Hauling-out

The first time I have used a rail system to haul Mahalo Moi for bottom paint. I have only used a travel-lift in the past. The last travel-lift haul-out caused some damage to a rub rail so I wanted to try something different. Very pleased with the job.

The yard we use keeps big burlap bags filled with sawdust handy for use under the Travelift slings if the the boat construction is such that damage to a rub rail could occur when the boat is lifted. The bags are placed between the slings and the hull just below the rub rail.

But a railcar is a good method to haul a boat with. The main problem is that it limits where a boat can be put, so its not often a cost-effective solution for a yard, particularly one with a lot of potential boat parking space.

Ray, I presume you entered the marina's shallow entrance without delay/difficulty. Do you recall the amount of bottom clearance?



When I passed the entrance an hour earlier on my last Napa River trip, the width of the entrance was one-third as wide.

This particular yard, Napa Valley Marina, on the Napa River, also has a semi and trailer which can be utilized when work other than simple bottom jobs are required. The trailer is similar to those used to transport boats longer distances and the boat can be placed wherever needed in the yard for the work being ordered. The trailer has cross members that are removed after the boat is set on the ground and blocked, like a travel lift.

The sawdust-filled bags are a good idea. The yard that damaged my rails were using carpeted wood blocks but one of the blocks slipped during the lift when no one was looking (or didn't care!).

markpierce said:

Ray, I presume you entered the marina's shallow entrance without delay/difficulty. Do you recall the amount of bottom clearance?

When I passed the entrance an hour earlier on my last Napa River trip, the width of the entrance was one-third as wide.

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Hey, Mark. I entered the marina at 2:15pm (one hour, fifteen minutes from Vallejo). High tide was approximately 4:10pm. I had three feet under my keel (I calibrate the sounder from the bottom of my keel as opposed to the water surface) when I entered. Which means that the water depth was about seven feet over the shoal. The average depth inside the marina was about 12 feet.

I had two feet of clearance when leaving Vallejo marina....

Giggitoni said:

... The last travel-lift haul-out caused some damage to a rub rail so I wanted to try something different...

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Ray, don't recall how your rubrail is constructed. I don't contemplate such a problem with my SS-capped steel rubrails, or am I in denial? Here, before lift operator leveled the Coot.

Depending on if its solid or hollow, the SS rub rail capping can be crushed by a Travelift sling. Our rubrail capping is solid half-round bronze although the yard still uses the bags when they lift us.

It depends how wide the travel-lift is. Your photo shows the straps angled away from the rails so there would be less stress on them, if they were even touching (can't tell for sure from the photo). However, you may have been lucky. Next time you haul-out make sure the travel lift is large enough to get the straps away from the rails (use blocks or bags), have them use a spreader bar, or go to Napa and use the rail system. From my recent experience, I'd use the later.

thanks for the info Ray! Looks like a nice yard. Do you have your boat back yet?

Pineapple Girl said:

thanks for the info Ray! Looks like a nice yard. Do you have your boat back yet?

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Should take it back to Vallejo this Friday. Then I leave Saturday for Missoula, Montana for about two weeks of work! Funny, huh? ....come home and spend more time and money of the boat. I love it

I forgot to mention, one of the things that is rewarding when using a rail system are the different boats which travel from the region to use it.

The boat below just doesn't lend itself well to a travel lift. It is a wood fish boat built by the Sitka Marine Ways in 1946. It's home port is Bodega Bay, California which is North of San Francisco Bay. John S., the owner, fishes salmon and halibut off the coast of Oregon. She has a single Detroit 6-71.

Don't you just love active boat yards?

The "other side" of boating:

At our Marina we have both a lift and a porter for moving yachts around the yard and into the shed for maintenance.

We bought Scout in Kentucky on the Ohio River. The closest travel-lift was in Cincinnati up river many miles.
Marine Sales and Service in Louisville was our closest option and they had a dozen or so A-frame trailers of different configurations and a couple of tractors.
Hauled power and sail up to 50 feet near as I could tell. Knew their stuff and did a great job.

Here's a link to a video of my "trailer boat."

dvd

Oops!

Not a good day.

BaltimoreLurker said:

Not a good day.

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I can relate to that. In August 1997 we hauled out (our last boat) at the boat yard in Des Moines, WA. They had pressure washed the bottom and were turning the boat around when the rear strap broke. The boat fell about 2 feet on pavement. It blew the rudder and aft part of the keel apart plus all kinds of other damage. Four months and $66,000 later we were back in the water (at a different boat yard). I kept a couple of the screws from the cabin sole as a reminder of why we prefer marine railways over travel lifts.

From litigation I was involved in many years ago, when a strap broke and a steel yacht/sailboat fell injuring a person onboard and damaging the yacht,I know the straps on travel-lifts are special products with identified SWL(safe working load). They should not be repaired by anyone but the manufacturer. Incorrect use or attachment can significantly reduce the SWL. The straps are strong if used correctly, checked for condition,and correctly maintained. The problem is whether slip operators do it correctly.
I also know of boats being dropped off cradles on rails. IMO one is no safer than the other. You depend on the competence of the operator,and, again IMO,some of them are cowboys, working by trial and error, while others are competent and careful. The trick is knowing who is good,and who is not, I don`t think it is a question of which system you use. Though you can usually get at more boat to antifoul if the boat is on a cradle put there by a travel-lift, than on a rail cradle.
I`ve seen a wooden IG50, huge volume boat, (built of meranti!) lifted by crane onto a hardstand supported by props after failure to slip on a rail cradle(stabilisers got in the way). The same yard routinely lifts float-planes onto hardstand for maintenance.
BruceK

We damaged our rub-rail on the lift when a screw head caught on the strap. We now drop a carpet scrap between the strap and rail.

"We now drop a carpet scrap between the strap and rail."

Most yards will have carpeted blocks of wood to place below the rail.

FF