Believe me - I've already thought of the drain plug.
We got to the cottage so late that we decided to wait until the next
day to launch it. It rained pretty hard that night. The next morning
hubby pulled the drain plug to let the water drain out. I made sure to
remind him to put that plug back in before we launched it!
I've just subscribed to Trailering Boats and Bass & Walleye Boats
magazines, and printed a bunch of stuff off from one of their websites
on towing, for future reference.

I think we have both the colored plastic/nylon ropes that came with
the boat from the guy we bought it from, plus I bought another regular
thicker rope. Why?


On Aug 23, 2:15 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"M. Baker" wrote in message

ups.com...

We just bought a 2001 Lund Mr. Pike a couple weeks ago. We went on
vacation last week, and of course had to take the boat with us. About
40 miles from home, the driver's side trailer tire blew out while on
the freeway going almost 70mph. Then, about 100 miles later, the OTHER
trailer tire blew out - this time we were only going 60mph, as we were
paranoid after the first blow-out.

By the way, this is just the beginning of the boat antics.

1) Sometimes you might need to stand in the water at the boat launch to get
the thing onto the trailer. Take your wallet out of your pocket, and maybe
your keys, too. Ramps are slippery.

2) Got a drain plug in the boat? One day, you may remove it while washing
the boat in the driveway. Then, you won't put it back in. Have the bilge
pump ready at the next launching. :-)

3) How long are your dock lines (ropes), and how thick? They're not the
colorful plastic kind, are they?

"M. Baker" wrote in message
ps.com...
Believe me - I've already thought of the drain plug.
We got to the cottage so late that we decided to wait until the next
day to launch it. It rained pretty hard that night. The next morning
hubby pulled the drain plug to let the water drain out. I made sure to
remind him to put that plug back in before we launched it!
I've just subscribed to Trailering Boats and Bass & Walleye Boats
magazines, and printed a bunch of stuff off from one of their websites
on towing, for future reference.

I think we have both the colored plastic/nylon ropes that came with
the boat from the guy we bought it from, plus I bought another regular
thicker rope. Why?


Plastic: If it's the scratchy kind, it's made for towing skiers or
something. It's stiff and will sometimes untie its own knots. That's not
good.

As to my more general question, try this in your yard on a very windy day.
Measure a distance of 25 feet. Try to throw a bundle of your boat rope into
the wind, to a person standing 25 feet away. If you can't do it in one
throw, your rope is too short and probably too light (skinny). One day,
you'll be trying to dock the boat when some sort of bizarre wind has kicked
up, and someone one the dock may offer to catch a line for you. You can
figure out the rest. Don't be one of those fools who's got shoelaces for
boat rope.

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"M. Baker" wrote in message
ps.com...
Believe me - I've already thought of the drain plug.
We got to the cottage so late that we decided to wait until the next
day to launch it. It rained pretty hard that night. The next morning
hubby pulled the drain plug to let the water drain out. I made sure to
remind him to put that plug back in before we launched it!
I've just subscribed to Trailering Boats and Bass & Walleye Boats
magazines, and printed a bunch of stuff off from one of their websites
on towing, for future reference.

I think we have both the colored plastic/nylon ropes that came with
the boat from the guy we bought it from, plus I bought another regular
thicker rope. Why?


Plastic: If it's the scratchy kind, it's made for towing skiers or
something. It's stiff and will sometimes untie its own knots. That's not
good.

As to my more general question, try this in your yard on a very windy day.
Measure a distance of 25 feet. Try to throw a bundle of your boat rope
into the wind, to a person standing 25 feet away. If you can't do it in
one throw, your rope is too short and probably too light (skinny). One
day, you'll be trying to dock the boat when some sort of bizarre wind has
kicked up, and someone one the dock may offer to catch a line for you. You
can figure out the rest. Don't be one of those fools who's got shoelaces
for boat rope.

This may not apply so much in your case..but the bow & aft lines should
normally be nylon.
If's better to have a little streatch and springness to allow for the ebb &
flow at a dock.
That polyproplene stuff may float but doesn't streatch.... so it might be
good if you were using it as a 'painter' on a dinghy.

M. Baker wrote:
Believe me - I've already thought of the drain plug.
We got to the cottage so late that we decided to wait until the next
day to launch it. It rained pretty hard that night. The next morning
hubby pulled the drain plug to let the water drain out. I made sure to
remind him to put that plug back in before we launched it!
I've just subscribed to Trailering Boats and Bass & Walleye Boats
magazines, and printed a bunch of stuff off from one of their websites
on towing, for future reference.

I think we have both the colored plastic/nylon ropes that came with
the boat from the guy we bought it from, plus I bought another regular
thicker rope. Why?


On Aug 23, 2:15 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"M. Baker" wrote in message

ups.com...

We just bought a 2001 Lund Mr. Pike a couple weeks ago. We went on
vacation last week, and of course had to take the boat with us. About
40 miles from home, the driver's side trailer tire blew out while on
the freeway going almost 70mph. Then, about 100 miles later, the OTHER
trailer tire blew out - this time we were only going 60mph, as we were
paranoid after the first blow-out.
By the way, this is just the beginning of the boat antics.

1) Sometimes you might need to stand in the water at the boat launch to get
the thing onto the trailer. Take your wallet out of your pocket, and maybe
your keys, too. Ramps are slippery.

2) Got a drain plug in the boat? One day, you may remove it while washing
the boat in the driveway. Then, you won't put it back in. Have the bilge
pump ready at the next launching. :-)

3) How long are your dock lines (ropes), and how thick? They're not the
colorful plastic kind, are they?



You don't want to use PolyProp lines, but there are some colored nylon
lines that are good dock lines (they are normally white, black or blue).
Polyprop will fray easier, degrade in UV quicker, will not have as
much give as nylon, which can be tough on your cleats, and will not
allow you to belay the cleat properly.

http://www.ropeworks.biz/reader/cleat.pdf

PolyProp is a floating line used to pull tubes and skiers only.