hunter/macgregor/catalina?

[Dana Barlow,C&C 30' Mega,trailersailor]

Thanks for pic Ryan ,gives me a idea!

I have some flex in trailer when going down road over bumps that makes boat bow eye and trailer bow stop come together and then apart,I see two long braces running to each side of your keel,that my trailer dose not have!so I'm going to add some! dose your trailer have much flex?

 

[Ryan]

Trailer flex

Dana,I have had no flexing of my trailer at all. The thing is really strong. It is built out of U channel and has four cross braces. Rust is my biggest problem and on the two pieces of box tube the darn things rust from the inside out. This neccesitated an exspensive repair about two years ago with replaceing the box tube for tongue. Does your trailer have brakes on all four wheels? Mine does and they are a pain to maintain. Ryan

 

[Dana Barlow,C]

Brakes only one one axle & 12V elc

It's the way I got it,and they are 12V ,I had replaced them when I rebuilt trailer the same way,only as I was doing the rebuild along way from Fla. in a rush,28*& snow in VT at the time,trying to get boat home to fla. plus as soon as I moved it the front axle tube broke in 1/2,rusted out from the inside,and had to weld that up,1800miles + AOK and been working 4 years. I had been thinking about putting 4 wheel SS disk on,but the 12V's keep working,my Van has ABS plus the 12V control in cab. One axle brakes works OK only because my boat is only 4500lb. but I'd like 4W.

 

[Ben]

Echo, what sort of truck

How heavy is a C27, and what type of truck does it take to get that up the ramp? From the picture, it looks like a Chevy duelie, but which engine, 4 wheel drive or not? It looks like a boat that size would pose a challenge to any non-commercial truck, especially when the tires are trying to hold on to a wet ramp.

 

[Echo Gulf]

Chev Duelie

You're right, it's a Chev 3500 duelie. The engine is the 6.5l turbo diesel. The duel wheels give more than sufficient traction on even the steepest ramp, therefore no four wheel drive. In the past I used a Ford 3/4 ton with 460 engine and .410 gearing, it did the job but cost almost twice as much as the diesel for fuel when crossing the Rocky Mountains. One added plus for the duelie, is the tremendous stability they provide when traveling at hi-way speeds (100 - 110 km/h).The boat and trailer weigh in at 9000 lbs (according to the local truck scales) when loaded and equiped for a long trip.

 

[jimb23143]

If you want to be legal going down the road......

.... in most states without getting permits, you are limited to 8.5' of beam. I beleve that eliminates the Hunter 260, Ericson 25 and the C27. I was looking for the same thing as you my short list came down to: Catalina 25 wing keel(scarce and $'s), Seaward 25 ($'s), and the ODay 25 center board.You might get by towing over the legal limits but I wouldn't want the additional liability in the case of an accident. Also I have heard in certain areas the state police have come to know which boats are in violation (ie the H260 in Missouri).As a reference point my ODay 25 weighs 7,200 lbs with a trailer with equipment. I believe the C25 is a little heavier and the Seaward 25 is some what lighter. You need a beast.Also don't count on lauching this type of boat and rigging it in less than 3 or 4 hours. If you just have a bare bones boat you MAY be able to do it faster. But if you have a roller furling, bimini, lines lead aft, all the basic sailing controls it will take awhile. Hope this helpsJim

 

[Tim Welsh]

towing my hunter 34

I tow my Hunter 34 myself with a 1 ton dodge dually and my insurance company approves it when I do tow.

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Where's the keel?

.

 

[Tim Welsh]

It's on there

It's a shoal draft 34 4'3" draft weighs 100lbs more than your keel. On the trailer I was at 14' until I moved the roller furling around and I was right at 13'6". 12'2" wide if you go from the widest stancion at the top

 

[jimb23143]

Your insurance company might approve.....

....but your Secretary of State won't unless you are getting a permit.

 

[Ryan]

Echo gulf a question

I trailer my Ericson 25+ all over and do not get a permit. It is not a problem, but I do understand, that I do this at my own risk. Do you get a permit or buy an annual one for moving your Catalina 27 around? How long from the time you arrive at the ramp, to the time you go in the water?

 

[Tim Welsh]

Permit

I go to the state highway dept and tell them the route I am going to take and as long as there is no construction it cost me 10 bucks for a permit. When towing out of state you have to check with each individual state for seperate permits.

 

[Echo Gulf]

Permit!

I don't know if I should admit to this on an open forum but, whenever I've phoned about a permit (notice I'm not revealing the location) the individual I dealt with has suggested I not bother. It appears as if the concern is more with comercial vehicles rather than with boats that are only over by a few inches. But, for the pennies it costs for a permit its not worth the risk of a stiff fine. With at least one or two experienced assistants we can be in the water within an hour of arriving at the ramp. Some one in an earlier post suggested 3 to 4 hours for a fully equiped boat to be rigged, this may be true if it's being done for the first time but up here it's a routine procedure that soon becomes second nature. Yes we are equiped with roller furling, dodger, lines lead aft, etc.

 

[Ashley]

It amazes me

that so many people are scared of permits.Just more marketing propaganda spinning out of control across the internet I guess. FWIW, some states, including NC have a max limit of 96 inches (that's 8 feet not 8.5) so yes in those states the catalina 250's are illegal too. *yks Seriously though, It's a trivial process. Usually a one page piece of paper if that, and a nominal fee or just do it online. I can't imagine somebody would turn down a boat that they wanted because they were scared of getting a permit to tow it. I'm willing to bet that 99.9999999% of all the cops out there could care less if your boat was 5 inches over the max width. Maybe the dmv or a state trooper, but they would have to be pretty dang bored to go harrassing somebody over 5 inches ;D. More likely have to worry about some starving young lawyer if you get in an accident, so just get the permit and be done with it.

 

[Ashley]

The preceding post

was not directed at anyone in this thread just the permit hype in general.

 

[Echo Gulf]

Right on Ashley

Whether handled in an office, online, or by phone, permits are no more annoying than the occassional mosquito bite.

 

[jimb23143]

One Last Word on Permits - Ashley, Echo

Ashley and EchoThis is what the original poster from Ohio wrote - "We will be using it in all waters except the deepest blue, for extended weekends, and week long water RV excursions. salt, fresh and trailer it everywhere we can".You guys are right, if you are hauling your boat back and forth from the marina a permit is no big deal. But if you want to do what this guy wants to do it's different. What this guy is looking for is the same as what I was looking for.If I want to go to Lake Michigan I would need a permit for Illinois and Michigan. If I want to go to Kentucky Lake I would need another one for Kentucky. If I want to go to Lake of the Ozarks I need one for MO. If its lake Erie I need permits for Indiana and Ohio. If I want to go the the Gulf of Mexico I need permits for Kentucky, Tennesse Alabama and Florida. I have had my boat in 5 different states in one season. Also the permit Ashley refers to for North Carolina for $12 actually is valid for only 10 days and the route must be specifed at the time of application and the route and adhered to. Travel is restricted to Monday through Saturday during daylight hours. An annual permit cost $100. As far as enforcement I had a dealer tell me (guy that wants to sell big boats) that the MO State Troopers know the Hunter 260 and watch for them. I am sure it varies by jurisdiction. As far as internet hype - this guy asked for the biggest trailerable boat he can take anywhere and people start suggesting Hunter 34's and C27's. It would be intellectually dishonest not to tell him he will need permits for these. If you review my post you will see that I did not say it would be hard or that it would be expensive or that it would take along time, just that one would be needed to be legal. And if he wants to run without a permit that is fine with me too, but if it were me I would want to know the boat requires permits before I bought it so I could make an informed decision.Jim BuhnerkempeODay 25 - 8' beam

 

[Rick Macdonald]

Echo Gulf - Canadian, eh?

I see you are in Cold Lake? I live in Calgary. I've had my Hunter 23.5 for two seasons now. I keep it at Gleniffer Lake (on Red Deer River/Dickson Dam). I took a sailing course on Ghost lake (a San Juan 24, as I recall).Eventually I imagine I'll tow the boat to other lakes around the province and would just like to ask your recommendations. Sylvan lake is only half an hour northeast of Gleniffer Lake.BTW, were all your comments about towing permits referring to travelling in the US? The H23.5 beam is 8'4". I towed it from Vancouver when I bought it and up to the lake without even thinking about a permit.

 

[Jim]

overwidth towing

As someone who has towed overwide load commercialy let me just say that you are cutting off you nose to spit your face by not getting a permit when needed.Yes 99.9 percent of the time you will be ok but if there is a problem they can have very serious consiquences.A non commercal user still has to meet the legal requirements for size (wide and long as well as weight)Some one mentioned that N.C. has a 96 inch width,double check but on intersate highways the width is 102 inches but states can and do restrict state and local roads.Your tow vehicle has to be legaly capable of towing the weigth of boat and trailer (boat weigth is actual not mfg dry weight)and be at or below mfg spec for "gross" weight.There are also requirements for wide load signage that differ from state to state and road (state vs interstate)as well as ecsort vehicle requirements.there was picture of some one towing a big boat in the middle of a bridge. For what its worth it was overwidth with out signs and was driving down the middle of the road. It was over weight for vehicle capacity (check mfh spec) and in all likely hood the driver did not have a license to drive legaly because of the weigth. Despite what he may think that his insurace company OK it,if they where aware of the exact circumstance I doubt they would have approved it.My point is he and thousands of others do this everday and have no problems but if there had been a problem the tickets go on and on and on with some pretty heavy duty fines.You automaticaly have issuse even if the accident was not your fault and a state trooper has a legal obligation to write you up.(locals have more leeway)thinks about being in court with a lawyer asking you why you did not have any of the reguired permits ? YOU LOSE ! Get the needed permits and be done with it and enjoy boating not beating the system !

 

[Ashley]

Jim B.

As previously stated, I was not directing this at anyone in particular. The "hype" I referred to is the fact that this question "Hunter/Macgregor/Catalina, which one should I get?" pops up on various sailing forums at least once every month or so and probably twice that frequency during sailing season. One of the first responses is always "Hunters require a permit! Don't get one, the government will take your children!! Immediately followed by several posts such as "Hunter is so stupid, what were they thinking?" etc.etc. (ok the children comment was an exageration, but you get my drift)Then the info just gets parroted around the net.To me the whole permit issue is badly misrepresented. The fear was instigated by at least one if not 2 manufacturers trying to improve their position in the market and was just perpetuated across the internet. I agree it is more of a hassle than not needing one at all and a potential buyer should know the issues involved. I have towed a large trailer (not boat) around the country and 10's of thousands of miles and I can tell you without a doubt there are a lot of issues that should be addressed when trying to tow a large load, getting a permit is trivial to me. Crossing many states would probably be a pain, and if I had to do that on a regular basis to sail I would definetely rethink my purchase. If only once or twice a season, get the 10 day permit and figure it into the cost of your trip. I figured the annual permit into the cost of ownership. I am sure most if not all states will allow you to apply online and mail you the permit. Just part of preparing for the trip.I don't know about the interstate width limit. 102 sounds good to me, but I did check with the local DOT before making my decision. The annual rate is $100 in NC and they are apparently more expensive than most. I did check VA and SC also. I can't remember the exact amounts for annual permits but they were considerably less. I have heard alot of 260 owners say they don't bother with permits. That is their choice. I have also seen a picture of someone towing a 260 with a 4dr buick sedan or something similar. Remember the saying, "If your buddy jumped off a bridge...." UMMM no thanks. See above comment about previous towing experience.I agree with Jim, 99% of time you won't need it, but it's better to have one and not need it than to need one and not have it. I apologize for typos etc. Staying up for 72 hours does funny things to your brain or whats left of it.PS: For the record, I have absolutely nothing against Catalinas or Macgregors I think they are all fine boats.