Trailer Sailer Year 1 Expenses

[JoeRobertJr]

Attached is my expense spreadsheet for my first year of owning our trailer sailer. Hope this is helpful to someone.

Context:

• Starfish is a Catalina 25. She is our stepping stone boat, helping us gain experience with owning, repairing, and maintaining in preparation for a larger boat in a few years that we can take offshore.
• We purchased her in Oct., so the report covers Oct. 2019 to Sep 2020.
• This first year, we trailered her to the upper Chesapeake Bay, which is a 3-hour drive. I kept her at home in PA in between outings, where I had convenient access to the boat and to all my tools and supplies.
• The focus was first on critical inspections and repairs, then on items that would make weekend cruising more fun and comfortable.
• Next year, we plan to keep her in a slip to avoid the hassle and stress of the 3-hour drive followed by a 3-hour setup time, raising the mast and rigging the sails, before launching. This setup time constrained us to 3-day minimum trips.

Commentary on specific items

• The trailer brakes were shot, so that was my first major expense. I upgraded from drum to disk, and put brakes on both axles. Got a weight distribution hitch.
• The electrical was a mess - broken switches on the fuse panel, rats nests of chafed and corroded wiring. I replaced all of it: new batteries, new panel, new wiring, new nav lights. The only thing left is interior lights and fans.
• The report includes some operational expenses also. We spent all nights out on the hook, except for one night in a slip, just for the experience.
• The truck "rental" is really borrowing from my father-in-law. An actual rental would have cost more than double what I paid him.

[steffan]

Originally Posted by JoeRobertJr

Next year, we plan to keep her in a slip to avoid the hassle and stress of the 3-hour drive followed by a 3-hour setup time, raising the mast and rigging the sails, before launching. This setup time constrained us to 3-day minimum trips

A season of setup and teardown with my friend's trailer sailor convinced me that a slip was the only way to go. He was able to save money with what I believe is called a "dry slip." The boat stays on the trailer in a lot but the mast stays up all season. They even have a yard truck you can borrow for launching.

[JoeRobertJr]

Originally Posted by steffan

... He was able to save money with what I believe is called a "dry slip." The boat stays on the trailer in a lot but the mast stays up all season. They even have a yard truck you can borrow for launching.

Interesting. I did not know that might be an option. Still, I probably will go with a slip next year. Even the launch and retrailering was a bit of a hassle. The boat sits high enough on the trailer that I needed to use straps to ease the trailer about 20 feet farther down the ramp than was possible while still connected to the truck. It was manageable, but still a hassle. The length of strap in the attached picture is only half of what I ended up needing to float the boat.

[OurOasis]

Joe, nice looking boat.Looks like you spent a lot of time (and $$ ) on fixing it up, and now it's probably as good as new.



A friend of mine has a old Bayliner (27' sailboat) on a similar trailer and I helped him launch it this year. I think his boat has same looking keel but it sits maybe 6 " lower in his home made trailer, and he made up a 12 ft "tongue" extension out of 4" round pipe (he can barely lift it) and with that between his pickup and the boat trailer he launches it off the ramp, no straps needed. It takes him about 15 mins. to hook this up and it's bungeed to the trailer along the frame when traveling.



wolf h