Trailor sailer as a camper? The Boaterhome

[brownoarsman]

Thanks for the experience, Canyonbat, and what a great photo! It reminds me of that story of the cruiser who swallowed his anchor and put his dinghy paddles on his shoulder, and then walked until someone asked him what those sticks were! I can imagine you've gotten some stares driving in to the parks sometimes

Stumble, GrahamHO, Crex, midwest, alansmith, stu - thanks for the stories as well as the advice! Sounds like there's a lot of people doing it with MacGregors as far as the sailboats go.

Waikikin - great story with the trailer. That sounds like what I'll probably eventually do unless I see a pretty good deal on a Mac 19

[P27]

Look up Log of the Chinook .Sumner posted it on sailboatowners. They tower their Mac 26 across country and sleep in boat at campgrounds. They are currently doing the great loop. So far good read. Mark

[Steve W]

Interesting idea. My concern would be the climb and safely navigating around the unstepped mast, shrouds, running rigging, etc. in the cockpit. The boom, sails, rudder and outboard could be stored in the back of a pickup with a locking topper to free up space below decks. Probably could not raise the bimini for shade. A Mac or Hunter that sits low on the trailer would reduce the climb. Let us know what you decide.

[weavis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0DeaCccvM8

[brownoarsman]

It's great that the Australians are so hip to this concept, as I'm looking at a job in Adelaide now! This, despite all the wailing and moaning we get from our Australian members about the high price of boats there

Granted, I would have preferred working there a year ago when the AU was stronger, but ... With the large vacation packages, I'll probably see my family more this way than living up the road from them and working in the U.S.!


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[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by brownoarsman

Valhalla-I met a couple in Bahia Honda, FL Keys who had put a full canvas wrap on their pontoon boat. Every year they drove it down from Georgia in the late spring, docked it in the park, and spent the day reading, paddle boarding, and fishing. Great people. I'm not sure how many places besides Florida have NPS campgrounds and marinas combined into one entity (the pontoon boat didn't have a head or plumbed water visible, and I believe they used the campground facilities), but I met a number of people who brought their small liveaboards to Bahia Honda on a trailer every year and loved it!


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I've seen ones where they have solid walls with an interior that covers maybe 50-70% of a 25' pontoon boat. I've seen them a number of places but saw several on Kentucky Lake.

Obviously not a rough water boat and probably not good for winter camping but like all things, it's a trade off.

[Sardean]

Free camping at any boatramp

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[Greenhand]

Originally Posted by Sardean

Free camping at any boatramp

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Not true. We have launched from many boat ramps that do not allow overnight parking. We had to launch, then find another parking lot for the car and trailer.

[Sardean]

Sorry if you've got a boat on the back I thought youd be very unlucky to be chipped for staying overnight at boat ramp, ive been lucky but only done it half a dozen times

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[brownoarsman]

Found a little teardroppish camper/boat conversion. It doesn't look exactly stable and you probably couldn't dive off the roof, nor would it appear to handle large waves well, but on the plus side the boarding ladder almost looks like it could make the trailer double as a pullcart. Love how it just floats off the hitch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ARCBhAsgM8

Apologies that it's in German, I can't understand it myself but it still looks fun!