How to get your boat out of the water

[Trimix]

After my recent trip to Corsica I stayed around to watch them take the boat out of the water. Curious to see how it was done, and anxious to ensure they didn't drop it

Attaching the straps (with the missus employed to hold it steady)


Clear of the water


Moving it over dry land, straps still holding


Safely on the trailer


Off to the storage yard till next time


They made it look easy, which isn't surprising given that's what they do for a living. Just need to come back to work for a while and save up for the next trip now.

[Starovich]

I used to do this all the time in the US and Greece.

Tip for anyone doing it for the first time, have lines going from the strops to bow and stern to prevent the strops from slipping (as here in pic 2)

[Xk59D]

Good tip about slipping.

Last time at kip marina they put my boat in and the strop slipped 6" and broke a bit of gelcoat off and it jammed in the strop and scratched the part of the hull the strop came to rest on......doudle grrrrr.

I'm not sure if doing this to a rib is a good not bad thing, it looks to put a lot of stress on the tubes, on the other hand you are not putting an expensive trailer in the salty stuff.

Cheers

[Trimix]

I watched a load of clips on YouTube where boats being craned out of the water go wrong - so watching my own was an anxious moment.

But these guys do it for a living and were competent. He's also a family friend of my wife and the Corsican Mafia code means he has an obligation to look after the boat well

The solid bars above the straps seem to hold the straps out quite a bit from the tubes, so I reckon they are not under too much stress.

It was in the air for about 2 mins tops.

The slipway looks nice, but the bit that's underwater slopes down at 45 degrees, that's way too steep a change for a twin axle trailer. It was a nightmare putting the boat in the water using the slipway. As soon as the rear axle drops over the edge the front of the trailer wants to lift up into the air - which put the van in danger of lifting its wheels off the ground.

I mentioned it to the guy looking after my boat and he said they don't use the slipway as its a daft design. Fine for small boats, but crap for larger ones or anyone with a twin axle trailer.

[Starovich]

You tend to get less chance of slippage on a Rib than a sailboat as there is less hull rocker in a rib.


As you say these guys know what they are doing so I'm sure it was safe.

Just pointing out to others who may use crane/hoist for the first time, or may have squeaky bum the first time their pride and joy is hung in the air some things to watch out for

[Dry Run]

Nice pics. Takes me back to the days before we got our first forklift.

Using "spreader beams" (as here) or extra-long lifting chains, does lessen the angle of "pinch" and help prevent over-stressing the tubes. However, the trade off is that you have less grip on the boat and more likelyhood of the strops slipping.

If you are lifting a boat that you know / have lifted before, and you're happy with the hull design not causing much pressure for the stops to slip (I guess that's the case here) then it's down to the slinger/banksman to make the call. I'd be more cautious if lifting a boat out of the water for the first time.

Looks like these guys have it under control