Before I start I have searched and read many helpful posts about getting a sailboat on a trailer with that said I still have a couple of questions. I have a 1975 Oday 25 shoal draft keel sailboat. As other people have asked what is the easiest way to get the boat on the trailer? My trailer does not as yet have a winch on it but does have six bunks. The trailer when perfectly level is 18.25 inches to the top of the board that the keel rests on and the draft is according to specs 2'3". So when the front of the boat is as far forward as it can go and resting on the forward bunks the trailer from that location would need to be at least 46" deep to allow it to float on to the trailer. I have installed a (removable) depth guide at that location so that I know how deep the trailer should be so that the boat will float onto the trailer with out hitting the keel resting board. After securing the bow with a cable strap I then can pull the boat slightly out of the water and let it settle on the bunks. After it is out I am going to add a winch and guide boards to help guide the boat onto the trailer in the future. Thanks rbone for the recent specs of the width etc of the keel. Does anybody have any suggestions and am I thinking about this correctly? Thanks for any help.
Retrieving 25 Oday with trailer
- Thread starter SteveSam
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First Steve, I'd buy a two speed Fulton Winch. Then I would buy two guides like the ones on my trailer. With these, you wouldn't need keel guide boards unless you want them. I've never had a need for them.
If your boat has a bow roller for your anchor, remove the anchor before loading and unloading the boat from the trailer.
If your trailer is long enough, you should be able to float the boat on or of it. A lot of times depending on the slope of the ramp, you'll have your trailer backed down deep enough so that the bow will come right up to the roller on the winch stanchion, but the bow eye is going to be lower than it should be once you start pulling the boat out of the water. This is due to the slope of the ramp with the trailer at an angle in relation with the boat which is floating level.
Consequently what happens is when you go to pull out of the water, the front of the keel digs into the keel board and prevents the boat from moving forward enough for the bow to rest in the roller. After you've pulled the boat up the ramp, you'll notice that the bow is within 2 or 3" away from the roller. You may need to take a couple of cranks on the winch and back down again and apply the brakes abruptly so that the keel can slip forward a little. Sometimes, you can shift some of the boat's weight to the stern or have a couple of friends get in the stern for that extra add weight to get her to move up to the bow roller. Sometimes it only takes a wake from a passing boat to move her to the roller. I don't mind that as much as I do when I'm trying to take my mast down at the club dock.
My boat is approximately 22' long but my trailer was made for a 23' boat. Luckily I've been able to launch the boat and retrieve it without swamping my truck. The winch stanchion on my Long Trailer is located inside the trailer's A frame. If you buy these galvanized guides, they come with 2" PVC pipes with caps on the ends and they are designed to roll on the square stock tubes and prevent the boat's hull from being marred. The guides need to be set up for the widest beam of your boat. When trailering the boat too and from the ramp, you should remove the PVC pipes so that the caps don't get broken when going over bumps with the trailer. That's about it.
Joe
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