[Rhodes22-list] Steep Launch Question

[General Boats]

All:

Launching the Rhodes on a Rhodes trailer is a single handed job I have done an
untold number of time all over the country - which suggests you may have to get
to my age before you get it right.:

make sure the cb and rudder are locked up.

make sure the trailer winch is disconnected from the boat.

use the extension tongue.

slowly back down the ramp making a straight entry into the water. (I use a hitch
on the front of the van to avoid neck strain and it lets me thread a needle.)

start picking up speed.

when the transom of the boat lifts off the trailer, apply the car breaks.

the boat will self launch.

dive in and swim after it using the transom boarding ladder.  alternate single
handed method it to have a sufficiently slack line to the boat with the other
end to the ramp dock or to the trailer to retrieve the boat after it clears the
trailer.  I have used both methods successfully.  the last swimming technique
was fully dressed using an Australian racing stroke to board the boat before it
hit a million dollar yacht in Newport Harbor.  the technique was successful in
spite of the a heart attack.

try and do this operation single handed  - using helpers only leads to laughing
which is no good for people with broken ribs.  helpers tend to panic as the boat
leaves the trailer so they pull on the lines prematurely, returning the boat to
the trailer.    the driver is thus surprised to find the boat still on the
trailer when he or she takes the trailer out of the water.

in another instance the helper ran along the dock holding the boat line and off
the end of the dock when the momentum of the boat leaving the trailer took the
helper along with it..  I became aware of this when I no longer could see the
helper anywhere.

good luck.    retrieving is even easier, however, while there is no charge for
launching instructions, a voluntary $25 donation to the GBI foundation is
required if you ever want to get a Rhodes out of the water.

stan/gbi