by Roger » Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:36 pm
Because you don't have to worry about the boat going over center and banging down on the transom (like when you are unloading it), loading it back up is easier.
By hand, back your trailer up so that the bow is centered between the rollers or bunks. If you have bunks wet them down with the garden hose to make them slippery, wet down the hull as well. Attach your winch to the boweye and as you hold the trailer tongue up above your head, crank in the winch line until the trailer is wedged under the bow of the boat. Continue to crank in up, moving the trailer tongue to one side or the other to keep the boat coming up the center of the trailer. Your transom should still be anchored to a fence post or tree, so it is actually the trailer that is rolling backwards under the boat. At some point, the tongue will become very easy to push down, do so at this point, to make sure that it dosen't come down hard. You can now release your lines to the transom, or just crank up the winch until the boat is sitting in the bow chock as the trailer continues to roll back. If the transom is still a bit off center at this stage, crawl underneath on all fours and brace your shoulder up against the center of the hull, and umph it into place.
If you have room and your mast is up, while your boat is off the trailer, try careening it, tying down the top of the mast, and extend and examine your cb. You will have to do this at some time during your ownership of this boat, and doing it now will give you the confidence to do it later when it inevidebly becomes necessary, like for bottom painting or cb repair.