"txmxrider" wrote in message
...
Hello,

Please forgive me for asking a newbie question. I'm considering getting a
smallish (19'-23'), swing keel, water ballast, sailboat for family
recreation on local lakes. I don't know much about sailing but I've been a
power boat owner for 30 years. Big difference, I know, but bear with me.
For
budget reasons I prefer not to have to rent a slip and would like to keep
my
boat at home and trailer to the lake on weekends. In all of my years of
boating I have never seen anyone trailer a sailboat to the lake, raise the
mast, and launch. Every sailboat I have ever seen either came from a slip
or
at the very least, was sitting on a trailer stored at the marina with the
mast up and presumably launched right there in that manner. I see photos
and
ads for 'mast raising' systems but I have to assume that it's too much
trouble to trailer a sailboat on weekends or more people would be doing
it.
Obviously it would be more involved than launching say a bass boat, but
really, how much trouble is it? Is the idea totally impractical? Are some
models easier than others to launch?

Although I'm not a lazy guy, far from it actually, I'm still very
concerned
that a boat with a poor work-to-fun ratio will sit in the driveway and not
get used that much.

I appreciate any thoughts the group may have on this subject, pro and con.
--
Everett
'04 KTM 300 EXC (Treefinder)
'75 Kawasaki S3 400 (2-stroke triple)
'74 BMW R90/6 (Gentleman's Express)

The only problem with trailering a sailboat is the amount of time it takes
to rig the mast and attach the sails and other gear. I trailered a Hunter
23 for a few years and it would take an hour by the time I was ready to sail
or drive away. I had to raise the mast, tension the stays and shrouds,
attach the boom, run the halyards and sheets, raise the jib on the furler,
run the jib sheets, attach the main, put the anchor on the roller, attach
the dodger, launch the tender, attach the outboard and by the time this was
done, the beer was chilled. I had to do everthing in reverse when it was
time to leave. It ended up being much easier to leave it on a mooring. One
consideration is the length of the tongue on the trailer. Most boat ramps
are not made for boats with keels. I had an eight foot extension on the
tongue that allowed me to back the boat in further and guides on the trailer
that helped to align the boat when loading it back on the trailer.

Silver K