[Rhodes22-list] Retrieval of Boat

[Charles Henthorn]

Claude:
    Good post.  I don't remember the 'Rhodies' discussing the pros and cons of handling the loose shrouds and preparing for road trips.  With the mast raising equipment, stepping the mast is the least of my worries traveling.  The big issue is how to efficiently and quickly secure the loose shrouds and genoa draped over the lowered mast in preparation for a road trip.  My most recent "packing plan" has been to:
     1.  Remove the back inners from the mast raising rig, inserted a mat between the hoist and deck cranking the hoist down securely against the bow cleat so it is still installed but not bouncing on the deck, then taping these shrouds together and securing them to the lowered mast above the foredeck;
     2.  Removing the traveller bar (rides in the cabin) and pulling the middle of the back shrouds back toward the front, taped them together (using plastic electrical tape that can be cut quickly upon arrival) and secure the shrouds to the lowered mast about mid-point with a line;
     3.  Pull the middle of the side shrouds (between the spreaders and the chainplates) together, taped them, to the rear and secure them (without too much tension) to the lowered mast about mid-cockpit;
     4.  Pull the middle of the front inners back, taped them together, and secure to the lowered mast over the cockpit;
     5.  Install 3 genoa supports to the mast -- one above the bulkhead --- one about 3 ft back of the bow pulput and one about midway between the other two ( I have built 3 sets of two boards that bolt together with 4 bolts about 7" long ---2 bolts are positioned below the bottom of the lowered mast and 2 above it---the boards are snugged against each side of the lowered mast and extend up to permit the genny to lay between the extended portions to prevent the genny from remaining centered above the lowered main to avoid it falling off the sides of the lowered mast;
     6.  Move the lowered mast to one side or the other of the back mast support so it can be secured to one side of the support to keep it from turning during the trip;
     7.  Lift the lowered mast and jib furler up to be lowered on a wooden bow support that fastens to the bow pulpit and --- with straps aroung both the mast and genoa --- keeps the mast from turning during the trip along with keeping the genny directly above the mast;
    8.   Using bungy straps to put some tension on the maize of shrouds to minimize the flopping during travel; 
     9.  Attaching lines from beam cleats to the end of the spreaders as added precaution to keep mast from turning during trip;
     10.  Encircling the mast and genny with 3 or more lines as added precaution in keeping the mast and genny and collapsed boom secure and as one unit; and,
    11.  Listening and watching all the way home or to the destination about all that flapping and movement of shrounds and worrying that something is going to come loose during the trip.
     As you can see from #11, I'm not satisfied with the way I do it---believing there must be a faster, better way.  Any suggestions?
  Rex
    

Claude Cox <ccc974 at comcast.net> wrote:
  Hello Everyone;

I'm mostly a lurker on this list, but occassionally I have something to say---like now.

I pulled my celtic Lass today, for the first time; it started out well, and went up from there. Following the Commodore's instruction manual made the experience an awesome one! I drove the boat onto the trailer, and it centered just like the instruction's say it will. Because of the shallow water at the ramp, I used the 10' tongue extension, and backed into the water until there was about 2 1/2 feet of bunk above water. 

The trailer is a 1988 Trailmaster, single axle, which I purchased from Peter Thorn this past spring. I replaced the bunks, recovered the bow stop bunks, and, at PT's suggestion, installed what WM calls "Trailer Sliks (P. 757 in the catalog). They worked beautifully, as they provide a slick surface, for an extended time, on which the boat can move. I installed a 5,000 # winch strap, which worked like a charm; as I pulled the boat out of the water, it held the bow eye close, even as the angle of the strap changed when the stern settled onto the trailer. The bow eye came up "eye-to-eye" with the winch, but the boat didn't move as I pulled up the ramp, which was a challenging ramp because of its somewhat severe grade (at least for this boat retrieval virgin, it seemed to be severe). The tow vehicle is a 2000 Ford Explorer, 2WD, 4.0L V6 engine. My son-in-law helped with this adventure, and with the two of us in the vehicle, along with "stuff" one accumulates on a boat, we wer
e at the limit of this vehicle, however. 

The bow stop is on an adjustable arm. It was extended all the way toward the stern of the trailer as I retrieved. Leaving it there, once we hit the road the trailer began fish-tailing at about 45 MPH. Moving the winch toward the tongue, I winched my 3000 # Rhodes forward (a real tribute to the trailer sliks) until the edge of the rear port was over the axle of the trailer (another PT-suggestion). That gave me another 10 mph, which was plenty for the roads over which I was towing.

Several of you on the list are in the decision-making process about how to equip your Rhodes. If you get nothing else, GET THE MAST HOIST SYSTEM!!! At least for me, it is worth its weight in gold. Lest I seem too fulsome about this experience, there was a slightly down side--preparing for the road. We were going just 40 miles, so how we prepared didn't seem as critical as preparing for 400 miles. Still, getting all the shrouds and loose lines secured presented a challenge. I'm sure finding a satisfactory way to prepare for the road will come in time, however. What we wound up with was a pretty messy bundle, but when we got to the end of the trip, it was still all just where we had put it.

When I returned home at the end of the day, I celebrated my success with one of those drinks Rummy talks about all the time--what's it called Rumster? I had one....then another....then another. And as I have come to the end of my post, I'm going to have another.

Peace ya'll. 
Claude 

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