Bow Stop Dilemma

I've had problems getting my Land N Sea up to the bow stop when retrieving.

When cranking the boat up on the trailer, the bow hits the stop and stops. Then when the trailer is pulled forward up the ramp, the back of the boat settles on the bunks and the bow comes up and away from the stop. There's no way, even with a 2 speed winch, to move the boat forward on the trailer while it's out of the water. I've driven it over a thousand miles this way so it isn't really a problem, but just the same...

So I made a pulley for the bow eye which doubles my winch effort.

I was able to budge the boat forward using the pulley, but while messing with this system I lost contril of the handle and it spun, whacking the daylights out of the back of my hand. Making the bunks slipperier might be a solution, but I kind of like the way she sticks on the trailer for safety reasons.

I think tho',  that with the mechanical advantage gained by the pulley AND replacing the bow stop with a bow roller, that I'll be able to crank the bow up to where it needs to be while the boat is in the water being loaded.

It's nice having the equipment to 'resize' the roller to fit the existing bracket.

Testing Trailer Lights

If you have electric brakes you should have a breakaway battery on your trailer. With this battery it's very easy to rig a test gizmo for your lights and brakes.

I bought an extra truck end for the trailer cord that I can plug into the trailer cord when the trailer is parked away from the truck. This extra has all the terminals for the trailer wires, including the trailer battery.

I attached a wire with alligator clip to the battery terminal on the extra truck plug. This alligator clip is hot when plugged into the trailer cord.

Each of the terminals on the extra plug are labeled. So to check the lights or brakes, all I need to do is attach the alligator clip to the proper terminal. I put a piece of tape over the ground terminal so as not to accidently create a direct short.

If you look close, you can see a PS scratched on the plug. That terminal is the Passenger Side brake/turn.

You might also see 'brake' scratched at one of the terminals. This can be used with a helper to energize the brakes while I spin a wheel jacked up off the ground. I like to do this in each direction for each wheel to make sure the electric brakes are in order before a long road trip.


A quick check of the trailer lights can also be done by using the key fob to lock the truck while standing behnd the trailer. However, this does not test both the running and stop/turn lights.

Surge Brakes w/ Weight Distributing Hitch

There is a misconception that it's not advisable to use a weight distributing hitch with surge brakes, or that weight distributing hitches cannot be used with a pole tongue trailer.

The Equal-i-zer hitch (  www.equalizerhitch.com/  ) can do both, as well as provide sway control. We have used it successfully with a Parker 2120 trailer being pulled by a Mercury Mountaineer.

Load Equalizer Hitch and Sway Control

When we went to pick up Big Duck, I took an equalizing hitch setup with me for the 2,100 miles back to SC from Las Vegas. When I put the coupler on my ball, I saw that the equalizer setup needed to be adjusted before it could be used and I was too lazy to get out the wrenches. I decided I wouldn't mess with the equalizer unless we had problems.

We had no problems or concerns all the way home so the load equalizing hitch was never used.

On 4 subsequent outings, even though I had purchased and set up a new properly sized equalizing hitch, I never had the incentive to actually use it. We never tow over 55 mph and there were no problems whatsoever on the road. I even considered the extra tongue weight a plus for traction at the ramp.

This is the tongue of Big Duck's trailer which was set up for an equalizing hitch and sway control by the builder.

On the last outing, I decided to put the equalizer on, and use a sway control bar from our travel trailer.

I was totally blown away by the handling on the mountain roads on the way to the ramp. The rig actually handled better than the van solo. I felt like I was driving a sports car with precise, predictable handling. What a pleasure!

The little extra effort required to attach the equalizer and sway bar will never be avoided again.

Duck Delivers Delight in DeLand

Big Duck's first major outing was an overwhelming success.

We left Spartanburg on Oct 6th in the company of Doug, Elaine and their Parker, MokeeDugway. We were headed to DeLand to cruise the St Johns River.

It's always nice to buddy boat with the Gentry's but it was especially comforting to have backup on this first 'away' cruise.

We Wallydocked Thursday night near Savannah,

 Friday night was again in a Walmart parking lot, in DeLand this time. It rained most of the night due to a weather system that was nearing tropical storm proportion.

The low pressure rain was so intense and persistent that we decided not to splash on Saturday, but rather get a motel room for the night.

Our daughter Sara Jane, son-in-law Trey, 18 month old grandson Patrick and their dog Kasey met us at the motel in anticipation of a cruise but the forcast wouldn't allow it so they continued south.

It rained relentlessly all day Sunday so we stayed another night in the motel, but discovered it was pet friendly so instead of Merlin and I spending the night in the van as we had done Saturday, we all huddled in the motel room waiting for the rain to quit.

By this time, Big Duck was being overpowered by the deluge and her 40 year old weather stripping and window seals were letting in the rain. We became familiar with the leaks and after using a newly acquired shop vac to suck up the inside water from the carpet and cushions we were on our way to drying her out by repositioning the cushions and 'hanging out' the sheets...the rain continued. OK, one more night in the motel.

Finally, Tuesday morning things looked promising. We made our way to the ramp at Ed Stone Park and splashed without incident.

At Ed Stone staging area

The crew anxiously awaiting the launch

 Mokee Dugway and Big Duck - Splashed and ready

Finally underway, we cruised to one of the many secluded feeders and anchored. During this run, I was able to max out Big Duck at 20 mph at just shy of 3500 RPM. We will need a little more grunt (less pitch) to realize her 30 mph potential.

We made our way back to the Ed Stone dock the next morning. Trey, Sara Jane, Patrick and Kasey would meet us there for a few days on the river. While we were waiting for them to show up, I unleashed Merlin for a run in the puddles which were left by the receding storm.

When the new crew arrived, we headed up (well actually down, as the St Johns River flows North) to Silver Glen Springs. We found a spot near the beach to anchor in the clear waters. Mokee Dugway rafted with us so we could all get together and marvel at the area.

Merlin knew to exit via the steps and swim ashore to go potty, then he would swim back and get aboard on his own.

Kasey is not a swimmer, so he needed to don his life jacket to do his duty ashore.

Once back aboard, Kasey lounged in the tropical paradise of the aft deck.

There were several unmanned boats moored/anchored/abandoned at the springs but we only had a couple daytime visitors for the 3 days and 2 nights we were there.

There was a couple living aboard who visited us. They had 2 dogs.

Merlin was sad to see them leave after their visit.

The clear water of the spring, invited swimming. All but Suzy eventually got their feet wet.

Big Duck is so comfortable both as a camper and as a boat. What a joy to awake to a happy 18 month old.

Meals aboard were a gormet delight, thanks to planning and preparation by willing and able crew members.

Besides swimming, activities included:

Sudoku



Reading to the dog

Driving the boat

Lounging and watching a video

Birdwatching

Reading

Swapping sea stories

Wishing we could play with the birds and fish

Playing lookout from the flybridge

Cruising/sightseeing

Chillin' out on the aft deck

The final night was spent closer to the ramp, anchored in a loop. Not having a beach to swim to, we were so proud of Kasey who learned to tinky-tink on the green mat. Merlin can hold it for a long time and never got to the point of being tempted to use the mat as we needed to get to shore the next morning to send Trey, SJ, Patrick and Kasey back north. Even then, Merlin was in no hurry to relieve himself.

After 4 nights aboard, were reluctant to call the cruise over, but eventually decided to put the boats back on the trailers, then decide what to do next. The retrieving went well except for the cranking necessary to get Big Duck forward on the trailer. We had to crank for a while, then move the van up, crank some more, move the van up, then crank some more. Even with all this rigamarole, Big Duck's bow remained about 2" from the bow stop.

Big Duck on her way back to the ramp.

Everyone pitching in while we get The Duck ready for the trailer.

After we got the boats settled on the trailers, I decided I needed a motel for the night, so we made our way back north to Kingsland dodging hundreds if not thousands of bikers...turns out it was Bike Week in Daytona that week.

At the motel, we realized the trip had taken more out of us than we had imagined as we all totally crashed.

The rest of the trip home was uneventful, except for the loss of a second Bearing Buddy on my trailer.

Then, finally back home, it took a full day of R&R to get back to normal.

'Got a few projects before we go out again this weekend. I'm going o try putting on the load equalizer bars and a single anti-sway bar for the trailer. We brought Big Duck back from Las Vegas - 2,100 miles without them and down to DeLand and back withoput them, but I have the equipment so I'll see what effect it has on towing. Stay tuned.