How do you launch your boat solo? The slipway is killing my motivation to go out
Posted by HolidayFace6639@reddit | sailing | View on Reddit | 26 comments
Hey all,
I’ve got a small boat (under 600 kg on the trailer) and I’m starting to dread the launch more than I enjoy the actual sailing. The problem isn’t the water, it’s getting there.
Right now I either need to bring someone along, or I’m stuck waiting at the one ramp at my club. And honestly half my trips fall apart because I can’t find a second person on short notice. A lot of my potential weekday outings just never happen.
A few questions for those of you with smaller, trailerable boats:
• How do you handle launching and retrieving when you’re on your own?
• Does anyone else find that “needing a second person” is the thing that quietly kills spontaneous trips?
• What have you actually tried? Manual rollers, electric movers, a winch setup, paying for help?
I’ve looked at the powered trailer movers out there but most of them seem built for shuffling a trailer around a yard, not for actually pulling a boat up or down a real ramp on grass or gravel.
Genuine question: would a simple, portable powered unit that you clip onto the trailer and that can both move it AND get it up a slipway be useful to you? Or am I overthinking this and there’s an obvious solution I’m missing?
Curious whether this is just me or a wider thing. Cheers.
Kooky_Ad6404@reddit
What's the specific problem you have? I launch my MacGregor 22 solo every time and have never found it difficult.
carrburritoid@reddit
I feel like this discussion gets at the difference between launching boats in the US where we generally just back our street vehicle up to the ramp and float the boat off our road trailer, and in Europe where I get the impression that people walk hand trolleys across the boat yard and launch by hand. I've always been a little confused because I've only ever experienced driving my truck right to the boat ramp and backing my road trailer in.
camasonian@reddit
About the biggest boat you can launch solo off a hand dolly is a Laser.
Anything much bigger will be too much weight to handle on a normal ramp unless you are King Kong. A 600kg boat? Forget it.
camasonian@reddit
I launch a 19' lightning dinghy solo. Weighs about 700 lbs.
I back it down the ramp until it is just but not quite floating. Then I set the brake, hop out with shorts and water shoes, just wade out to the boat, push it off the trailer, walk it over to the dock, hop up, secure the bow and stern. Then go park the truck and trailer.
When returning and loading on the trailer I do the opposite. I land on the leeward side of the dock, walk the boat up to the trailer guiding it with both bow and stern lines letting the wind push it out to center it on the trailer. When it is centered and as far forward as it will go I hop in the water and pull it the last 6" or so up, lash the bow line to the trailer then drive it out of the water. I stop again 10' up the ramp, do a quick inspection to make sure nothing is dragging and the boat is centered, check the bow line is secure to the trailer, and then drive off.
If you just embrace getting wet up to your thighs or waist the whole thing goes much easier.
But I launch from a private sailing club where my boat is stored in the yard, not from a public ramp.
youngrichyoung@reddit
What part of the process are you having trouble with? If it's maneuvering the trailer, take it to an empty parking lot early one morning and practice backing into spaces until you get comfortable. If that's not it, you might want to post photos of the site and ask a more specific question.
But I sense that what you're really doing is checking to see if your invention idea has a market. I don't think it does, no.
LastHorseOnTheSand@reddit
My boat is 150kg and 15" so easily manageable singlehanded. What specific step do you need someone else for? Stepping the mast? Beaching / docking after launch?
If I was moving to a heavier boat I'd join the local trailer sailer club that has dry storage and will even launch for you
paddleyay@reddit
How do you pack 150kg in to a 15 inch boat?
LastHorseOnTheSand@reddit
Ugh do that every time, I'm a metric naive, shouldnt the bigger unit be the one with two tally marks?
paddleyay@reddit
This is why you should always use metric, unless you’re in the UK, in which case you should just give up and accept we will always choose the wrong unit for any given situation.
tench745@reddit
The two marks denote that it is the second division of the whole. Just like degrees° minutes' seconds" In the case of feet I don't actually know what the first unit they're dividing is, maybe a fathom (6' approximately one arm-span) or yard (3'). But then it's Feet' and Inches".
paddleyay@reddit
I don’t think there is a first mark. There is a fourth mark in navigation systems called tertiae, though I can’t remember talking about it since some sailing class years ago, it is denoted a ‘’’
Though whatever you do don’t get into a discussion on any of the typography reddits about what that actual symbol is, clue, it isn’t an apostrophe :)
_A_varice@reddit
Uranium hull
WolflingWolfling@reddit
It's very tall, and made of solid gold.
SailingSpark@reddit
very carefully!
alex_beluga@reddit
they have these step ladders that attach to the tongue of your trailer to step onto the bow. might be worth looking into
Waterlifer@reddit
I routinely launch my smaller boats from a trailer. I'm in Minnesota (USA) where trailer launching is a major part of the culture, not so much for sailing, but for fishing boats. Usually I'm by myself.
I just use my car. I have a small (by USA standards at least) 4wd car.
The quality of the ramps (=slipways in UK English) we have vary widely. Some concrete, some gravel. Often there is a dock (small pier) extending out, but not always. In some cases, with river launches especially, there's a cross current.
Launching, generally I back the trailer into the water, get the boat off, tie to the dock (or a tree or something if there isn't a dock), and go park my car and trailer. With sailboats generally I step the mast before launching, but if there isn't enough overhead clearance sometimes I'll do it on the shore after getting the boat off the trailer.
Which part of the launch process is giving you trouble?
Mynplus1throwaway@reddit
I back down the ramp. I start my outboard. I idle over to the dock. Tie up. Run to my car and pull out.
What is the issue? Your car/truck can't go on grass? Do y'all have concrete ramps? Why do you need to move stuff with some other device?
0FO6@reddit
Can you leave the boat in the water for the season? Renting a slip somewhere? Seems like the easiest solution to this.
Or see if you can setup a Mooring ball for your boat at the club and launch it with help one day and leave it on the ball and get a little inflatable kayak to get out to it when you want to sail.
Your post indicates that the biggest problem is getting the trailer to the water and seems like you are doing it by hand and needing someone to help? Rather than hooking it up to some kind of vehicle. Seems too like your best bet there is a vehicle that can move the boat and trailer. This is going to be dependent on too many factors to make any real suggestion here if you don't already have a vehicle that can move the boat. There are some smallish ATVs that have towing capacity that could handle that size boat and trailer that would work enough to get it into the water. They wouldn't be good for going anywhere with the boat.
EnderDragoon@reddit
Need more information before we can bet terribly useful. What car are you using. What boat is. More deets about the ramp/dock situation would help. This is absolutely possibly to single hand launch the boat "easily" but can't begin to recommend anything off of just the boat weight.
Then-Blueberry-6679@reddit
Launching from the ramp is definitely stressful. Of course you’re going out on a windy day and generally, that means that the conditions at the ramp may not be favorable for launching. You also have to be concerned about backing up a trailer with people watching, waiting for you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
There’s not going be a quick and easy way to do this, but handle it step-by-step. Take your time and have ropes and fenders ready so that you can secure the boat as it is coming off of the ramp. Just take small bites. You might have to get in and out of the car a few times to secure it. You may need to get wet. Once you’re close, have ropes and fenders ready since it may bang around a bit depending on the water conditions. Once it is fully off the trailer, just leave it secured to the dock park your car go back out and you’re off. Reverse the process when you come back. Use wind predictions to your advantage and go out early when it’s not too crowded at the dock. You could also consider leaving her at anchor or on a mooring and swimming 🏊♀️
toomanyteeth55@reddit
The ramp where I grew up, which was fairly large, would have people hanging out with lawn chairs and coolers. Like that was their day, just watching people at the ramp all day, and the drama that unfolded, naturally.
Silver-Luck-3691@reddit
It sounds like you're trailering the boat with your car/truck, but then struggling to get it down the ramp with the same vehicle, is that correct? I'd suggest getting some sidewalk chalk and find a nice dead-end street near your home to mark out a "ramp" and practice backing down that. Start by just driving 'up' your ramp and then backing straight down, once you can go straight, approach the 'top' of your ramp from an angle to practice the cornering in reverse. I imagine there's great youtube videos showing how to do this, but my two take-aways would be as follows - 1: Don't hesitate to go forward 2'-3' to straighten out when it starts to go crooked. 2: The trailer behavior depends on its angle to the tow vehicle, so practicing to watch for the small deviations from center is vital.
NumerousTooth3921@reddit
Once you are comfortable, launching with two it gets easier to launch solo. I made a large loop rope so I could essentially control bow and stern line from a single rope. After a couple times figuring it out I could ramp it faster solo than with help. My boat was 800lbs dry.
dasreboot@reddit
What kind of vehicle? Can u get a front hitch mount?
ccgarnaal@reddit
I used to launch several big boats a day for a rental company. (3000-5000kg)
We had an old land cruiser for the job. With a tailgate that would open extra far.
Drive the boat in, get off the driver seat, trough the tailgate jump on the boat. Pull it off on engine power. Move it to the ponton next to the ramp and go run for the car.
I got it down to under 10minutes per boat.
2hullz@reddit
What type of boat is it?
Are you moving the boat plus the road trailer? The easiest thing to do is to make the thing you are moving up the ramp as light as possible. Consider using a lightweight dolly (or wheels mounted to the boat itself) to move the boat the last few metres from the road to the water. That would allow you to leave the trailer at the top of the boat ramp. You can then use an electric winch to pull the dolly up the ramp (either connect the winch to a convenient building/tree/pole or to the trailer itself)