I am just a cog in the wheel on this, so I will brag on behalf of the mighty
Housatonic Boat Club, but there are some really good guys who captain the
crews that get it done.
We divide ourselves into three gangs: mast-steppers (about 8), floating
dock/slings (about 6), and ground/poppet crew (the rest of us, about 20 to
40). To be on any of these crews takes no particular skill, but the leaders
of the crews have a lot of experience and judgment. The (hired) crane
operators are very skilled and have been doing this for many years.
Our club is on the banks of the river where we have our mooring field. On
the night before, a 100-foot crane and a 60-foot crane arrive. At dawn on
the given Saturday in October (picked because of the tide), we begin hauling
boats. We have two heavy web slings for the big crane, to haul the boats. We
have the small crane with a loop sling at the ³mast dock² where we unstep
masts. In turn, each boat owner visits the mast dock to get unstepped, then
the floating dock to get hauled.
Boats from about 24 feet up to 39 feet are hauled, in a sequence that goes
small-large-small, move the crane, small-large-small, move the crane (or
variations of that theme, in view of the tide). The reason is, of course,
that there is an equation as to how far the crane can boom out with a given
weight of boat. The crane operator knows by a strain gauge how much you
weigh, by the way, so we see numbers from about 4,000 up to maybe 12,000
pounds. I believe we have four C-27s in our fleet, a C-25 and even a rare,
very nice C-38.
No cradles are allowed, and no mast-up storage, either. In a few cases, the
boat goes right onto a trailer, but most boats are put onto poppets. I would
say there are about five powerboats and 35 sail. There are perhaps a dozen
other boats in our total fleet, who may go to different places for the
winter, or get hauled at a ramp and taken home by trailer.
Each boat typically has six poppets with pads and a bow poppet with a vee
(but some have nine poppets). The boat comes over in the slings and its
dunnage (blocking lumber) is put down and the keel goes on the dunnage. Two
guys have already jumped in with pressure washers to blast the slime and
barnacles off. The bow-up/down issue is settled with small lumber under the
keel, then the poppets are brought in and the pads are snugged up. At times,
we have to level the boat athwartships to fix a heel angle. Certain boats,
such as the powerboats in our fleet, have special blocking.
Our parking lot was repaved about six years ago, and we are careful with it.
Therefore, each poppet has a 12 x 12 square of half-inch plywood under each
of its three legs to spread the load nicely. This is a lot of plywood
squares, but it works.
We do this for about two or three hours and break for breakfast, then again
and break for lunch, then a long surge to get it done. A crew of loyal
spouses does the cooking and they make a mighty good meal.
It¹s a long day but the savings is enormous, and we have the satisfaction of
basically knowing everything that happens to our boats.
In the fall when we¹re hauling, the mast guys get it done fast because each
boat owner has slacked the rigging and bundled up all the halyards, etc. The
setting of the hulls takes the most amount of time and it is a tight race to
be done by dark. On a few occasions, we have had to bring our cars around
and work in the headlights. I guess we are usually done about 5:30 or 6 p.m.
In the spring, it¹s very quick to launch the hulls, and the delays are with
the mast guys, but over-all, launching goes faster than hauling. I would say
we are usually done about 4 p.m. In the launch sequence, each owner gets a
minute or two in the slings to put a little bottom paint on the bottom of
the keel.
I would say an element of our success at this is our recognition that the
effort is clearly bigger than any one owner¹s boat, so each owner respects
it and takes care to be prepared. Among other things, you need to put your
longest lines at all four corners of the boat, so that it can be controlled
against the swing of the crane, aggravated by the wind at times. There is a
wind speed, perhaps 30 knots, that would stop us, but we have been extremely
lucky and haven¹t had a postponement in the seven years I been a member. But
of course, we have had times when it has been very hot, very cold or raining
heavily.
It¹s surely a bit of a shock to people that go out of the river in the
morning and come back that evening, because all of a sudden, our mooring
field is either full or empty, depending on whether it¹s spring or fall.
--Dave Shugarts
C-27 #4866 Cahoots (1981)
SR, A4, Outboard, Tiller, Dinette
Newtown (Housatonic River), CT
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website: http://www.BoatDiddly.com
~~~~_/)~~~~~~~~~~~~(\_~~~~
~~~~~ (\_~~~~
On 6/27/07 11:37 PM, "Harvey Rosenberg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi Dave,
> Hauled 40 boats a day?-I'm very impressed. At our club if we get 11 a day we
> are lucky. How do you it? Transfer car? No cradles allowed? Sail or Power?
> Boat sizes? No mast takedowns?
> Fork Lift and Travel Lift?
>
> Night Shift?
>
> Harvey Rosenberg C-27TR # 6023, 1985, M-18
>
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> Received: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:54:41 PM EDT
> From: David Shugarts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Subject: Re: catalina27-talk: cradle
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>> I hate to quibble, but this:
>> After the boat is on the cradle, check the jacks to make sure they are not
>> too tight or too loose.
>> is not really a good procedure. You should slack the jacks off to get the
>> pads out of the way. Lower the boat in the slings until she sits with her
>> keel on the dunnage (or blocking, as Tom Monrow calls it). Settle with the
>> issue of how she sits bow-high or -low, etc. Then you turn the jackscrews and
>> bring the pads up to the boat snugly. From year to year, the boat may hang
>> differently in the slings, etc., so you never assume she will just sit into
>> the cradle the way she did the previous season. Putting her in that way can
>> put stresses on the hull.
>>
>> At our boat club, we haul about 40 boats in one long grueling day. Each boat
>> comes out of the water at a different heel angle, depending on the way she
>> sat just as the slings took the strain. We often have to adjust the poppets
>> fore-aft and thwartships to get a good set.
>>
>> It¹s only an approximation, but mine sits well with a piece of 2 x 4 (i.e.,
>> the 1-3/4 part) under the very front of the keel.
>>
>> --Dave Shugarts
>>
>>
>> On 6/27/07 2:26 PM, "The Emmerichs" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> A few more comments:
>>>
>>> I would add two more pads centered between the front and rear pads. You can
>>> then lower diagonally opposite pads (left front and right rear) to paint
>>> bottom. Some folks are paranoid and still put in a temporary jack stand but
>>> I never have. The keel carries almost all the weight, the pads are there to
>>> keep it from falling over.
>>>
>>> I think the dimensions given in another post are right on. The trailer I
>>> had built is the same dimensions as the cradle the boat was on when I bought
>>> it.
>>>
>>> Mine sits with the keel flat on the trailer. I raise the tongue of the
>>> trailer so the cockpit drains back to the scuppers. I would think your yard
>>> would do the same thing for you. The front of the cradle would have to be
>>> raised about 3 inches.
>>>
>>> After the boat is on the cradle, check the jacks to make sure they are not
>>> too tight or too loose.
>>>
>>> John Emmerich
>>> 5874 Fortitude
>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: [email protected]
>>>> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 12:21 PM
>>>> To: [email protected]
>>>> Subject: Re: catalina27-talk: cradle
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Don't have pix, but here's a couple comments ...
>>>>
>>>> The fin keel is not square to or parallel with the waterline. It has a
>>>> slope of a few degrees fore to aft. So the blocking under your keel needs
>>>> to have the appropriate slope, or you need to set the boat down on the
>>>> blocking and adjust the pads to the boat. If you do the that, the boat
>>>> will sit leaning slightly forward, bow lower than stern, which is OK from
>>>> a support point of view. But, you'll need to cover it well cause water
>>>> will run inappropriately from cockpit lockers, companionway hatch, etc.,
>>>> and put a good bit of water inside your boat over time. (I'd rather not
>>>> admit how I learned this.)
>>>>
>>>> Tom Monroe
>>>> 6219 Different Drummer
>>>>
>>>> (sooooo happy that my boat's in the water this summer rather than sitting
>>>> on the cradle in the parking lot collecting the water discussed above)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Phillip HDz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>>> Sent by: [email protected] 06/26/2007 08:56 PM
>>>> Please respond to
>>>> [email protected]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> To
>>>> [email protected]
>>>> cc
>>>>
>>>> Subject
>>>> catalina27-talk: cradle
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi list
>>>> has anyone ever had thier boat on a cradle. got pics. like to know where
>>>> the
>>>> best places to have the boat sitting on the uprights.
>>>> Thanks
>>>> Phillip Day
>>>> Crystal Raven
>>>> 2549
>>>> East Sooke
>>>> Canada
>>>>
>>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>>> New Windows Live Hotmail is here. Upgrade for free and get a better look.
>>>> www.newhotmail.ca?icid=WLHMENCA150
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
