If you have one of those variable pitch props Glenn, make sure you set a
"stopper" to only allow about 15% pitch forward & backwards until you get
out on the water.
Friend hadn't set it & on a SAAB on first launch used reverse to leave the
cradle & spent the next 15 minutes trying to negotiate amongst other boats
in reverse.
For some reason that variable pitch prop won't leave reverse (can't move
pitch lever) under power unless killing all revs or shutting down motor.
With motor idling with no pitch set it sometimes has been known to gradually
increase pitch to reverse. (repairs to prove it)
He has learnt to live with it now ..............
BruceM


"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:EB0Db.4223$JD6.1488@lakeread04...
You guys are scarring the hell out of me! I have to disassemble the
shed from around the boat, then hire a crane to lift RUTU over a fair
size cedar tree and lower it onto the mover's trailer. Everyone wants a
picture of the boat flying 40' in the air. Once I get to the marina it
has to be lifted onto the keel and set a 65' mast. One little mistake
could cause a lot of damage.

To complicate things, there are only 3 marinas within 4 hours capable of
launching RUTU. The marina that I had arranged to let me complete the
commissioning myself sold out to Hinkely this summer and nobody is sure
what the yard rules will be. OTOH, PJ is now Thunderbolt Marina and
their rules may have loosened up a little.

Ron White wrote:
So there are others ( probably many?) that have had years of hard loving
work put at risk during launch.
My own story with "Hammer" is one of premature launch. I had all the
friends
there with video cameras, (which I came to regret) as things went
horribly
wrong. My tale of woe begins when I pulled my hull from it's cradle
dolly
onto the boat trailer so I could more the hull outdoors and install tee
top
and center console, ect. To facilitate this skidding operation I
liberally
sprayed the carpet of my trailer bunks with a silicone spray, that stuff
really works and kept on working after I had forgotten about it. Flash
forward to launch day, cameras rolling champagne ready . I back the boat
to
the ramp un-hook it then have a friend continue to slowly back the boat
down
as I held the bow line. The plan was to stop the boat after the trailer
began to get wet and say a few words and break the bottle. There was
this
little sound, pop, that still rings in my ears as the boat broke the
bounds
of friction and slowly began to slip back . Fortunately the motors were
down
as the boat slid of the back of the trailer the skegs landed on the
concrete
ramp, ouch!, and skidded to a stop. The skegs got about 1/8" shorter but
saved the ass end of my hull from some serious payment rash. Next
problem
has to get the boat off the trailer as there was no way to pull it back
unto
my formerly pretty new aluminum semi-custom trailer which was bent in
ways
you wouldn't believe. After some head scratching, and
scrap lumber ect. we were able to complete the launch. The boat suffered
surprisingly little, the trailer sprung back to shape, but I didn't.
Then
there was the video which included me pulling on the bow line trying to
stop
a 30' boat as it was headed to the water on its own. I watched it once
and
threw it away, never want to see that again.


--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com