Greg,
You've done a good job of describing the most painful part of the
process--leaving the house. What takes place at the launch ramp is the easy
part.
I finally got rid of an old car that has been in my garage for 4 or 5
years, so I'm keeping Manatee in the garage again. That eliminates the need
for removing and installing a tarp and cleaning off the accumulated dirt
and the stains from the neighbor's redwood tree. I rigged my old trailer
winch to mount on the inside garage door in the back of the garage, so I
can winch my trailer and boat from the street into the garage - a process
only slightly more difficult than rolling the Apollo-Saturn V from the
Vehicle Assembly Building to Pad 39. Well, maybe not so difficult, but I
have to keep in mind that if the rig gets away it will roll down the
driveway into the street, endangering either my new minivan parked at the
curb or an innocent motorist driving by. I move the trailer a foot or two
at a time then move the chocks. A safety line attached to the garage would
be a good idea.
The combined length of the rope on the garage-mounted winch plus the strap
on the boat trailer winch is almost long enough to reach, with the trailer
at the foot of the driveway. On my two retrievals so far I have connected
the two lines via an old bicycle tire, which has worked okay, but I need to
improve on that setup.
I can't just back the boat into the garage; the trailer has to go tongue
first to avoid blocking the door into the house. Besides I already have a
hole in my garage door where the rudder stock penetrated when I misjudged
while backing into the driveway.
Harry
P14 #234, Manatee
Mountain View, CA
>. . .It usually
>takes us over an hour to get the boat out of the garage; remove the mast from
>the garage wall and secure it to the mast carrier; hook up the trailer to the
>truck; check the lights; grease the bearing buddies; load the cooler, food,
>and gear; load the extra jackets my wife insists we take along; fill the water
>bag; wipe up spill from water bag; close and lock cabin hatch; eat breakfast;
>load outboard and gas tanks into truck; wait while Steven eats more breakfast;
>go to the bathroom; check trailer-hitch and mast-carrier; listen to wife
>lecture about being careful, not to get Steven hurt; apply suntan lotion,etc.;
>ask wife if she is sure about not coming along; check hitch connections again
>at wife's insistence; kiss wife good-bye and finally get on the road. It is a
>lot of work.....but once you get the boat launched and the sails up...it's all
>worth it!
>Greg Yu
>HMS-18 #63 Sampan
>Fremont, Ca
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