For those of you in the snowy regions a three or four place snowmobile trailer works pretty well and you can get a used aluminum 4 place tandem axle with brakes for about $2500. Most are full legal width at 102"

these have some pics of these high tech homebuilt trailers!

Here are a few pics of my Nacra 5.2/EZLoader trailer and winch setup.

And a picture of the pole for the mast stepper.

and a final picture of the hull bunk. I took a short digital movie of the remote winch operation... I just need to find a reasonable place to post it.

youtube is pretty good for video stuff

Harry,

Is the "good luck" meant for success in getting the section of pipe shaped the way you want it, or getting it heated in the oven without getting caught by a wife/girlfriend. I think on some level, I am still in trouble for running some automotive parts thru the dishwasher back in my Mustang Restoration days. ( I STILL remember THAT conversation )Not sure I wanna take a chance on putting boat trailer parts in the oven. It IS a heck of a good idea, and maybe the next time she and her sister do a "Girls Weekend, I'll be getting some new trailer bunks formed up . Thanks for the additional tip on the maximum temp to use when softening the sections of pipe. Those sections work pretty well on 18's without any custom fitting, but I am working on a 16 for a friend this winter.

Stephen
Hobie 18

Stephen,

Shaping the plastic pipe is the easy part. After the first time I acquired one of those "toaster ovens" (large size) and I now use that out in the garage (out of sight). Be sure to use a oven themometer and slowly bring the tempature up checking every 10 minutes or so. When you get it just right its like a thick sheet of modeling clay. I've molded it by using a upside down hull or by using rachet straps and "pulling" the plastic pipe up against the hull. I like the upside down hull method best. ( ...that's why you keep the extra set of hulls in the backyard, to use as molds!!!

Would you have been in trouble if they were Chevy parts???

2952miles --- Newtown Square Pa to Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia.

Harry

You can see the exciting wireless mast raising footage here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQXXhkEY4Rw

and a little mast lowering here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SO2wTH_OFg

The full feature version is just too large a file for youtube.

Dean

DAMN ... that elimenates the need for the Scandanavian Bikini Demostration Team ....

Very slick!!! my 51yr old body is jealous !!!

Four Star Crafty Award


Harry

very impressive!

you must have the captive mast base right?

what spin are you using on your 5.2?

Dean, all i gotta say is SWEET!!!! That trailer looks real nice and LOVE the idea of the winch/mast raiser along with video. Job well done!

Jonathan Grant
Mesa, AZ
Nacra 20

If i would have told anyone 5 years ago i would be exited about watching a remote controled winch videos.... i would have been laughed at... but a remotely controlled wench!!! now thats a video

Eric, Johnathan, Andrew, thank you you for the kind words. I kind of thought I was hanging out here with a crazy idea better suited for monster garage.

Eric - I do have the captive mast base and rigged for only the main and jib. We need to rebuild our basic sailing skills before I add a spin. Maybe by the end of this season we will be ready. FYI - You can't see it in the pictures, but I have most of Airborne's 5.2 rigging (sails, barber hauler setup, main and jib blocks, and spares). The hulls need cleaning and polishing then I plan to install our CF numbers, grip tape, foot straps and new graphics. That should make it presentable and functional.

Before we head out to sea, we also need to replace our 10 year old sailing gear (wet suits and splash jackets). Hate to be cold and uncomfortable the first few times out as I try to rekindle the family buzz for sailing.

By the way Eric, thank you for the youtube recommendation. I learned something new last night (how to post a video)... that every 14 year old already knows. Now I just need to figure out how to shoot a short movie that doesn't consume 100MB of space in less than 2 minutes.

Dean

for smaller file sized movies, ie youtube type movies, i've stopped using my digital video camera and started using the video function of my digicam. it can easily be set for various levels of compression before shooting

A great way to shoot longer movies and post them is to use a newer MAC. If you have a friend with a MAC they may be willing to help. They all come standard with IMovie. It is a very user-friendly program, and has pre-set output settings that will provide good results under 100 megs) and have decent quality.

Windows Movie Maker that comes with Windows Vista has always worked well for me.

Uh Oh....

I see a good ol' PC vs. Mac fight coming along <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I used 12" PVC pipe scrap leftovers from construcion sites.

Cut them with a jib saw.

Carpeted them with contact cement.

Attached various ways to trailer.

It's much better than 1 point of contact, and almost free.

Greg asked for the location of the flatbed posts. Check them out at http://www.catsailor.com/forums/sho...4&an=0&page=0#Post125634