I'm going to be taking my new to me H 18 to Texas from Chicago and back this June. The trailer uses the hard rubber V blocks available everywhere for powerboats plus two rear rollers. I'm thinking that might be fine for a local haul with my solid glass '82 TheMightyHobie18, but 1200 miles each way might leave me with emergency repairs before the Texas200. I know Mary and Rick are proponents of the flatbed with ply and carpet over a regular trailer base. Any other favorite options? I'd rather not spend as much on trailer bunks as I did on the cat.

Dan

Make carpeted bunks out of 2x8's or 2x10's (same principle as the flatbed). They will flex to match the rocker of the hull. Wet down the carpet to slide boat off on to beach wheels.

Replace the rollers with bits of 2x6 covered in indoor/outdoor carpet. I like to put some high density foam (like a couple of layers of 1/2" anti-fatigue mat from local hardware stores) under the carpet to provide better conforming to the hull. Boat will still slide on/off quite easily and the loads willo now be much better distributed across the keel line. It helps if the boards can pivot some.

Some people make their own cradles out of that white plastic PVC pipe (of appropriate diameter) and gluing carpeting on them. It has been explained somewhere a long time ago on this forum, I think.

After you put the boat on the rollers on the trailer, you can slip the "cradles" between the rollers and the hull on each side, fore and aft, to distribute the load.

good ideas folks. I think I'll try to go ahead with the padded and carpeted 2"x8" or 10" bunk...I have the 4 point tie down setup, but for the longer trip I was thinking of going with over the hull straps too for the belt and suspenders approach.

Dan

Yes, all of the options above work best when in conjunction to adding straps or tying down with line....

Here is a picture of what happens when you dont use tiedowns and make a turn

and another

"emergency repairs before the Texas200"

Whats the Texas 200? Do you mean the "Dash"?

Lee

To make "bunks" cut some Pressure treated 2x8's to 14" long, stack them two high and bolt them onto the trailer crossbars w/ carriage bolts ... cover w/ 1/2"-1" styrene and then w/ nylon carpet. The pressure treated wood is so the wood doesn't rot after 4-5 years ... the styrene and nylon carpet will not retain water and cause gellcoat blisters.

Be careful of placing straps "over" the boat ...as you travel down the highway the straps will vibrate in the wind ... beating against the hulls. That is the main reason I switched to the 4 corner strap/tie-down system. Before installing the 4 corner system to prevent the "hull beating" I wrapped foam around the straps at the appropriate places and then covered them w/ "Knee High Tube Socks that I had cut the toes out of. That worked for several years.

HarryMurphey
H18mag /#9458, Fleet 54/Div11
P19MX w/spin /#86, CRAC

Nope. That's for spin cats and it's a race.
The www.texas200.com is a cruise or perhaps more like a raid. Camp each night 40 miles up the beach.

Dan

Simply rotate the straps- meaning put turns in them, to avoid this nasty destructive flapping/drumming. I put some toeless socks on them too. Works great.
I have an orphan P19 hull!

H Murphey is correct about the vibration. We just trailered our Hobie 18 Magnum from Buffalo NY to St. Petersburg, Fl. I did have straps going over the front and rear sections of the boat and they did vibrate. The rear one actually chafed to exhaustion because of the vibration and I had to cut it and retie it. On the way home, we'll go back to four corner tie downs. I had a nice set, but they rusted away. Maybe home depot will have a shorter set.

As far as trailering a boat, we have cradles in the front and a single roller in the back. We've never had any damage trailering. The only extra care we take is to make sure the wheel bearings are repacked before the trip; a task I do every time I put away the boat for the winter. Make sure you have covers on the bearings, so they don't spray grease all over.

Wyatt

tie the beams to the trailer, not the hulls. Is this what people mean by 4 point/corner tie down?