardon the hijack, but I assume this is what I should do when trailering my H260? It's a water ballast and I assume I should treat the centerboard as a "swing keel". The trailer is specific for the boat.
Sorry, I'm new to cruisers.

 

[MrUnix]

Pardon the hijack, but I assume this is what I should do when trailering my H260? It's a water ballast and I assume I should treat the centerboard as a "swing keel". The trailer is specific for the boat.
Sorry, I'm new to cruisers.

A swing keel is different from a centerboard.. swing keels are ballasted hunks of metal, usually many hundreds of pounds in weight and controlled by a steel cable attached to a winch. Centerboards are lighter structures, usually fiberglass over foam or wood. It wouldn't hurt to lower your centerboard onto a support when trailering, but I don't think any damage could be done to it if you leave it up. With a swing keel however, those hundreds of pounds are being supported by a wire cable, and when you bounce down the road, the swing keel will be bouncing as well, putting excessive stress on the cable, winch and the structure the winch is being supported by. Hit a big enough bump and you could snap the cable or damage the winch/support.. which is why you want to lower it and relieve the tension on the cable.

Cheers,
Brad

 

[Claudia]

A swing keel is different from a centerboard.. swing keels are ballasted hunks of metal, usually many hundreds of pounds in weight and controlled by a steel cable attached to a winch. Centerboards are lighter structures, usually fiberglass over foam or wood. It wouldn't hurt to lower your centerboard onto a support when trailering, but I don't think any damage could be done to it if you leave it up. With a swing keel however, those hundreds of pounds are being supported by a wire cable, and when you bounce down the road, the swing keel will be bouncing as well, putting excessive stress on the cable, winch and the structure the winch is being supported by. Hit a big enough bump and you could snap the cable or damage the winch/support.. which is why you want to lower it and relieve the tension on the cable.

Cheers,
Brad

Ah. Well, it might be a good enough idea to treat mine as a swing keel if it's safe to. IIRC the centerboard weighs around 100lbs and is hauled and held up by a rope. No use putting any more wear and tear on things than necessary.

Thanks for answering my question!