On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 09:38:58 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

Very few of the large boats winterized where we keep ours are properly
supported, in my opinion.

Most of the large boats are being held off the hard by jacks or by wood
blocks jacked into place and only at four places on the boat, two at the
stern and two forward of amidships.

My feeling is that if you are storing a boat on land, it ought to be on
a cradle, a device that supports most of the bottom and spreads the
loads out fairly equally. Supporting the weight of a large boat of many,
many tons displacement on four tiny points means that most of the boat's
weight is unsupported and will put undue stress on unsupported areas.

Agree? Disagree?

What kind of cradle?

For a wood boat, I would agree if the boat was secured along the whole
length of the boat instead of two or four places. Most cradles only
secure at the bow or stern - essentially much the same as jacks.

It's my opinion that for large vessels (say over 25 feet), the jacks
should be used as stabilizers and the boat should be supported along
the keel by blocks. My Contender 31 is supported at three places
along the keel and four jacks front and rear. The weight is
essentially distributed along the keel and the jacks are there only to
keep it upright and level.

However over the years I have looked at a ton of boats that have only
been on jacks, incuding wooden boats, and there does not seem to be
any problems arising from that method of storage. There was one Egg
Harbor that I looked at that had been on the "hard" for ten years and
the hull looked fine - not even any crazing of the fiberglass.

While I have an opinion on how I store my own boat, I can't honestly
say that my method is any better than the ordinary four jack approach
used in most marinas that store on hard points.

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
----------
The years will bring their Anodyne,
But I shall never quite forget,
The fish that I had counted mine
And lost before they reached the net.

Colin Ellis, "The Devot Angler" quoted
in A. R. Macdougall, Jr's "The Trout
Fisherman's Bedside Book" (1963)