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Bay River Skiff transport


Guest Brad Whitehurst

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Guest Brad Whitehurst

I have had a set of BRS plans for more than a year now, and I think I can actually start this winter (assuming I can find where I filed the plans!).

The question is whether the BRS could be cartopped with either 2 people to load it or some clever loading strategy? I have cartopped a 17', 70+ lb. plastic canoe for many years, but the beam of the BRS is of course greater, as well as being heavier. Right now, I have a Jeep Cherokee and Yakima roof racks, but I will have to sell the Cherokee soon and the fall back car will be a VW Passat w/ Thule or equal roof rack.

The alternative of course would be a small trailer, however that would require buying the trailer, putting a hitch on the Passat (the Jeep has one) and keeping the trailer roadworthy, licensed, etc.

Opinions?

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Guest Frank Hagan, Weekender, O

I don't know ... check the weight capacity of the roof rack. The BRS specs say it should weigh from 200 - 250 pounds, although that might include all the rigging, etc. So will the roof rack hold 200 pounds? The one on my Explorer Sport Trac is limited to 100 pounds (but will probably hold more).

If the roof rack can hold it, you could rig up something to get it up there, either a "roller rack" back cross rail on the Thule rack or a pully set up in your garage. They have the "roller rack rails" for kayaks (can't remember what they are actually called, but I have seen them on the Yakima and Thule site). I suspect at 200# it will take two people to unload it and put it back up on top after use.

fshagan@ev1.net

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Guest Paul J [Aberdeen Wa]

I for one would say go with the trailer it will make it much easier to rig the boat for sailing and to launch and retrieve the boat and de-rig. A trailer is easy to maintain and are low cost to register. Here in Washington yearly tabs for it are only $14 for a boat trailer.

Check out a site called Sportztrailers.com they have a basic trailer for $355.00 with free shipping. If you are not launching in salt water all the time it would be a good trailer. If you are launching in salt water all the time you want a galvanized one.

Car topping a 200-250 lb boat is going to be a lot more difficult than a canoe. Take more time to rig and get into the water and them get the boat back on the car top. All that time and effort could be spent sailing which is way more fun. ;)

Paul J

paul@ultasail.com

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Guest Frank Hagan, Weekender, O

All of the inexpensive trailers will work OK in fresh water, but they'll only last about a year or two being dunked in salt water. With a small enough boat, tough, perhaps you can make a dolly to launch the boat, and never actually dunk the trailer. Just a thought ... :D

fshagan@ev1.net

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Guest Graham Byrnes

Having trailed a Bay River Skiff from Maine to the Keys, there is no way that I would want to car top it. It is so convenient to be able to have the boat always at a comfortable working height. When travelling we could stow extra stuff in the boat and have easy access along the way. What I liked most was the fact every thing was stowed on board. It allowed me to be spontaneous. Some of my favourite sails happened after a spur of the moment decision, say after dinner in the summer, the dog and I could hook up the trailer, launch, rig and get in an hour and a half sailing and be back a little after dark. I never put the trailer in the water because I didn't want the extra maintenence. I rigged it with keel rollers down the center and padded bunks on the side. To launch it was backed down the ramp till the tires were touching the water, I disconnected the bow eye and give it a good heave and it would roll on into the water. To retrieve it, walk down the trailer with hook in hand, clip on to the bow eye, walk back to winch keeping tension on cable to prevent wind blowing the boat sideways and crank on winch. It's easier with 2 people, but I did it half of the times alone. I rounded the forefoot as much as I could and once the keel was on the back roller it was as

good as home.

Obviously, you can car top anything, with enough thought and engineering - to wit: Core Sound hull #1 was heavily built out of aluminum. Russ, being a blacksmith, built every thing stronger than strong. He had a truck with a steel back and with ramps, an electric winch and a dolly and he could car top it. It looked like a Binks armoured car with a boat on top. 8)

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Guest Brad Whitehurst

Yup, consensus is obviously trailer, and who am I to doubt the wisdom of this august body?

Did I read Graham's message correctly that the first Core Sound was actually built in aluminum? Interesting! Welded instead of epoxied I presume!

Brad

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