launching a catalina 22

[Glenn4357]

Recently purchase a 1985 catalina 22. We are experiencing a drought and water level at launch area is on 30 inches. How do I get the boat off the trailer?

 

[Jay20651]

go deep

Hello, Do you have a tounge extension on your trailer? Does the ramp end at 30", or can you, or someone back it in a little further with a taller tow vehicle? Is there a deeper launch on the lake? The water level on the lake that I sail, varies through out the season. By knowing the deeper launches, I can keep my boat in the water a little longer than most. I also measure the water depth on both sides of the dock at the launch. There is always one side that is deeper. Hope this helps a little. Take care, Jay

 

[Captain 9330]

Got an Air Pump?

An old trick for getting things lower to go under bridges and such is to let air out of the tires on the trailer. If you do that at the top of the ramp before backing you can probably lower the trailer a couple inches before you get down to about 10 lbs of air. If that doesn't do the trick, I have mounted a step on my winch tower on the trailer to work the winch with dry feet on a long ramp- I have stood on the step before and lifted the bow pulpit and muscled the boat off the bunks. Just be sure to crank up the swing keel before trying it or you aren't going to budge it. Getting it back on the trailer is easy if you have a heavy nylon strap for the winch instead of cable but it takes some muscle to crank it in and you will need to use the bumps on the highway to snug the boat forward into the bow wedge on the trailer. Oh, last thing and VERY IMPORTANT: pump up the trailer tires again as soon as you get the trailer out of the water so you don't forget and end up losing tires or worse.

 

[Glenn Hardesty]

Thanks

Thanks for your tip, I have it in the water!!

 

[Michael]

been there!

As my area of the country has been in a drought the past seven years I am getting used to low water levels and poor launch ramp conditions. On occasion I've resorted to the following: I back the trailer in as far a prudent (using the tongue extender) and affix a stout tow line to the trailer and connect that to the tow vehicle. Now the dangerous part! I then carefully disconnect the trailer hitch from the ball on the tow vehicle, being careful to watch out for sudden upward movement of the trailer so I don't take a hit! Since the boat is partially floating things don't move as much as you would expect "on the dry". Usually the ramp has leveled off where the trailer is, but if there is still some slope I put a brick behind the trailer wheels to prevent rolling first. I then lift up the tongue of the trailer, therefore lowering the back end of the trailer just enough to make it a bit easier for the boat to clear the cradle. It doesn't take that much lift at the tongue, really. It helps to have a helper to give the boat a push once the trailer tongue is lifted. Once the boat is off the trailer it is usually easy enough to reconnect the trailer to the ball hitch. The tow line is only there for safety sake--I wouldn't want to take a chance on the trailer leaving me without saying good-bye! One time I did have the trailer roll a bit away from the truck and I just used the tow line to pull the trailer out far enough to easily chock it and reattach the hitch. Not my favorite task, but it works in a pinch.