Loading C-22 on trailer

C22_Lady_OH · Jul 26, 2011

I actually loaded in the dark tonight for the first time! Just thought I would brag a little, sorry, it was a W for the home team. I wanted to add a pic of my rig. I have rollers and it actually loads real easy if I line up well. My bow eye comes up just below to bottom roller and I do a half turn with the winch to pop it up and over.

The trailer is submerged just enough that the very front rollers are breaking the surface. My truck, Toyota Tacoma factory 4x4, is backed in so the tailpipe is "snorkling" as my crew put it tonight. The bad part is I haven't figured out how to stay dry while I connect the hook and crank it in.

Bilbo · Jul 27, 2011

slosacco said:
Watercolors, thanks for the info

When i bring the boat over the trailer the bow eye is about a foot lower then the winch and my bow rub rail is touching the bow bumper on the trailer. I use the winch to lift the bow a little but scared to apply to much pressure on the eye bolt.

I added the extra bunks due to the keel was very close to the trailer axel and didn't have much room to lower the keel to rest when transporting the boat.

This foot of difference in height is the issue as you know. It translates to the boat being a foot back from the bow stop when you are out.
I don't think that it would hurt the bow eye to lift the boat 's bow a bit with the winch/bow eye when the boat is still in the water. Remember that if the boat is floating and you lift the bow that way, some of the weight is displaced to the stern. If you are scared of hurting the bow eye area and it's an earlier single bolt type, then check out Catalina Direct for the improved, reinforced one.
http://www.catalinadirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=1882&ParentCat=17

Another way to lift the bow a few more inches or take strain off the bow eye/winch would be to put a person's weight at the very stern of the boat while you hook up. I wouldn't try to pull the boat out with that person back there though. It's not safe for them and it would remove tongue weight from the trailer....aka-less wheel traction on a RWD vehicle.

Ken · Jul 27, 2011

raise the winch

Another thing you can do, (can't believe I forgot this) go to a metal shop and have a 4" piece of square tubing the length of the winch pad surface. Bolt it to or have it welded to the winch post pad then bolt the winch on top of it. This was one of the mods many users of the C22 trailers made to raise the winch.

You could have the ends angled just a bit, not only would this look better but it would remove the sharp ends.

Aldo · Aug 2, 2011

Slosacco: I used to have a similar problem at a ramp that we used to use. What I did was made the "A", that holds the winch, forward about 4 inches when I was pulling the boat out of the water. Then, once the boat was out of the water, I moved the "A" frame back into it's regular position, and this left the boat in the right spot. I only needed a few long bolts with 3/4 inch heads to do this. If you are interested reply, and I'll take a few photos for you.
A few years ago, Baltimore County opened a new park near our marina and the park has a double ramp. Since then, our problem went away and we no longer needed to move the "A" forward as I described above. This leads me to conclude that it is the angle of the ramp that may be creating this problem. Also, I was only about 5 or 6 inches away from the "V" in the bow when I had this problem. From your photos, I can see that your boat is much further away than that.
Our trailer does have a bow roller on it, and I do use it to help pull the boat out of the water. I can get the boat within a few inches of the "V" on the trailer using the winch.
Another thing that I want to mention is that I was planning on getting a hitch that would lower the ball by a few more inches. This would improve the angle and make the trailer more parallel to the water. (But my wife just bought another sailboat, so I have that boat to work on now and not my C-22).
You will figure it out if you are persistent.

Aldo

watercolors II · Aug 2, 2011

bow guard

I drew a picture of your situation as you described it with having a very steep ramp and the boat hitting the trailer guard up so high.

The picture is not very pretty!

I stated before that the trailer must be deep enough for the water to cover the front of the bunks. Look at the illustration, if the bunks are not deep enough the resistance on the bottom of the hull becomes greater as you pull the hull further forward because of the curvature of the hull bottom becoming deeper and wider.

You said you're going to lower the bow guard and I said no! You are right, the guard needs to be lower but, that creates problems of the bow eye trying to ride over the top of it when it’s below the eye. My drawing shows that as the hull comes forward and up that guard is going to be a problem. Raising the winch and the guard does not look like it will work?

watercolors II · Aug 2, 2011

forgot to attach the drawing.

txtowman · Aug 10, 2011

I use the boat on a rope method with the jack lowered all the way and it works great,
I had the same problem.

txtowman · Aug 11, 2011

Yes I use a 20 foot tow strap, the hard part is rigging the wheel on the jack so it does not swivel and rolls straight down the ramp. This method requires some practice pulling out slowly and smoothly, a challenge with my diesel dually 5 speed manual trans. I never think to take pictures because I am so excited about getting on the water.

The best thing you can do is to get the boat lower on the trailer and adjust the bunks to have the bow lower than the stern, I did this also and it really helped.

I am in the process of lowering it even more which involves some cutting and welding fabrication.

Is there enough demand for me to make some custom low rider trailers for these boats?

OldCat · Aug 11, 2011

txtowman said:
This method requires some practice pulling out slowly and smoothly, a challenge with my diesel dually 5 speed manual trans.

Is there enough demand for me to make some custom low rider trailers for these boats?

You are more over-trucked than I am.

I doubt it about the trailer thing, most of us probably would not upgrade, we probably all suffer from some amount of 3-18 foot-itus

. Or, we went broke at the chandlery because our PO's didn't do the proper rigging upgrades for us...

OC

Mulf · Aug 11, 2011

Another suggestion

When I had my ODay 222 I would run into this problem at some ramps, depending on the tide and/or the steepness of the ramp. Placing one or more people in the back of the cockpit sometimes got the bow up enough to get it where it belonged.

jfrench · Aug 11, 2011

Forgive me if I'm repeating info that's already been covered, but I had trouble following all the details. I have exactly the same problem at the ramp I have been using -I may now switch marinas. Would it be correct to assume that if I can cause the bow eye to be positioned correctly against the stop (something I cannot now do during haul out), as I pull the trailer up the ramp, the boat will settle down into approximately the correct position?

When I load the boat now, the bow eye is so low that it catches under the lower bow stop. I'm thinking after reading this that adding a keel roller at the correct height would lift the bow eye so the winch could pull the eye forward to the stop. There would be some stress on the winch strap as the stern settles onto the bunks, but it should be within the bow eye's capability.

Any thoughts?

By the way, before I understood the reason for the problem, I tried to solve it by installing a roller about 15" above the winch on the winch pedestal. I'd thread the winch strap around it so that the winch strap pulled up as well as forward. It didn't work. It couldn't apply enough lift and the load on the strap was so great that it bent the steel straps securing the roller!

Richie50 · Aug 11, 2011

I used the tow strap method to roll the trailer a short distance into the water as I did not want my minivan underwater. My son and I did this the very first time we launched the boat. Everything worked fine. Just went slow. I will attempt the same in reverse when I have to take her out. Thanks you everyone for all the great advice. I am avid fan of the forum and everyones experience.

watercolors II · Aug 17, 2011

couple ideas

We were forced to remove our boats this past weekend from our local lake because of water drawdown for marina repairs. So I spent the weekend helping to load 10 boats on trailers. I took a couple pictures to help cure some of you fellow’s problems.

The bow roller with skid bunk up to it. Someone said, their roller is in the way, this would probably help. Slosacco, this roller setup with skid would work for you, stopping the bow short from hitting your bow guard, and then skidding up the bunk to the roller to help carry some of the bow weight.

The other photo of the Catalina 25. About it’s owner, he’s been sailing almost 50 years all on trailerable boats. He has a small sailboat repair shop right here in central Pennsylvania. He has worked on and sailed 3/4s of all mfg boats in the 15 to 27 size. I would say he has the most knowledge of these boats of anybody you would ever meet. He has a commercial Pennsylvania state park permit for launching and recovery only of sailboats. I want you to look at the way his personal boat sits on the trailer.

It looks a little funny, the boat is not level, the bow is down and the stern is up high. He did this so he can launch in shallower water. The boat and trailer also start to match the boat and trailer on the launch ramp, where the boat is level and the trailer is at an angle.

shipwreck66 · Aug 17, 2011

Has anyone mentioned a tongue extension? My trailer had one, extended the trailer about 6 feet back in the water.

jfrench · Aug 18, 2011

Yes, the tongue extension helps get the trailer deep enough, but the problem is that the boat remains floating above the trailer in a "nose-down" position, relative to the steeply inclined trailer (see "Watercolors! most excellent illlustration). The bow eye is below its proper position. It may be as far forward as it can come (due to the angle of the mast supporting the winch), but (and this is where the illustration helps) as the boat comes out of the water, the stern sits down on the bunks causing the bow eye to travel upward in an arcing path that leaves it at its correct height -but a foot or more back from the forward stop.

If the bow eye could be positioned correctly before the boat is pulled out (as is possible on less-angled ramps), the boat rotates around the bow eye as the stern settles onto the bunks. If the bow eye is not locked against its proper stop it is able to move, the center of rotation now happens somewhere further aft -causing the bow eye to travel an arc that ends with it sitting further back.

Imagine holding a ruler at the "zero" position and wiggling the 12" end up and down. The "zero" end doesn't move. But hold that ruler at the 3" mark and do the same thing, and you'll see the "zero" end describe an arc. The amount that the top of that arc is further back than is the center of the arc, is similar to the amount that the bow eye sits back on the trailer.

Loading C-22 on trailer

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