How you ask? Easy! I went by a construction site and found a scrap piece of 24-inches diameter, 3/4-inch thick, white, smooth, PVC sewar pipe. It was about 9-feet long. I cut some old acrylic into circles that fit over the ends (no manufactured caps available and they would've been too expensive anyway), used L-brackets as inner guides, lined it with insulated tubing and added hasps and padlocks to make the end covers. Painted them white to match the tube. I also cut some plywood into two cradles which are bolted to the trailer frame to hold it in place and support it. Multiple coats of outdoor heavy-duty white paint on them.
And voila! A 7-foot long storage tube, big enough to hold everything from boom to tiller to sails to PFD's - everything! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> It's so sturdy you can stand on it and it cost me practically nothing! Just the cost of the mounting hardware and end-cap hardware.
"But he said 7-foot long storage tube. I thought the tube was 9-feet? What happened to the other two feet?"
Ah! I cut a foot off of each end and then cut them in half. Lined the insides with foam and outdoor carpeting and mounted brackets to the bottom. Ditched the rollers on the trailer which could put dents in the hulls over time and made four foot long hull cradles to baby-soft support the huls. Even added upright pvc tubes with refelective tape the back ones to help guide the boat into the trailer at steep ramps when the trailer goes under.
Storage tube and hull cradles all for under a hundred bucks! I'm rather proud of my home-made ingenuity. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
The whole system works great except for one thing: If you launch the boat down a ramp off the trailer and dunk the trailer, make sure to remove BOTH end caps (not just the rear one) which with their insulated tubing forming nearly airtight seals... you wind up getting a 7-foot long by 2-foot wide floatation device. Enough to float the boat, trailer, rigging, and screaming crewman clinging to the trampoline! Found that one out the hard way the first time. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Yeah - I know what you're all thinking, "let's see some pics of this thing!" I've got them. They're just on the PC at home, so ya'll have to wait until tonight if I get any requests to post them. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
