In front of the sail tube...

I want to make a sail tube and probably put some kind of chest or box in front of it on the tongue of the trailer. What suggestions do you have for that chest or box? I'm trying to keep it cheap, but I do want to be able to see things - currently, we have a plastic cabinet with four drawers that keeps things nicely separate and organized.

Jonathan

get something by rubbermaid.

Make sure to drill some small holes in the bottom or sides so it can drain if you fill it fulla water.

Jonathan,

Try a couple of the big, black tool boxes they sell at Home Depot, and Lowe's. They're call "Tough Boxes", and yes, they are. The ones I bought cost $44 each. I put two of them on my Nacra trailer, and they have worked out great. I use one of them to store all my wet gear when we finish up and head home. It keeps it out of the van, and lets evrything else stay dry. Plus, you can lock them. I've had them on my trailer for about two years. I "U" bolted them on the tongue, and cross braces. I made my own "U" bolts out of flat bar and 3/8" bolts, and siliconed the washers where they bolt through. I agree that holes in the bottom will drain, but it will also let water in while driving down the road when it is raining. You may want to keep what's inside dry -- like tools, etc. I've never had problems with water inside, and they've stayed dry whenever it rains. I just leave the top cracked open when finished and any moisture inside dries. (No, I don't leave the wet gear inside the box.) I'd be glad to send you a picture if you're interested.

Good luck,

Don

Is this what you are talking about?

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDU...&search_text="tough%20box"&DRC=4

It might be the same as this:

http://www.contico.com/automotive-foam-wb.htm

Contico also seems to make other structural foam thingies:

http://www.contico.com/automotive-sub-foam.htm

Thanks for the tip - I will be looking around.

Jonathan

Jonathan,

Those are the ones --- Tuff Bins. We also put two of them on our ARC22 trailer. We cut a 6 inch long section of 4" diameter, sch 40 aluminum pipe in half, hetaed it up and closed it some in a vise, then through bolted one each on top of the boxes' lids, added some indoor/outdoor carpet inside the coupling and that is where we carry our cat trax. The boxes' lids carry the weight with no problem.

Good luck shopping.

Don

I have two boxes on my trailer. One is the "tuff box" style up front between the hulls, from Home Depot, I really like it. The other is a traditional "cross-bed truckbox", like you see on contractor's pickups - behind their rear window, hanging from one side of truck bed to the other with space under it. Example here :
http://www.contico.com/automotive-blow-tb.htm
I have it mounted parallel next to sail tube, back end sits on cross bar near axle, other end is up near the tuff box. It's perfect size for daggerboards & rudders, and misc stuff, and it's low profile to fit under the tramp. It's strong enough to walk on, and low profile to fit under the tramp - I hate catboxes that break when you (I) step on them.
It's not quite watertight for rainy road trips, but it is watertight & lockable in the parking lot.

Just got a Tuff Box - and I love it! I think one is enough for now, but I can already see where I could put a few more if I need the space later. By the way, if I just wanted to stuff Tuff Boxes next to the sail tube under the cat, how much clearance would I want to allow for?

Thanks!

Jonathan

Here's where mine is located.

Article on thebeachcats.com
Jack Hoying
Fort Loramie, Ohio

to put boxes under the cat, you not only need clearance under the trampoiline, but clearance for the dolphin striker during loading & unloading. Otherwise, you have to lift the front part of boat to clear dolphion striker over your box. There is usually not much vertical distance between bottom of hulls (where they sit on trailer rollers or pads) and bottom of dolphin striker.
I mounted a cross-bed style truck box parallel to sail tube, to get extra storage. This type :
http://www.contico.com/automotive-blow-tb.htm

For my N6.0 trailer, this spring I built a sail/gear box for a total cost of about $100 in materials. (The hinges, latches, and mounting brackets are the expensive items.) I gave the dolphin striker a couple inches of clearance and was still able to build a box that's 16 inches high (by 32" wide and 8.5 feet long).

To keep the heat down (which is not as much of a problem in Vermont as other places), I painted the box a glossy white.

I'm curious, though, about ventilation requirements. Assuming that the sails are put away dry and the temp inside stays cool, is there any reason for ventilating the box?

(I made the thing water-tight, using gaskets on the door. The bigger problem I've had in the past is from water coming in while on the highway in bad weather. My goal was to keep things dry while traveling.)

I made my box out of some plywood I had laying around the house and some brass door hinges. The problem is now my trailer floats when ramp launching, makes for a very intersting experence.

I had a car top luggage carrier laying around, just taking up space. I mounted it on my trailer. Light, water tight, and if I would ever need it I can alway take it off.

I've got the problem of the floating trailer too. Its not really a problem though, because it floats just below the water line so I just pull the boat over it, strap it down and pull her up the ramp. Easy as hell

I also used a car top luggage carrier. Used Sears model. Made cross support members from treated 2x2's attached with u-bolts to trailer frame. Works great. Holds a lot. Not very secure. I lock it but anyone with a pair of pliers could get in.

I acquired a 12" diameter pvc pipe at a great price... FREE! (thanks Tim!). The problem is that it is a few inches too short. I'm building a plywood box for the front of the trailer and the tube will feed into a hole in the back it. I'll get the extra length I need and only have to build one cover. I'm making it wide enough to hold my dagger boards. I'll post a picture when I am done.

Todd
TheMightyHobie18, MN

Jonathan,

Here's my Nacra trailer with two Tuff Boxes, SailBox, and cat trax slid in the back. Note added feature of Corona bottle opener mounted front left side of front box. That's extra!

Don
ARC22 #2226

Don

Hi Don,

The picture is helpful, at least as far as the sail boxes go. I'm a little confused about the Corona bottle opener, perhaps you can show me how to use it some time when we get together ;->

Jonathan

Re: the 12 inch tube that is too short? A tall polyethylene pail makes a great tube cap. It should fit the 12 inch PVC tube, bungee it up, add wood block stops if you need to.

Sam Evans and I worked on my trailer this Saturday - we mounted a sail tube, put a Tuff Box in front of it, and lowered the cross-bars on the trailer to make it easier to load and unload the boat. Esther and I sailed on Sunday, and it made it *much* easier to set up and take down, and there is now room in the car for *us*.

Sam also made sure that we tested the weight of the tongue to make sure that it was easy enough to lift and roll the trailer around by hand, but heavy enough to sit securely on the trailer ball.

I'm very happy with the current set up. And the advice I got here was very helpful for deciding what I wanted.

Thanks, folks!

Jonathan