[Rhodes22-list] Extension bar use

[Michael D. Weisner]

Brad,

We have winched the trailer to the tow vehicle several times when the tide 
was too low to sail on to the trailer while still attached to the vehicle 
and we had to recover the boat that day (leak or other problem.)  The only 
problem that you need to be mindful of is that it is fairly easy to exceed 
the capacity of the winch cable if the trailer is in sand, beyond the end of 
the ramp.  Collapsing the tongue extension while on the hard using the winch 
will probably be fine, although I would still be very careful about the load 
since cables (or even web straps) give little real warning before dangerous 
failure.  If the cable fails, the trailer may be free to roll away from the 
tow vehicle.

Mike
s/v Shanghai'd Summer ('81)
Nissequogue River, NY

From: "Brad Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com>Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2008 
11:50 AM
> Andrew,
>
> Buy a cheap hand winch.  Attach one end to the trailer and the other
> to the frame of the tow vehicle. Let the extension bar out beyond the
> pin hole and wench the two together.  Ideally, you want the cable
> lengths situated so that the wench is very near the pin hole location
> so you can watch the progress single-handed, a very easy modification.
>
> Brad
>
> On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 10:35 AM, Andrew Collins
> <sailingvesselcarmen at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Wally
>>
>> The extension bar is a real help in launching and retrieving, the only 
>> catch
>> is sliding it in and out and lining up the fast-pin holes while you are
>> driving. This is especially aggravating if you are alone. The easy 
>> solution
>> we came up with is to pull the extension bar out by hand, re-hitch it to 
>> the
>> tow vehicle and proceed to launch, or vice versa.
>>
>> A little game has evolved out of this as well if there is a driver and a
>> fast-pin inserter: slowly drive forward pulling the extension bar out 
>> (with
>> the trailer chocked!), fast-pin guy yelling 'slow', SLOWER", GOT IT! as 
>> the
>> holes appear. As with all things, practice makes perfect. Pretty soon 
>> you'll
>> know exactly where that hole is inside the front support sleeve.
>>
>> Too many of us launch and retrieve alone, and one gets pretty good at a 
>> lot
>> of things. It goes much faster with an extra pair of hands, and then 
>> there
>> is a good reason to crack a cold one.
>>
>> Andrew
>> s/v Carmen
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 10:49 AM, Joe Babb <joe.babb at comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Wally,
>>> Sharon and I trailer sail our Rhodes 22.  We find that extending the
>>> trailer tongue to launch and retrieve is the most
>>> aggravating thing about it.  Otherwise things go quite smoothly with the
>>> mast hoist system.  It just takes time and patience.
>>> It takes us about 1.5 to 2 hours to rig and launch.  That's from parking
>>> at the launch ramp to parking the truck and
>>> trailer.  The best tip is to minimize the amount of time you spend
>>> getting on and off the boat through planning your
>>> work.  We tow with a Chevy 2500 Silverado.  We usually get 16 -18 mpg on
>>> the highway without towing.  On the way
>>> back across the Smoky Mountains from Edenton we got about 12 mpg average
>>> towing the Rhodes.
>>> Going up steep hills usually slows us down to 40 or 45.  We found the
>>> boat tows well at 55 mph.
>>> So far, I've always just jumped in the water and led Harmony onto the
>>> trailer.  The trailer extension is a pain, but also
>>> very nice as it gets you far  enough into the water to avoid having to
>>> use muscle power to launch.
>>> Hope this helps.
>>> Joe
>>>
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