Trollied

Having replaced all six wheels the problem still remained of how to fit a fifteen foot boat onto a trailer built for an eleven foot dinghy and not have the whole thing look like a runaway seesaw. 

What as needed was an easily adjustable extendable multi purpose conveyance which could easily be converted back and forth to suit whichever boat needed transportation. 

The main longitudinal beam of the road trailer is 50mm square section tubing. The main longitudinal beam of the launch trolley is 40mm which seems quite strong enough and fits almost exactly inside the 50mm section. 
So a telescopic extension seemed to be the simple and elegant solution. 

And down to the Metal Supermarket we did ride for a two metre length of 40mm square section tube. 
Oh and down to Screwfix for a new set of drills.    

I ordered a few U bolts and a bow snubber on line, and made a cradle out of some sterling board and the remains of the old Volvo roof rack.   

The cradle is deliberately high, partly because the ball height on the van is 500mm, and who wants a saggy bottom, and also to keep the stern nice and visible for those myopic drivers who only ever seem to see the car and not the trailer.  

The whole thing came together as well as could be expected and towed like a dream, with just one exception. 

Well Bugger!

 On arrival at "The Trout" it appears poor old Katie B had split her seams somewhere along the road. 

On reflection I should have put her six inches further back on the trailer so that the bulkhead would  have been directly above the cradle. Lesson Learned. 

Good old Gaffer Tape to the Rescue. 

The temporary repairs held tight for the entire trip. 

I'll put the repairs on the never ending list of winter chores.