Harry Krause wrote:
K. Smith wrote:

sue sanchez wrote:

There's an 18 foot sailboat I am interested in buying but it has a
fixed keel of about 3.5 feet. I've only had boats with a swing keel.

Can a boat with a fixed keel like this be LAUNCHED from the trailer or
does it require a crane to sling it into and out of the water?


Yes!!! @ 18 ft it's still not a "big" boat but might be a little
heavier than the average trailer sailer of the same size.

You will need to have a normal trailer changed a bit; to support if
properly, maybe some guides to ensure the keel ends up where you intend
& some fold down side pipes that will give you 4 pipes to float between
till the trailer comes up under her......any good steel fabrication
place can do it & probably make some good suggestions also.

When you say the keel is 3.5 feet; is that the total draft?? Because
you'll probably need to unhook the trailer for launch & retrieve, using
a length of chain between the whatever & trailer also with most pleasure
boat launching ramps you will probably have to play the high tides so
you don't drop off the end of the ramp chasing enough depth.



Really? I'd certainly want to examine potential launch ramps befure
suggesting a boat with a 3.5' draft could be launched and retrieved from
a trailer without going through a hell of a lot of trouble. You'd need a
damned steep ramp to find that much water at the back of a trailer
designed for an 18' boat, especially if you don't want to soak the back
wheels of the tow vehicle. Plus, the paved area under water of most of
the ramps I've seen stops at a certain point, and you might find the
wheels of that trailer off the psved area and in the mud. If that
happens, there will be hell to pay to get that boat on the trailer and
out of the water.

You are nothing but a non boat owning lying idiot:-) Till recently in
this NG you had no clue that boat trailer winches had more than one gear
ratio:-) Now you seek to tell us about what "you" would do, a joke surely.

An 18 ft boat even with a 3.5 ft draft should be easy to set up as
trailerable, at least by competent boat people & you are neither:-)

K




A passing thought:
Has anyone else noticed that Krause & Gould seem to have not started
"off topic" political threads in our NG the last day or so???


Yawn.


Hmmm this

is a great improvement it's as if we just pressed the button & flushed
hui & gui (although gui would still be spruiking spam underwater:-)).
All our NG needs now is for the return of some of the old great
knowledgeable posters that they chased away with their OT political
nonsense.


At least a half dozen of the best posters who ever appeared here left
because of your craziness and said so.

Hope I can add you to that list of departed soon, like you all proven
liars & spammers:-)

K