All change - trailer boat!

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Keith B

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Due to costs of ownership, my wife and I have decided to scale down from a Jeanneau Prestige 32 to a trailerable cruiser (something like a Sealine 25/Glastron 249). This is a new game altogether and I would be grateful if members could run a ruler over my thoughts and help to answer a couple of questions. I intend to keep the boat on a trailer at my house (Plymouth) when not in use.
1. How easy/how much time does it take to launch a 25ft cruiser? Is it practicable to get up on a Saturday, think "what a great day to go boating" and simply launch the thing, or does it require more planning (I should say that my wife has a low boredom/'faff' threshold and we would be launching on our own - 'simplicity with practice' is the sort of reassurance I am seeking!).
2. If Q1 isn't a runner, do any members keep their boat out of the water for the bad weather months and pick up a swinging mooring for the good weather period? Can you get a swinging mooring for 6 months? As marina-philes, what are the pitfalls of a swinging mooring - is it pretty stress free?
3. Are there any great books on trailing boats (i.e. advice on trailing and owning a trailer cruiser as opposed to 'where to go boating').
4. Anything else I should be thinking about (I am already thinking 'car')? The overall aim is to reduce the costs of ownership significantly, without jeapordizing the ability to cruise the south west coast on a reasonably spontaneous basis. This is a big move for us, and the last thing I want to do is be staring at a boat on a trailer not using the thing regularly.

Thank you in advance - and a very Happy New Year.
 
What works for me is by having a decent 4x4 my towing a boat is no different than towing a caravan. I also keep my boat at home and just connect it up and go to a marina where I pay for a weeks "Visitors Mooring". But if the weather is rubbish I dont go. My trailer has to be totally submerged before the boat will lift off so it needs more maintenance than if you pay a marina to crane it in and out.
If you get a decent 4x4 it makes towing easy but the choice of trailer needs careful thought. You are only allowed to tow 3500 kilos, if your trailer weighs 800 kilos this restricts the weight of your boat to 2700 kilos I took my boat to a weighbridge and found that it was heavier by 300kilos than the boatyard said it would weigh so I emptied the diesel tanks, water, etc.
Your "Simplicity with practice" is made easy providing you are not in a hurry. I launch single handed and get into a routine whereby I arrive at the slipway, reverse the trailer down to the water, put 4 bricks behind the trailer wheels (the trailer handbrake only stops it rolling on the flat) detach the car, move 15ft up the slipway, fix a tow rope (2)between the car and the trailer, than lower the boat down the slipway (with the winch connected to your car) so your trailer is underwater and your car wheels are not wet.
I also bought a pair of waders and a rope ladder as once your boat is afloat (but still tied to the trailer) you go from your car to the submerged boat trailer, stand on it and by using the ladder climb up onto the bow of your boat. Then after moving your boat, then using the winch, wind the trailer back up the slipway to your car refix the trailer to your car and drive to where you park. Making sure that if you leave your trailer at the marina you fit a Bulldog Titan Wheel Clamp (the best you can get) which is what you use when the boat is up your drive anyway. Job done.
 
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The bigger the boat, the better slipway you will need. A bit of gravel into the sea isnt going to work with a few tons of boat ! Messing about with ropes etc is for emergencies.. you want a good clean steep slipway for a bigger boat. Personally, you need one driving the car, and one driving the boat. I reckon we could drive be on and off the slipway in 60 seconds; less organised people could take 15 minutes.
Def. get rollers on the trailer, and expect to replace most of the brake system annually.. £500 .. I never found any flushing method made any difference to the rust. Oh, park the trailer with chocks, not the handbrake, or the brakes will weld onto the drums !
A good slipway on a sunny w/end will be busy, so dont expect to turn up and launch, and get the boat fully ready away from the slip, and dont spend 20 extra minutes occupying it while you wonder where the lifejackets are.
Remember after you launch, you need to leave the car and trailer somewhere.. that isnt always so obvious on a public slipway, though easy at more expensive marinas.
I didnt mind traielr sailing; my wife hated it...
Boatlaunch, or something, lists slipways.
 
my advice would be do not store the boat at the house if it's any great distance from the launch site, find a farm/caravan storage park or something of that nature closer to, or at, the quality slipway already mentioned... the biggest pain I found to the setup you're looking in to is the towing itself, not the launching / recovery. Having it very close to the slopway, ideally never going on a public road, means less preparation and certainly less concern about keeping a large trailer in tip top condition. My Rinker 250 is currently stored in this manner and I can be underway within 30 minutes of arriving at the boat and I have no hassles with trying to find a place to park the trailer, it goes back exactly where the boat was parked a few metres away from the slipway.

the faff factor is very much reduced too.. once you walk away from the boat after recovery, that's it... no messing about putting the boat to bed when you get home after preparing the boat to be towed whilst at the slipway. A boat the size you're thinking of would likely need careful planning of kit taking in the car to keep the overall tow weight within legal limits too so you could find yourself needing to empty the water out the domestics each trip or stuffing the car full of heavier gear. then there's the strappiong down, fitting of lightboard and the like which takes time.

if you're able to find an old 4x4 that can be kept onsite, even better... no MOT or insurance needed other than 3rd party liability and it keeps your costs down further as you don't need to own a fully fledged 4x4 saving on the high insurance, road tax and maintenance costs of such a vehicle... a launch vehicle capable 4x4 can be picked up for £500 or less.

not impossible and I know folk who do what you're thinking of doing travelling > 100 miles to the slipway so defo doable but I think the above method is for you unless you live very close to the slipway of your choice.. cost effective and far less 'faff'
 
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IMO anything after the experience and convenience of marina bething is going to be hassle and having a large boat on a large trailer is up there with the worst of hassles.

A good slip is hard to find, especialy on a sunny afternoon when everyone has the same idea.
Launching and recovering a large boat requires planning, tides play a major part in that planning and unless you find the right launch site can either make or break that perfect day on the water.

We traded up through speedboat to trailer cruiser and onto marina berthing, we wouldn't go back without having too, so a couple of more sudgestions.

The recomendation for 'visitor berthing' is a good one, berthing a couple of weeks at a time is easier than launch and recovering the same day.
If dayboating is your intention buy a dayboat and get a smaller marina berth, or a largish cuddy speedboat which would still be easier than a dedicated cruiser for daily launch and recovery.

Research drystack options in your area.
Keeping your boat close to the water is a better option, more incentive to go and use it.
Try berthing options away from Plymouth, might be better deals elsewhere.

Good luck whatever you decide.
 
I'm with enterprise, wise advice.

Swinging moorings - going to be increasingly sought after for exactly the reason you're thinking of one, already rare in some places. AND - will be subject to the same nonsense as anchoring now, there WILL be a big move towards moorings, and that will be seen by the conservationists as 'an increase in footprint of use'.

I would strongly advise if you find a good one, grab it and hang on.

Most places around the South and West have banned laying new moorings for years now - but what's not often appreciated is that people or clubs can rejuvenate old moorings, as long as they are on someone's plan.

Beware deep water moorings are often in the middle of nowhere, surprisingly rough requiring a large seaworthy tender ( a lot of boatyards and some clubs run a ferry service by launch ).

Also beware with deep water moorings, the boat may be afloat but you may only be able to launch a tender at half tide. Also a place to keep the tender secure on shore is like gold dust.

An inflatable tender is only a last resort, it will wear quickly with such use. Get one with large tubes ( Zodiac are good but pricey, there are other large tube ones but the standard tube size is too small, check the spec's ). If stowage is an issue in car or boat, a 'round tail' rather than hard transom stows much smaller, they still have brackets for small non-planing outboards.

If your boat is able to take drying moorings ( soft mud, - hard sand is pretty cruel in the slightest waves ) grab a good one, they're usually much more sheltered and close to shore.

Trailers; my sail boat is allegedly trailable ( note, big difference between trailable and trailer-sailer ), the few people who do it usually wouldn't dream of dunking the trailer in salt water, and get a club or marina /yard to hoist the boat on & off the trailer.

This might not be practical if doing it often, but worth bearing in mind while looking around.

The poster who said 'anything will seem hassle after a marina' was sadly right, but there's huge satisfaction in having your own mooring, and usually a lot of wildlife to peer at if you like that.

If you're going to make this move, do it quick as the world and his wife won't be far behind !
 
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Getting a boat that can take the mud, might be the answer, so much cheaper, without the trailer hassle.
If swimbo loses interest, lack of use becomes really expensive...
My berthing fees trebled when I went from a Merry Fisher 805 to a P32.
 
My plan, If I ever find a buyer for my current boat! is to berth the boat for six months in my local marina and take her home for the winter, bringing her back in the spring, thereby saving six months mooring fees but still enjoying marina life in the summer. Also, never dunking the trailer but getting the marina to launch and recover at the beginning and end of the season.
 
That's exactly what I have done for the last 9 seasons. Plenty of time (and access to tools etc) to do the yearly maintenance at home, no corrosion on the trailer frame, axles or brakes as it's never been in the sea (current one dates from 2004). I don't even have a 4x4 and so don't suffer the costs of running a 4x4 the whole year; someone takes the ca 3,200 kg boat + trailer down in the spring and I tow the empty (650 kg) trailer back home myself. The opposite at the end of the season.

Graham
 
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Have a look at this thread : http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=258530 it answers a lot of your questions already.

I have been lucky to use a swinging mooring, marina and trailer and I agree with the comments above, the marina is much much easier. The swinging mooring can be a pain, especially if its a fair distance from the shore. Trailing is more hassle than both of them but, its cheaper, you have more varied cruising grounds and the boat stays in better condition.

Can you take the boat out for the day ? Yes, but I rarely do, a weekend is a minimum for me because I am at least 2 hours from my nearest launch site.

I dont think I am qualified to comment about how easy/hard it is to learn to tow, I learnt to drive towing boats round caravan sites on Windermere. I didnt drive a car without a trailer for another 2 years, but I think you can get lessons from the caravan club to get you started.
 
I did the complete opposite many years ago, got fed up with trailer boating and the hassle and ended up buying a boat to be kept on a berth.

I did trailer boating for 10years with a 16ft Fletcher and drove to many places on the south coast. Even though that boat was reasonably light, the hassles that I experienced:
1. Driving 50+ miles at 60mph (ish) to either Hythe Marina (good slipway) or Mudeford (not so good and planning needed). In the summer it would take a long time and often felt knackered before I've even launched the boat. Then you end up in a queue to launch and waste more time, in particular at Mudeford. Then you have the hassles finding a parking space for both the tralier and the car.
2. I had a Landrover for launching which made life easier, used to just drive into the sea/river and launch. Always made sure the landrover and the tralier were covered in waxoyl (it worked!).
3. You had to wear a wetsuit, which is then a pain later if you want to visit a pub etc. When it was just the two of us, my wife couldn't hold the boat because of the weight and didn't like standing in water, so that added to complications to the point my wife used to hate boat launching and recovery.
4. There was nearly always a jet skier at the slipway who had to show off and make waves just as your launching or recovering.
5. I had endless problems with the trailer brakes, even though it was serviced annually by me, they used to stick etc. The cable used to keep sticking and would spend weekends over winter trying to free it etc. Never leave the brakes on when parked.
6. On the up side, I used to enjoy doing all the boat maintenance at home and the boat was always in top condition.

In the end, my wife and I got fed up with trailer boating and she encouraged me to upgrade the boat and keep it in a marina. I now do much more boating, with tralier boating you started to get put off by all the hassles.

A Sealine S25 is a big boat for a trailer and heavy 2 to 3 tons, it was bad enough with a boat weighing just half a ton. You will need a good 4x4 and the road journeys will be much slower. I personally think you will hate it considering what you have now.

There was an excellent trailer boating launching guide, I vaguarly remember seeing a copy at a recent boat show.

Hope that helps, of course the up side of trailer boating, you get to travel to some great places such as the south west.
 
Thank you all for such great replies. I clearly have a little more research to do, but am hedging towards the '6 months in, 6 months out' (with a lift in and out). I am not sure how my wife would adapt to a swing mooring - a marina still looks the best bet. It will simply come down, I think, to whether the reduced ownership costs are enough.

As an aside, is the mid cabin genuinely tenable for 2 adults to get a good night's kip, or is the default to make up the v berth in a 25 footer?

Thank you all again
 
Keith B said:
Thank you all for such great replies. I clearly have a little more research to do, but am hedging towards the '6 months in, 6 months out' (with a lift in and out). I am not sure how my wife would adapt to a swing mooring - a marina still looks the best bet. It will simply come down, I think, to whether the reduced ownership costs are enough.

As an aside, is the mid cabin genuinely tenable for 2 adults to get a good night's kip, or is the default to make up the v berth in a 25 footer?

Thank you all again
Click to expand...

The mid cabin on most 24ft American boats is OK (Ours is 4'6" wide), we find it more comfortable than the forward V berth. However I think you have identified the achillies heel of the Sealine, we measured a couple and found it to be around 3'6" on the S24 (or it may have been S240) which is just too small for an adult couple.

The S25 may be bigger ?
 
One other option may be possible by buying a cuddy sized sportsboat which is classed by some marinas as a day boat (up to about 23 feet), In my current marina (Kip) this can be moored for a six month summer season on a pontoon berth for about £900. The boat can then be trailered by yourself to your home at the end of the year, or you pay for storage at a yard for the winter. Hoist costs can be as low as £45 each way with a small boat if you decide against launching yourself.
 
Keith B said:
Thank you all for such great replies. I clearly have a little more research to do, but am hedging towards the '6 months in, 6 months out' (with a lift in and out). I am not sure how my wife would adapt to a swing mooring - a marina still looks the best bet. It will simply come down, I think, to whether the reduced ownership costs are enough.

As an aside, is the mid cabin genuinely tenable for 2 adults to get a good night's kip, or is the default to make up the v berth in a 25 footer?

Thank you all again
Click to expand...

We had our first boat on a swinging mooring. Drive to boatyard, drag tender out of rack (or heap). Fit outboard, oars, seat, wheels. Load dinghy with 15 tons of provisions, clothes and sundry junk. Park car in car park. Walk 3/4 mile back to tender, with SWMBO guarding it. Drag tender out to the waters edge, sometimes a bloody long drag, requiring at least 15 rest stops. Also need to be wearing wellies and waterproof trousers. Motor tender 1/2 mile to boat. Unload aforementioned 15 tons. Attach tender to mooring buoy. Go lie for a while to recover. At the end of the day, repeat operation in reverse (having the hours lie down in the car).

OK, we later learned we could have done it better. We could have found a swinging mooring that belonged to a club or marina that also had pontoon moorings. One that would have allowed us to motor out in the tender, collect the boat and moor to a pontoon to load the boat with the 15 tons of gear, fill up with fuel and water and then head off. Would have been easier, but still far from the luxury of the pontoon.

Things are pretty tight for us at the moment, financially and we've considered ways of cutting back, but at 27 feet we don't want to downsize. We recently looked at ways to reduce running costs, in particular, mooring fees. The thought of returning to a swinging mooring was daunting, but we did work the costs out. Cheapest swinging mooring in the area we base the boat (Harwich) was around £1400 cheaper than our annual mooring fee for the pontoon. Didn't seem worth it. At 4.5-5.0 tons, she isn't trailerable, so a Summer berth isn't a realist option.

After a Prestige 32 on a pontoon, i doubt you or SWMBO will like a swing mooring, or trailering. In your shoes, I'd be thinking of Summer on a pontoon (Usually more than six months) then trailer it home, saving the cost of liftout/back in.

Mooring fees should be about 2/3 of an annual rate, but check carefully, some places it will cost almost as much for the Summer as it will for the whole year.

You'll save a fair bit on what you have now though. Reduced mooring costs, no liftouts/ins and the fuel bill will be halved.

I'd also consider whether the saving on moorings (less metres), fuel saving, lower servicing costs etc would be enough to just downsize the boat and leave it on an annual pontoon berth. This would open up a few more options on the boat. Just as an example, we have a Merry Fisher 805. Mooring fees £2440 in a good East Coast marina. Insurance, £240. Annual service and antifoul, DIY, maybe £300. Fuel, 25 litres an hour. Most of the bits you are used to, except the fly bridge, just a bit shrunken.
 
We started our boating with an 18 ft bowrider. It was kept in a "park & ride" in Brightlingsea. All we had to do was climb into the boat in the boat yard, get everything ready and then give the yard a shout. They would then come along with the tractor and launch us on the slipway. No getting wet for us at all!

At the end of the day, a quick phone call to them and they would hook up our launching trailer, back it down the slipway and we then just drove onto the trailer. Then towed back to the "park & ride" yard, flush the outdrive, quick hose down, job done!

OK with the boat on just a non road legal launching trailer we were restricted to one area, but it was so easy with no hassle. I think they can do this with boats up to about 26 ft. long as well. The cost for the year was less than £1500.
 
If you decide to buy a new trailer consider this. Everything today is made to "just do the job" I made a mistake with my new trailer "It just carries the weight of my boat" and its limited by the weight which the tyres will carry not what the axles will carry. Each tyre has a maximum weight on it, mine says 520 kilos per tyre so 4 = 2080 kilos. But on a weighbridge I am 2300 kilos. The tyres which are on it are rubbish, 4 ply, a Ford Escort has 4 ply. I should have stipulated that I wanted 6 or 8 ply with a maximum load weight of 800 kilos per tyre. That way if I bought a heavier boat I would not have to buy another trailer.
 
I would not try to go the other way. We kept going bigger because we could not stand the problems with little boats. Mostly we needed a boat and cottage as well. Then there was the problem of carting from one to the other.

To be honest, when I cant afford what I've got, I'd give up boats,

Umm, little boats seem to need far more energy than big boats, some thing I dont have.
 
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