I recently bought my very first boat of any kind, an O'day 25, and have decided to keep it on a trailer in a dry slip area of a local marina. No need to step the mast, just move it about 50 yards to the ramp and launch. The trailer I bought has not yet been mated to the boat and the trailer has a series of rollers along each side that self adjust and hold the boat vertical. This is a swing keel boat and I guess the keel stub will sit on a padded wooden base plate along the bottom of the trailer. Should the roller system take all of the weight or is it okay to have the keel take most of the weight? Is the boat's keel stub made to take any weight while on a trailer? Any commets would be appreciated as the boat is in for a bottom job and I have a week to sort it out. Don't want to do something dumb -- too nice a boat to screw it up.
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It's the opposite
King - Congratulations your new boat! Best of luck with it. Those side rollers should be used only for light support, to balance the boat on the trailer, and to keep it from falling over. You **WANT** the majority of the weight to be resting on the keel. If there is too much weight on the rollers or they are mispositioned, they will press in on the hull and deform it. Over time the deformation will become permanent. Your O'25 has a solid, non-cored hull so it will flex a bit if too much weight is on the rollers. Minor flexing won't do immediate critical damage such a delaminating or cracking the core but you really don't want the rollers to take much weight. I think many if not most folks have bunks instead of rollers for their sailboats to evenly distribute the side loads. I have the same type of roller-type trailer as you and find they help me get the boat on and off the trailer more easily and without damaging the bottom paint. FYI, take a look at the keel rollers that support the (what else?) keel. If you have an opportunity to adjust them try to make sure they evenly support the keel. Also, I think the harder amber colored keel rollers are much better choice than the black rubber ones, despite the extra cost. The weight of the keel will create flat spots in the black rollers and make it significanlty harder to roll the keel on and off. I'm not trying to spend your money for you, but since you will use the trailer each time you go it it could make a big difference to your boating experience. If you only launch and recover once a season like me (moored) it's not a big a deal. I wish I had used the amber rollers when I replaced them last season. Regards, Brad
King - Congratulations your new boat! Best of luck with it. Those side rollers should be used only for light support, to balance the boat on the trailer, and to keep it from falling over. You **WANT** the majority of the weight to be resting on the keel. If there is too much weight on the rollers or they are mispositioned, they will press in on the hull and deform it. Over time the deformation will become permanent. Your O'25 has a solid, non-cored hull so it will flex a bit if too much weight is on the rollers. Minor flexing won't do immediate critical damage such a delaminating or cracking the core but you really don't want the rollers to take much weight. I think many if not most folks have bunks instead of rollers for their sailboats to evenly distribute the side loads. I have the same type of roller-type trailer as you and find they help me get the boat on and off the trailer more easily and without damaging the bottom paint. FYI, take a look at the keel rollers that support the (what else?) keel. If you have an opportunity to adjust them try to make sure they evenly support the keel. Also, I think the harder amber colored keel rollers are much better choice than the black rubber ones, despite the extra cost. The weight of the keel will create flat spots in the black rollers and make it significanlty harder to roll the keel on and off. I'm not trying to spend your money for you, but since you will use the trailer each time you go it it could make a big difference to your boating experience. If you only launch and recover once a season like me (moored) it's not a big a deal. I wish I had used the amber rollers when I replaced them last season. Regards, Brad
K
King
Keel info
Brad, thanks for the info. I checked with the service guy at the marina and his advice is the same as yours. I worked a deal to have them mate the boat and trailer after the bottom job. We'll be pulling the boat from the water each time we use it as the ramp is close by and hopefully easy to use -- but that may be another story once I get into launching and retrieving the boat.
Brad, thanks for the info. I checked with the service guy at the marina and his advice is the same as yours. I worked a deal to have them mate the boat and trailer after the bottom job. We'll be pulling the boat from the water each time we use it as the ramp is close by and hopefully easy to use -- but that may be another story once I get into launching and retrieving the boat.
Dry-Storage vs Wet
I too have a trailerable O'Day 25 (1976 model). My trailer is a very good trailer, and I had originally planned on keeping it in my driveway. Once I got home, and found the trouble it is to reset the mast, I decided on dry-storage. Our marina's dry-storage is much like yours, close to the ramp, and no need to unstep the mast. However, I quickly discovered that backing that huge trailer (my trailer is a little over 30' long) into the area assigned was almost as much trouble as stepping the mast. Plus, getting the boat on and off the trailer is a bigger task than it sounds as well. The cost at my marina for a wet slip instead of dry storage was a aabout 2.5 times (a little under $2000 for the year for wet slip vs a little under $800 for dry storage), but we bit the bullet and went for it. 2 years later, I think it's one of the better choices I've made about the boat. I don't know where you are, but here in North TX we can sail year 'round. Of course, during the winter, it's less "assured" on a given weekend. But, we definitely get more use out of our boat because it's slipped. A number of times we've been visiting with family, or talking with friends while out to eat, and have heard "We'd like to go sailing with you sometime". It's so nice to be able to say "how about now?" and be on the boat motoring out of the marina 30 minutes later. So, we now use our trailer to move the boat to the coast, when the urge hits us. As far as the rest of the advice here, it's right on the money. We have bunkboards as well as keel support. The keel support holds most of the weight, but I would frankly feel uncomfortable with rollers instead of bunkboards (I like the added "friction" driving down the road). In your situation though, rollers would probably suit you better.
I too have a trailerable O'Day 25 (1976 model). My trailer is a very good trailer, and I had originally planned on keeping it in my driveway. Once I got home, and found the trouble it is to reset the mast, I decided on dry-storage. Our marina's dry-storage is much like yours, close to the ramp, and no need to unstep the mast. However, I quickly discovered that backing that huge trailer (my trailer is a little over 30' long) into the area assigned was almost as much trouble as stepping the mast. Plus, getting the boat on and off the trailer is a bigger task than it sounds as well. The cost at my marina for a wet slip instead of dry storage was a aabout 2.5 times (a little under $2000 for the year for wet slip vs a little under $800 for dry storage), but we bit the bullet and went for it. 2 years later, I think it's one of the better choices I've made about the boat. I don't know where you are, but here in North TX we can sail year 'round. Of course, during the winter, it's less "assured" on a given weekend. But, we definitely get more use out of our boat because it's slipped. A number of times we've been visiting with family, or talking with friends while out to eat, and have heard "We'd like to go sailing with you sometime". It's so nice to be able to say "how about now?" and be on the boat motoring out of the marina 30 minutes later. So, we now use our trailer to move the boat to the coast, when the urge hits us. As far as the rest of the advice here, it's right on the money. We have bunkboards as well as keel support. The keel support holds most of the weight, but I would frankly feel uncomfortable with rollers instead of bunkboards (I like the added "friction" driving down the road). In your situation though, rollers would probably suit you better.
K
King
Dry storage
With reference to the response from H Parsons, thanks for your comments about dry vs wet storage. We're in Florida and this time of year just dangling your feet in the water for an hour will result in green slime between your toes. So for the moment I'm going to try the trailer thing. I can see where the launching and retrieving could be a hassle and if it gets to be too much I'll bite the bullet and go for a wet slip.
With reference to the response from H Parsons, thanks for your comments about dry vs wet storage. We're in Florida and this time of year just dangling your feet in the water for an hour will result in green slime between your toes. So for the moment I'm going to try the trailer thing. I can see where the launching and retrieving could be a hassle and if it gets to be too much I'll bite the bullet and go for a wet slip.
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