careening, etc.

[Tipster1]

I have finally decided to either moor or put in slip for the season at the Jersey shore, so I am going to need bottom paint. HOW?

Is it possible to paint on trailer and move boat around enough to get to areas under bunks?
If not, what is easiest way to remove boat from trailer?
More important, what is the best was to get boat back onto trailer (no, I do not have an engine hoist)?

I assume I can careen boat using mast or some other method like I did with my former boat (A Sunbird).

[rnlivingston]

I just bottom painted a Daysailer I'm restoring. I have a tilt trailer, so getting the boat off the trailer was easy. I would assume if you can get someone to help lift the tongue, you can easily slide the boat off. Once off, I stepped the mast and careened the boat. Getting the boat back on was easy. Tilted the trailer, got the bow on the first roller and winched it on while slowly lowering the trailer tongue.

[Tipster1]

OK - thank you for quick reply. It's the winching back on that bothers me most. I vaguely remember silicone spraying the bunks before I did this. I also notice various types of bunk slides at the boat store.
Anyone have any experience with these enhancements?

[GreenLake]

The DS is in that weight class where it's not too heavy to be manhandled. @rnlivingston's method works singlehanded. Have done that myself, but you need space for it, because with the mast down, the careened boat will effectively be 25' wide. (In bringing the boat back on the trailer I needed to limit the "tilt" - there was a definite optimum that was not to shallow and not too steep. Easily done with a couple turns of rope around the tilt joint).

On another occasion, with three people we were able to turn the boat inside a double garage and set it (upside-down on blocks) after dry-launching from a tilt-trailer first.

With a couple additional bodies we would have been able to carry it off/on the trailer instead of launching I expect.

In other words, the best strategy depends on the available space and manpower.

If you have strong overhead points, a few spare pulleys and rope, you can rig a block and tackle to lift the boat in two slings. If the slings are free to rotate through pulleys, then you can rotate the DS on its side before lowering it again. I did that single handed in a very small garage. Lifted it off the trailer, pulled the trailer out, rotated an lowered it sitting on its side. I wasn't sure whether it would be too "stable" if fully up-side-down, so I didn't go all the way.

For the pulleys that the slings ride in, you can use the main-sheet blocks, for example. And the sheets would make good rope slings. Then you would need some block and tackle to lift each sling. They need to be rated for 3-400lbs better 500lbs, and you need two of them. Takes a bit to set up, but if you need/want to be indoors and work alone, that setup has worked for me.

[Tipster1]

Well, with encouragement and a bit of trepidation, we hauled it off the trailer until stern was on the ground, then drove the trailer out from under, with a few Boogie boards underneath.We careened with the main halyard it using wacky noodles under edge of cockpit and saw the bottom for the first time. Always a moment of truth. An assortment of blisters and a few gaps in the gel coat, but otherwise, pretty good. Bottom was scrubbed and lightly sanded. Anti-fouling paint goes on tomorrow. We'll probably just follow the line of the original boot stripe to keep things simple this time.

Your help is, as usual, invaluable.

Thank you.