Weekender on a trailer

[Dave R1]

Here I am, trying to over engineer something again.

I'm curious as to how you all have gone about keeping the stern of your boat on the trailer when dragging it down the road. I have a ratchet strap that hooks on the trailer, goes across the boat and down toward the ratchet attached low on the other side of the trailer. It works but due to the shape of the boat, it's tough to get it tight. I end up having to stop after awhile and retighten the strap. It has also left marks on the upper rubrail which I don't like.

The trailer isn't long enough to make straps running to eyes on the transom effective.

I'm wondering about making a crossbar out of wood that would sit across the side decks and either take the ratchet strap in a groove on the top or use two shorter ratchets straps hooked into yeybolts in the ends of the croosbar.

So, what have you done or what are you planning?

[Bill Paxton]

Here's a picture of something like you suggested. It's Gary Blankenship's Frolic2. The rig ain't pretty, but it sure is functional. You can put notches in the cross beam to make it double as your boom crutch.

[Dave R1]

Thanks for the picture, Bill.

That's the sort of thing I was thinking about.

I probably won't have this ready for the messabout though.

[Bill Paxton]

You've already got a very sturdy boom crutch. Any possibility of attaching the straps to it?

[umop_apisdn]

When I rigged my inverted-V mainsheet, I needed eyepads on the aft corners of the deck. I made these heavy duty eye bolts, with a stainless backing plate behind them, and now they double as tie-downs for my trailer.

[/img]

[umop_apisdn]

So why didn't that make a click-able thumbnail? Grrrr...

Noel

[Dave R1]

Bill, since the boom crutch sits on the seats which are only supported at the ends, I'm not sure I want to put a big load on there.

Noel, thanks for the picture even if it wasn't a clickable thumbnail.

[Frank Hagan]

So why didn't that make a click-able thumbnail? Grrrr...

Noel

I think the thumbnail feature only works on images uploaded to my server, not on ones linked in from another server.