Solo Retrieval -- 27" draft, MinnKota trolling motor?

[Après Vous]

Not entirely new to sailing, but new to fixed-keel boats. My wife will be at best an observing passenger, so pretty much everything for me is a single-handed effort.

As it stands now, I have a 30 pound Minn Kota trolling motor for power. It should be enough to move me to and from the dock, but I question using it to drive the boat onto the trailer far enough that I can climb off and attach the winch.

I'm open to suggestions and/or opinions. However, I live in the desert and may own the only fixed-keel boat within a 30 mile radius, so local opinions are scarce.

[pgandw]

I've never been a fan of the drive-on technique for any boat, but especially a keel boat.  Takes its toll on the launching ramp by digging holes at the end of the ramp.  Takes its toll on the boat unless you have a very nice stern and keel roller system that lifts the bow high enough.

Equip your trailer with guide posts (often call goal posts for obvious reasons).  Get the trailer deep enough to that the boat can float on to the trailer most of the way.  Then get off - you can mount a boarding/walking platform on the trailer or wear appropriate boots.  Winch the boat the rest of the way, pull off the ramp, and you can start de-rigging.

Fred W
ODay (Stuart) Mariner 19  Sweet P

[Wyb2]

If you don't have a dock at the ramp, it's most likely impossible to load without getting very wet.  If you don't have enough horsepower to pull a wakeboarder, you don't have enough horsepower to 'power load' the boat onto a trailer. 

If the ramp is too shallow to float the boat onto the trailer, make sure your winch cable/strap is nice and long, and plan on wading up to at least your waist to get it attached.

[Frank B.]

I have a Compac 23IV which has a 27" draft.  I lower the trailer until the upper bunks are about 3/4" submerged, ease the boat forward at slow speed until I'm sure the keel is between the keel guides and the hull is nestled in the bunks, then attach the winch line and crank it the rest of the way.  It is not too hard. I have keel rollers spaced a foot on center and the bunk material is fairly slippery when wet.  I have a tongue extension on the trailer but have never had to use it at a half dozen different ramps, its use depends on the slope of your ramp. I have always done this solo.  All these ramps had docks to tie the boat off to while backing the trailer.

[Après Vous]

Thank you everyone for the responses. It appears that I was right to be doubtful of the "drive on" method. It's just as well because I am aware of the washout it causes at the ramp foot.

It appears that I'm going to have to get wet, no matter how I do it. I won't melt.

That leaves the question of how to get down off the boat. The normal stern-mounted boarding ladder will drop me in the deeper water at the stern. The boat is unlikely to be far enough forward to use the normal trailer-mounted ladder. At 77, I'm not able to emulate Tarzan. I've seen some trailer setups with side bunks in place of goal posts, and perhaps that is a solution with a second bunk rail added to create a wide ladder that will me to climb down to the trailer fender and then to the ramp. Anyone have thoughts on this?

[Frank B.]

No, drive on with a keel displacement hull is not going to work.  The best you can do is get a running start and hope you are aligned well enough that you center on the keel guides and don't hang up there, relying on the kinetic energy of the mass to get you as far as it will take you. Once you stop on the trailer, no small auxiliary motor will get you further.

Best, if you can, use a ramp with a pier to hop off to then go around to hook up your winch strap, walking on the trailer tongue if you want to limit your wet experience.  That is what I do.

If you don't have a side pier, perhaps you can rig a rope ladder with solid rungs to drop off the bow area and climb down to the trailer to hook up.  I have climbed down without a ladder on one occasion, but that was a few years back.  78 now, not so sure I could do that.

[Six Bells]

I concur with other's suggestions, but to stay dry I put on some chest waders as I wrestle to load my Montgomery 15 onto the trailer. It can be a bit tricky when there is a side wind, and trailer guides can help.

[Travis Chapman]

I agree, hard to power load any sailboat, and even my 80# thrust Motor Guide would be hard pressed to get much momentum going for something like that. I always loaded my Aquarius 23 at ramps with a dock and had to load from shore because of width. What I found helpful was to warp the boat onto the trailer, sufficiently far back, using a long dock line one bow thrown over the winch post, and basically a homemade 5' docking stick of pvc and bungee cord over the rail cleats on whichever side I needed. More rigid than just the docking line itself. Once I got her into position on the bunks and "stuck" enough, I could walk to the truck, down the trailer tongue, and use the dock line to get her up close enough to get the winch hook on and crank the rest. Wet up to the knees, but not the worst! I often thought of modifying a boat hook to take the winch hook, but never got around to it. Also agree with using goal posts and consider some soft guides near the bow too.

[Riley Smith]

I'm  really good at avoiding getting my feet wet. I back the truck down close enough to the finger pier to step into the bed, then walk out on the trailer. MOST of the time I stay dry 

[noelH]

Please don't power launch or retrieve.  At the local marina there are signs posted in multiple locations but some people cannot read.  Initially there was "only" a dip that snagged a few longer trailers or worse..  Then the undercutting apparently caused the end of the concrete ramp to degrade to a point launching was not possible.

I sail single handed. Vela is a small an light boat (15ft/~800#, draws ~14" with keel and rudder retracted) that is easy to launch and retrieve just using lines.  Some days... Sort of miss the trailer.  Usually spot on with attempt #2.  Yes, the feet do get wet to attach the winch shackle. I need to use 4 ft of the trailer extension resulting in a bit of a reach requiring wet feet.  Friend single handed does the same with his Oday23.  He is one of the people that probably have evil thoughts about power launchers. Needs to keep an eye on the edge of the ramp.

[Après Vous]

As I stated in my first reply, I'm aware of the erosion problem caused by powering onto the trailer.

My big problem is getting off the boat if I have to be in it to get it started on the trailer. Standing beside it on dry land, the gunwale is at least 5-1/2 feet off the ground. I have an extendable step ladder that I use.

The boat is wider than the trailer tread, so I may be able to get close enough to the dock (if there is one) that I can simply step ashore. Otherwise, I'm going to get wet.

[Charles Brennan]

Aprés Vous, A lot of the advice you are getting, is from people (including myself!)   with shallow draft hulls. A lot of well-intentioned advice only works for half of the retrieval sequence. 
For example:
A winch stand ladder doesn't do any good when you are 20 feet away from it, at the far end of the trailer, on the bow of your boat.
Seems to me, a power-on retrieval is a LOT of work!! 
1) Arrive at ramp.
2) Get out of boat and go get tow vehicle/trailer.
3) Get back into boat and power over and onto trailer.
4) Get back out of boat, go to the front of the trailer and retrieve the boat.
I single-hand a lot and I do all the launching and retrieving, by myself.  So getting on and off the boat is a given. 
(Who's going to go get the tow vehicle and the trailer?) 
Once I leave the boat, I don't get on it again, until it is sitting on the trailer.

A ramp is a given, since you have a trailer/sailor.
The two cases for retrieval are: 1) Dock. 2) No dock.

Case 1: Dock.
You pull alongside the dock and tie off as close to the end of the dock (away from the ramp edge) as feasible.
This gives you room to back the trailer in, directly in front of your boat, tied well back on the dock.
Step off the boat onto the dock and go get your vehicle and put it in the water at the ramp, preferably next to the dock and directly in front of your boat.
Exit the vehicle, go up on the dock and untie your dock lines, the stern line and the bow line.
Goal posts on the trailer are a great help here, as you flip the bow line over the closest goal post and pull the bow line gently, to ease the nose over between the two goal posts.
Do NOT try to use the bow line to drag the boat forward; use the stern line to nudge the boat forward, occasionally pushing the hull away from the dock with your foot, if necessary.
Sometimes, the act of nudging the boat from the stern line will cause the bow to yaw too far towards the far goal post; simply pull in gently on the bow line to guide the hull. 
In other words, move with the stern line, steer with the bow line.
Once the hull contacts the trailer rollers/bunks/what have you, pull the stern line as hard forward as you can to keep the boat from floating back off the trailer.  This might not be easy on a weekend with a lot of other boat ramp traffic, as the waves from other launch/retrievals might lift the hull and allow it to drift off.  Pull firmly!    Toss the stern line into the cockpit and run the bow line as far forward on the dock as you can and lay it down next to the edge of the dock.  A suspenders-and-belt kind of guy might tie the bow line off to the nearest dock cleat at the front of the dock, just in case.
Walk down the dock to the ramp edge, then down alongside your vehicle, and retrieve the bow line from the edge of the dock where you left it.  Lead the bow line over to the trailer, at the waters edge and balancing your 77 year old self with a hand on the winch stand, step up on to the trailer frame and onto the 2X8 pressure treated plank mounted on the trailer frame edge, just clear of where your hull normally sits. 
Keep tension on the bow line. 
This does two things:
1) Keeps the hull from floating away.
2) Gives you something to help keep your balance.

Assuming you pulled out plenty of slack from your trailer winch cable when you went to get the tow vehicle, and draped the hook over one of the cross members towards the back of the trailer, you can rest your hand (for balance!) on the hull and lean down and get the winch cable hook and attach it to the boat.
Use either the bow line or the winch cable to steady yourself to walk back up the trailer, towards the winch.
Retrieve the boat, normally.
Yes, you will get wet, but usually only up to your ankles, or perhaps up to your knees.
Step from the ramp, to the rear vehicle fender, to the trailer frame and your feet won't even get wet until you are well down the trailer frame, next to the bow of the boat.

Case 2: No dock.
Yeah, you're gonna get wet.
Bring the boat to the ramp until the hull grounds out on the bottom of the ramp.
Your stern ladder is in deeper water, but your bow is in shallow(er) water.
Go forward, with the bow line and a halyard. (I usually use a jib halyard.)
The bow pulpit is usually in the way, but if you can step off just aft of that, you can lower yourself to the water, using that tied-off halyard to arrest your descent.  It keeps from you from jumping 5½ feet down, into the water and turning an ankle (or worse!) from landing on a rock or in a hole.  By lowering yourself like that, you don't have to fold yourself up like an inch-worm to get over the side and you're vertical the whole time and descending at your own chosen rate of speed, not Mother Nature's rate of 32 feet per second per second. 
(Gravity: Ain't it a b!tch???) 
Secure the halyard temporarily (sucks, to see the halyard end rocketing skyward, to the halyard block!)    and then lift the hull as much as possible to keep it from drifting off, from other boater's wave action.   (Now, probably isn't the time to ask if you remembered the vehicle keys!) 
Wade ashore and get your vehicle and trailer and back it in as close to the hull, as you are comfortable with.
Walk out along the trailer plank, using the winch cable for balance and reach the bow and retrieve the bow line.  (Don't forget to flip the bow line over the goal post, first!)
Push the boat back into deeper water (a firm grip on the winch cable for balance, helps here!) and snub the bow line when the hull is clear of the end of the trailer.  Arresting the hull momentum with the bow line, is why you needed a firm grip on the winch cable, when the hull tries to jerk you off-balance and into the water.   
Pull in on the bow line until you can attach the winch cable hook and retrieve, normally. 

I'm two years behind you and have been doing this procedure for quite a few years, so the fact that you're worrying about this at age 77, is a testament to your health!! 

The key points you need are:
1) Goal posts, used to both guide the hull and "lever" the nose into position, on the trailer.
2) Trailer plank to get from the front of  the trailer to the back of the trailer, where the hull is.
On my trailer, both bunks are flat, so I simply walk on them.
You cannot view this attachment.
With a fixed keel, you will probably need a plank on the outside of the keel supports.
3) Lowering yourself over the side safely from the front, instead of trying to deal with the stern ladder and deeper water.
4) Using a winch cable or bow line to help steady yourself.
5) Proper length bow and stern lines.  A good rule of thumb for bow line length, is from the back of the trailer to the driver's door.
After you get into enough situations where the stern line is too short or the bow line too long, you will find that tying the ends together temporarily, gives you a "loop" and now you can devote as much length to whichever end needs it most at that moment, to maintain control of the hull from the dock.

Hope this helps,
Charles Brennan