[Rhodes22-list] Retrieval of Boat

[Claude Cox]

Hello Everyone;

I'm mostly a lurker on this list, but occassionally I have something to say---like now.

I pulled my celtic Lass today, for the first time; it started out well, and went up from there.  Following the Commodore's instruction manual made the experience an awesome one!  I drove the boat onto the trailer, and it centered just like the instruction's say it will.  Because of the shallow water at the ramp, I used the 10' tongue extension, and backed into the water until there was about 2 1/2 feet of bunk above water. 

The trailer is a 1988 Trailmaster, single axle, which I purchased from Peter Thorn this past spring.  I replaced the bunks, recovered the bow stop bunks, and, at PT's suggestion, installed what WM calls "Trailer Sliks (P. 757 in the catalog).  They worked beautifully, as they provide a slick surface, for an extended time, on which the boat can move.  I installed a 5,000 # winch strap, which worked like a charm; as I pulled the boat out of the water, it held the bow eye close, even as the angle of the strap changed when the stern settled onto the trailer.  The bow eye came up "eye-to-eye" with the winch, but the boat didn't move as I pulled up the ramp, which was a challenging ramp because of its somewhat severe grade (at least for this boat retrieval virgin, it seemed to be severe). The tow vehicle is a 2000 Ford Explorer, 2WD, 4.0L V6 engine.  My son-in-law helped with this adventure, and with the two of us in the vehicle, along with "stuff" one accumulates on a boat, we were at the limit of this vehicle, however.  

The bow stop is on an adjustable arm.  It was extended all the way toward the stern of the trailer as I retrieved.  Leaving it there, once we hit the road the trailer began fish-tailing at about 45 MPH.  Moving the winch toward the tongue, I winched my 3000 # Rhodes forward (a real tribute to the trailer sliks) until the edge of the rear port was over the axle of the trailer (another PT-suggestion).  That gave me another 10 mph, which was plenty for the roads over which I was towing.

Several of you on the list are in the decision-making process about how to equip your Rhodes.  If you get nothing else, GET THE MAST HOIST SYSTEM!!!  At least for me, it is worth its weight in gold.  Lest I seem too fulsome about this experience, there was a slightly down side--preparing for the road.  We were going just 40 miles, so how we prepared didn't seem as critical as preparing for 400 miles.  Still, getting all the shrouds and loose lines secured presented a challenge.  I'm sure finding a satisfactory way to prepare for the road will come in time, however.  What we wound up with was a pretty messy bundle, but when we got to the end of the trip, it was still all just where we had put it.

When I returned home at the end of the day, I celebrated my success with one of those drinks Rummy talks about all the time--what's it called Rumster?  I had one....then another....then another.  And as I have come to the end of my post, I'm going to have another.

Peace ya'll. 
Claude