How long does your boat stay in the water?

Does anyone locally have one of these tele-handling forklifts. The yard where I store my boat use a 5 tonne one to run an 18 tonne trailer with adjustable hydraulic supports down a ramp. My boat is 9 tons, 6ft draught, and it can haul it out easily.

For a normal trailer you would just make an attachment that replaces the forks and when the forklift's wheels get to the water's edge you use the tele-boom to push your trailer out as far as you need. For a 3.5 tonne boat the tele-handler would not need to be that big.

 

Murdomack, the fact that I write English and have internet access leads you to believe I live in civilization.
The truth is: here is nothing! This part of the island has 50 permanent inhabitants on 60 sq. km., half of them (much) older than my 67 years and living in nearly the stone age. Phones with a dialing disc are the only sign of advancement.
There are at least 1500 tourists running around and a religious group dressed in long white gowns and that's it. I'm pretty sure there has never been a fork lift in this part of the world and if there ever comes one, people will talk about it for weeks.

Do you have any bright ideas involving a stubborn donkey?

 

I envy you.

 

If the donkey has a saddle you could mount a winch on it.

Seriously, though I just read this whole thread for the first time. I don't envy the ramp problems you have described.

I haven't laid eyes on a rotary(dialing disc) phone in quite a while, but I still have my slide rule.

 

No, but it would be fun to watch if you let it run amok among the nudists and the white gown set.

 

CDK,

I don't envy your ramp situation either but I do love your buy line "How Long Is Your Boat In The Water"

I am inclined to respond: "Only until I punch the throttle, then I'm in and out all day!"

-Tom

 

CDK, you just made my day. that's the funniest (and maybe saddest) thing I've read on the internet since I don't know when.

 

Are there small houses available?!? This sounds like the most ideal place. What country does it belong to, if you don't mind me asking?

 

The Adriatic Sea separates Italy from the area once known as Yugoslavia. It borders Hungary and Slovenia to Macedonia if my geography is correct.

 

No, Hungary and Macedonia are landlocked. (There was a time when Rijeka belonged to Hungary, but it was very very long ago.) Slovenia, Croatia, very little Bosnia-Hercegovina, Montenegro, Albania.

 

I'm glad having provided some laughs.

This island has been Austria, Hungary, Italy, Yugoslavia and who knows what else, but is part of Croatia now.
The picture I painted applies mainly to the southern part, with a handful of deserted villages and a single 8 miles long, narrow tarmac road leading to the nudist camping place, the sole source of income and employment.

I did exaggerate things a bit. We do have electricity on a more or less regular basis, an analog telephone system and in summer unlimited hot water supply because the black plastic pipes aren't dug in. We also get mail twice a week and there is a dumpster.
Facilities like grocery shops, hardware store, banks and the shipyard are on the next island, connected by an ancient swing bridge.

When asked to describe the place I once wrote "this is as close as you can get to paradise without having to give up the internet".

 

It seems that when the pressure raises the sea level to your advantage, the waves make landing your boat too dificult. Is there any rock available locally to make a small breakwater?
There's always one guy in these kind of places that can play the rules. Are they in the EU yet, they would probably qualify for grant funding? Can you post a picture of your ramp?

 

A picture of the ramp, I added the white line where the concrete ends.
You are looking to the NE where the prevailing wind (bora) is coming from, 14 miles of open sea, depth up to 500 ft.
The dark area just below the waterline is seaweed, so the picture was taken at normal high tide.

We are not in the EU, but negotiations are in progress.
I guess it would be possible to do something under water, anything visible draws attention. I took the liberty to build a contraption with a cradle to lift my boat and was pouring concrete when two uniforms appeared and made pictures. Shortly after I was summoned by the local authorities to return the coastline to it's original state or else...
I kept using the installation for several years but roughened up the concrete and put some rocks on it. Had to abandon it because the sea level keeps rising every year; not the average, but extremes during bad weather.

 

I have a trailer with vertical guide posts with PVC rollers over them. Works fine, but they have to be well attached to the trailer or they get bent (lots of leverage).

I would consider detaching the trailer from the vehicle - use the boat to pull the trailer into the water and then a bumper cable winch to pull the trailer out of the water. Of course that requires a liftable and/or removable nose wheel. But you may not require a ramp at all.

Plastic, preferably UHMW, over wood works well for bunks (cheaper than rollers - my trailer has no hull rollers at all).

 

It looks nice and peacefull there but if you need more depth and can only get that with waves, I would not be trying to trailer a 3.5 tonne boat. You are liable to damage the boat and worse, you may damage yourself or your helpers.

If you built a trolley cradle so that you only needed about 20 cm below the keels would you be able to get the boat on that in good weather? I suppose it depends on your props and rudder. You should have a couple of anchors/moorings run out to position your stern.

Once you've pulled it up the ramp, you could jack it up and attach road wheels for towing it to your property. It's a bit of work but you will only do it every year or so. You could do a joint-venture with the local tractor man so that he can offer the service to other boat owners when your boat is afloat.