Hi all, first post on rib.net. Wife and I purchased small 3.5m with 25hp to cruise around, snorkelling etc so been reading your forums about correct set up etc.
Looking at the front skid, surely this should be rotated 90 degrees so running length ways along the boat? And also should be pushed up so taking some of the weight?
Lastly, wanting the 4 skids to take more weight so I can put a keel guard on it, is that ok?
I'm guessing that bunk is tapered the way it is to avoid having a sharp edge jam into the hull when you are loading the boat. It looks to be supporting the transom fine so I would leave it alone.
You should be able to flip the boat over to put the keel guard on.
My apologies, I was referring to the one on the right in behind the mud guard, you can see it's not even touching the boat, and also runs up the hull instead of along it..?
Its fairly common to have bumpers along the bottom rails of a trailer which only contact the hull during loading and unloading. To act as guides. Could that be for that purpose? I'm guessing the hull is currently resting on the two rear bunks (the blue bits) and a roller in the front under the keel. The last point of contact would be the bow stop. For such a small boat that would be typical.
You're right on how it's set up, resting on the two transom bunks and front keel roller. Thinking in going to align those two front skids so they run the same direction is the rear ones and are at lead ting taking a little weight of the hull..
The rear bunk: is it deforming the hull towards the front of the bunk? You do NOT want to deform the hull such that it puts a hook in the hull. Does really weird things to handling.
Great spotting, I think you're right! I need to move those bunks. I've attached 2 pics, one showing how I think the front of the bunk is pushing in to the hull. The 2nd, I'm thinking I'll move the bunk outwards to the small flat spot, called a chine I think? Is that the right spot for it to rest on?
That's why I prefer longer bunks, rather than more smaller ones (though to be fair, mine are mounted in two locations and don't swivel, either.)
The chine would be an OK location for the bunk; ideally you might get a bit of self-centering action going on when loading. The problem you may run into though is lowering the hull on the trailer may introduce interference between the hull and fenders.
