Trailer Repairs

Last weekend, I decided to take the boat to the lake, even though the varnish work isn't complete, and most of the docking hardware is still removed.

No problem. My daughter and I improvised, and we had a great time out on the lake. One exception, (for me at least), was when we got into some rough chop with approximately 1-foot waves. That is NOT fun in a little boat like the Utility. I was very concerned about the boat getting swamped, or worse. I pushed through the waves very slowly, hoping to get through the chop to smoother water on the river. However, the further we went, the worse the chop became. The Utility is certainly not a rough-water boat.

So, I carefully turned the boat around and made my way back into a narrow channel that is protected from wind by mountains on either side. The water was much calmer, and staying in that area, we had a great time.

Unfortunately, on the drive up to the lake, one of the new amber side lights came loose from the trailer, and was dangling by its wires. I bought some electrical tape at the marina for a temporary fix.

The trailer has had other problems. For one, the winch that was on the trailer when I bought it last summer has never worked. I've had to improvise with a tie-down strap. It was overdue for a new winch, so I installed one over the weekend.

Another problem with the trailer has been the location of the winch stand. More specifically, the problem was the location of the bow stop. It was much too far forward. With the boat pushed all the way up to the boat stop, about 6 – 8 inches of the bunks extended aft, past the transom... meaning the boat hull was not being as fully supported by the bunks as possible.

It wasn't possible to move the winch stand any further back on the tongue of the trailer, due to the tilt trailer release lever blocking its way. However, due to the shape of the winch stand, I realized that I could simply turn it around backwards and have plenty of room to move the bow stop aft. 

I had to drill some new holes in the winch stand in order to reposition the bow stop arms properly. However, it all worked like a charm.

Winch stand reversed 180 degrees and repositioned. As you can see, I was also about to replace the bow roller. However, the existing roller axle was too large in diameter, so I'll need to buy another one.

New winch for the trailer.

My daughter's superb tape job on the dangling trailer light.

I also finally bought a bilge pump, but haven't installed it yet.

By turning the winch stand around, I was able to reposition the boat far back enough that the hull is now supported along the full length of the bunks.