Cruising/ leaving boat on hard/ no cradle?!

[LauraleeG]

Hiya
Thanks for all the comments. I have called around and called around some more! Marinas to yacht clubs and now I have some answers.
Changing my question from : “ do you have a cradle for a Landfall 38” to “ here is my situation and here is my boat, what can we do?” Had much better results.
Thanks!!
LauraLee

[lifeofreilly57]

Most yards don't have cradles, most use stands that are included in the by the foot rate.
The few yards I've been in that have boats in cradles usually only have under very nice race boats, and sometimes under owner boats, usually supplied by the owner. In those cases it's usually on boats that use that Marina on a repeat basis. In those cases they charge storage for the cradle in the non storage months.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by LauraleeG

Hiya

Thanks for all the comments. I have called around and called around some more! Marinas to yacht clubs and now I have some answers.

Changing my question from : “ do you have a cradle for a Landfall 38” to “ here is my situation and here is my boat, what can we do?” Had much better results.

Thanks!!

LauraLee

There ya go [emoji1303]. I find there's always a way. Just have to be a little creative and persistent.

[roland stockham]

Duh! Cradle! only boats I see on cradles are racers not cruisers that are so lightly built and deep drafted that they need a custom cradle. Cruiser stand on their keels with wooden or steel props to hold them up. If a yard can't set that up they don't want your business and you don't want to be there. Unless of course you are trying to cruise in an admirals cupper!!

[morribabes]

Here in UK I've seen cradles made from scaffolding poles and clamps. Boat owners rent the poles from building scaffolding companies who will also put the cradle together.

[flyingnut40]

I think you need to go just a bit further. My buddy would sail his boat from Toronto to the south shore each year for winter storage. He never had a cradle for the 30' Hunter he sailed up from down south. He was looking at cost....
I believe he was at Oak Orchard Creek.
Why the insistence on a cradle? That is usually ONLY for people at a permanent marina year after year. Nothing wrong with blocking and stands. many a boat has endured hurricanes on them. You won't have to worry about that..... YET!

[lifeofreilly57]

Originally Posted by roland stockham

Duh! Cradle! only boats I see on cradles are racers not cruisers that are so lightly built and deep drafted that they need a custom cradle. Cruiser stand on their keels with wooden or steel props to hold them up. If a yard can't set that up they don't want your business and you don't want to be there. Unless of course you are trying to cruise in an admirals cupper!!

The boat we had prior to owning our cruising lead sled was a racer cruiser with a 7.5 foot draft, the family run yard it was stored in during the Northeast winters had no problem blocking and staging it with stands.
As long as the yard is competent and handles your type of boat there should be no issues.
If storing down south it is good to find a yard that can strap it down to hard points in the case of a tropical storm or hurricane.

[hamburking]

If you are moving the boat from Bayfield Ontario to Port Colborne Ontario, there is a company that moves cradles around very inexpensively (less than $100 last time I used them). I can't recall the company name right now, but was referred to them by The Marina Cradle Shop (near Toronto).

So for this easy first leg of your trip, I suggest shipping your cradle.

For the next legs, well...

[Linesledaft]

Originally Posted by lifeofreilly57

The boat we had prior to owning our cruising lead sled was a racer cruiser with a 7.5 foot draft, the family run yard it was stored in during the Northeast winters had no problem blocking and staging it with stands.

As long as the yard is competent and handles your type of boat there should be no issues.

If storing down south it is good to find a yard that can strap it down to hard points in the case of a tropical storm or hurricane.

I second this. If you leave it, get the boat “anchored”. There are boats down in Indiantown Marina that have endured plenty of hurricanes with no owner for years. Probably just a good practice if the yard allows it.

[slug]

Originally Posted by lifeofreilly57

The boat we had prior to owning our cruising lead sled was a racer cruiser with a 7.5 foot draft, the family run yard it was stored in during the Northeast winters had no problem blocking and staging it with stands.
As long as the yard is competent and handles your type of boat there should be no issues.
If storing down south it is good to find a yard that can strap it down to hard points in the case of a tropical storm or hurricane.

The problem with individual stands is that the boat can twist on its keel in a blow

And be careful with tie down straps
The down force can overload the boats blocking arrangement

The gold standard is a steel cradle with the steel cradle tied to earth to prevent it from walking across the shipyard

[LauraleeG]

Yeah, I guess you do what you can do and leave the rest to the gods.
If there is access to a cradle here, ( in ontario) then I will use that--Either suck up the cost of shipping my own ( from Midland to Port Colborne) or renting one that would fit my boat. I talked to a marine place in Port Dover, Ontario--they use jack stands and chain the boat down. Good and bad in that I think?
Further south, if I have to use jack stands all the time then so be it. One can only do so much with the resources available!
To not 'go' because you cant solve the problems before hand is not even an option and gets ya nowhere.

[LauraleeG]

Originally Posted by hamburking

If you are moving the boat from Bayfield Ontario to Port Colborne Ontario, there is a company that moves cradles around very inexpensively (less than $100 last time I used them). I can't recall the company name right now, but was referred to them by The Marina Cradle Shop (near Toronto).

So for this easy first leg of your trip, I suggest shipping your cradle.

For the next legs, well...

Will investigate--thanks!

[chris.sd]

Originally Posted by LauraleeG

Hi
We are moving boat in stages down south. I cannot believe we are the first people to have the problem of leaving the boat in the hard over winter in a new marina... but you don’t have your cradle!!
What do people do?
I have called around to a few marinas... they don’t “ rent” cradles in the port colborne , Ontario Marina. They also don’t do jack stands ( not that that is a good portion anyway) ....
So.... what do people do when they need to leave the boat on the hard in a strange marina and they don’t have a cradle?
Thanks!
Laura

Wow, Laura so many people stressing with this...
Just buy some suitable length 6" posts, some soil boards and some 4x2 to cut into wedges. Soil board, wedge, post, wedge boat... tie them all together with 2x1 diagonally and you're done. Surprisingly easy, surprisingly cheap and surprisingly stable...

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by LauraleeG

Yeah, I guess you do what you can do and leave the rest to the gods.
If there is access to a cradle here, ( in ontario) then I will use that--Either suck up the cost of shipping my own ( from Midland to Port Colborne) or renting one that would fit my boat. I talked to a marine place in Port Dover, Ontario--they use jack stands and chain the boat down. Good and bad in that I think?
Further south, if I have to use jack stands all the time then so be it. One can only do so much with the resources available!
To not 'go' because you cant solve the problems before hand is not even an option and gets ya nowhere.

Despite claims elsewhere on this thread, the safety and security of jack stands depends on the type of boat, and also how they are deployed. A cradle is not necessarily any more secure than properly laid out stands.

On boats like yours, I'd have no issue at all using stands. In fact, it might be a safer option. You have a stout, longish, flat keel (if I'm not mistaken). This makes your boat extremely stable sitting on the ground. You can then place stands exactly where they are needed to ensure proper vertical orientation.

Some boats with tiny fin keels are indeed more vulnerable, but for boats like yours (and mine, even more so) I actually prefer stands to a cradle.

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by LauraleeG

Hi
We are moving boat in stages down south. I cannot believe we are the first people to have the problem of leaving the boat in the hard over winter in a new marina... but you don’t have your cradle!!
What do people do?
I have called around to a few marinas... they don’t “ rent” cradles in the port colborne , Ontario Marina. They also don’t do jack stands ( not that that is a good portion anyway) ....
So.... what do people do when they need to leave the boat on the hard in a strange marina and they don’t have a cradle?
Thanks!
Laura

Why wouldn't a boatyard have jackstands? All over the world boats are on the hard with jackstands. But you should inspect them yourself and require the yard to use at least 4 or 5 each side and they should connect each one across and under the boat with chains. A good yard will have no problems with such routine work.