Does the year of manufacture make much difference?

[Ozzie]

My launch technique is the same as Geoff Rob. I have on occasion since my decrepitude dunked the trolley for retrieving the boat, but since last time I’ve fitted a three speed winch and I’m hoping that won’t be necessary any more.

I’ve mentioned on here before that if you find it necessary to dunk the trailer to launch it’s advisable to take a few minutes to access the tap if you have one at the ramp and flush the trailer with fresh water rather than let it “marinate for the day” which can get salt into spots it may not dissolve from at the end of the day if you wash down after retrieval. I have taken to spraying my wheels and springs on my 563 trailer and my little cat trailer with lithium grease, now available in convenient spray cans from the green shed.

For what it’s worth, I wish I had totally soaked and painted my trailer in fish oil when I bought it. Yeah, it would have looked a circus and smelled like a salmon trawler, but I would not be looking at repairs now . Not major, but time consuming. These are steel machines that we expect to operate in conditions steel was not designed for .

As regular cruisers before Covid-19 I was always amused by the pristine while structure of the boat from the dock, that after you get underway has an army of crewmen in pristine white overalls going round with brushes and buckets filled with the modern equivalent of Naval Jelly spotting the not so pristine constant outbreaks of rust. True. They get ground back and repainted during a refit but they stalk these boats to extinction. It’s why they have limited life like all ships.

As Neil Young said “rust never sleeps” ( got the riff going through my head now )

[Peter T]

This draw bar extension could be made to fit any existing trailer so long as one side of the draw bar is left clear of things like spare wheel or jockey wheel.
My original trailer was too low to get into my driveway with a standard street crossover so I raised the new one enough for that not to be a problem by using heavier springs. Although it still has the tilt function, I decided to add the draw bar extension as well. It is not in the way if you don't need to use it but it's very nice to have there if I ever have to launch or retrieve from a shallow ramp. You just need to park in a place where you have the room to swing the extension into its extended position
Don't hesitate to contact me if you would like further info.
Cheers Peter T

[HeadingNorth]

That's a great looking trailer.

After many stressful moments with the RL24 on boat ramps, getting the very best trailer I can is a priority for me. So who knows, I might end up building one like yours.

[HeadingNorth]

My launch technique is the same as Geoff Rob. I have on occasion since my decrepitude dunked the trolley for retrieving the boat, but since last time I’ve fitted a three speed winch and I’m hoping that won’t be necessary any more.

I’ve mentioned on here before that if you find it necessary to dunk the trailer to launch it’s advisable to take a few minutes to access the tap if you have one at the ramp and flush the trailer with fresh water rather than let it “marinate for the day” which can get salt into spots it may not dissolve from at the end of the day if you wash down after retrieval. I have taken to spraying my wheels and springs on my 563 trailer and my little cat trailer with lithium grease, now available in convenient spray cans from the green shed.

For what it’s worth, I wish I had totally soaked and painted my trailer in fish oil when I bought it. Yeah, it would have looked a circus and smelled like a salmon trawler, but I would not be looking at repairs now . Not major, but time consuming. These are steel machines that we expect to operate in conditions steel was not designed for .

As regular cruisers before Covid-19 I was always amused by the pristine while structure of the boat from the dock, that after you get underway has an army of crewmen in pristine white overalls going round with brushes and buckets filled with the modern equivalent of Naval Jelly spotting the not so pristine constant outbreaks of rust. True. They get ground back and repainted during a refit but they stalk these boats to extinction. It’s why they have limited life like all ships.

As Neil Young said “rust never sleeps” ( got the riff going through my head now )

Hi Ozzie - My approach with my old RL24 was just to drop it down to my local garage (in a tiny town in Victoria) and get my trusted mechanic to check/replace bearings before any long trips. The fact I have not learned to do this myself is just a function of time. I'm a single dad, so always rushing somewhere - hence the lazy approach to ensuring my trailer always made it there an back.

The only issue I had with trailing was a blown tyre on the Hume Highway just north of Gundagai. I'd been sedately driving all over the countryside at about 90km, but when I hit the main highway south I edged up to about 105km - something I'd been warned against. And hey presto, burst tyre. Luckily I had a spare, but I remembered the advice after that. My father, who lives in WA, says that over there they have put in place a 90km speed limit across the state for boat trailers.

[Ozzie]

Yeah bearings are always a worry. I did the bearings myself when I replaced the wheels on the 563 trailer but I think when I get the springs done soon I’ll take it to the local gurus, ISP. My last tyres cracked up from lack of use i need to remember to rotate them in the yard or jack them up. Also keeping the sun off them is supposed to help.

As a a general comment on trailers and paranoid time again but I remind myself and all that it’s only two wheels taking the weight on the rig not four like a car. So more strain and operating load. As my background is road safety I’m always reminded of pics I’ve seen of errant caravans and trailers. Point being in an emergency situation you react as you’re used to as a driver and with a trailer on the dynamics of your ride are considerably different. So another reason it’s probably a good thing to keep the trailer maintenance in the hands of professionals who will keep it in the best condition safety wise anyway v

[Peter T]

Does anyone happen to know the year of manufacture for my Investigator ?
Sail NO 114. Originally named
" Spindrift"
Thanks and Happy New Year to you all.

[Geoff]

Hi Peter,

Happy New Year mate!

My second Investigator is sail # 111, so very close to yours.

I didn't get docs off the previous owner, but he emailed me info from his insurance and boat rego docs.

Not original regos, he was not the first owner. So not definitive.

The boat and trailer are listed as being manufactured in 1985. Of course, if these had been let lapse and a new owner did new regos, they could have just guessed the year of manufacture.

I did ask the same question in another topic (thread) because that seemed a bit late to me. Ray concurred and guessed that 1983 was probably more likely, but we have nothing to substantiate.

I will be as interested as you if anyone around our number has more input.

[Watto]

Fathom road on a 1985 trailer. I’d always presumed it was the original selling date for the boat and trailer.

[Peter T]

This is interesting, we think Geoff's 111 is 1985, Ray thinks its more like 1983, Mine, as Geoff says is close , being 114 and yet Luke has no 82 sitting on a 1985 trailer. I believe that our boat numbers is actually the sail number which I would presume would be given out when the boat was registered ??. So now I am thinking how long a particular boat sat from time of manufacture, till sold and at what point in time would the boat get its sail number. Or, were the boats produced after a customer ordered one ? Also, these boats were probably sold to different states. Mine to Tas, so what authority issued the sail numbers ? Were these numbers issued from a national authority or state ? Or, did the manufacturer actually register the sail number with said authority at the time of building the boat or was it at time of sale or was it done by the customer and if so, there could be quite a time difference between build date and sail number. ? I have no idea. Anyone who can put any light to the subject, I am sure a lot of us would appreciate the info.
If anyone knows of a first owner of an Investigator, then some of these questions could be answered by that person if asked. The last I heard of the original owner of my boat is that he lives or lived in Launceston and if he is still walking on this earth, he would be well into his 90's. I will try and find him
Cheers

[no way]

In the first instance production boat builders numbered boats in production order - sail numbers reflected this. These type of boats were rarely if at all built to stock mostly because there was a slim margin which didn't make it viable for dealers. Some builders had representatives (boat owners) interstate or in popular areas away from manufacture who received a commission/spotters fee. Some yacht clubs issued there own sail numbers usually with an identifying prefix (e.g MH Middle Harbour YC, A Sydney Amateur SC). You might be lucky to be able to use said prefix with your production sail number if it was close to the clubs sequencing or a not allocated number. Others used numbers provided by the state or national Sailing authority (In those days AYF or YA NSW) and were just in numerical order of issue. When Maritime Services/Waterways Authority in NSW, decided to stick their bid into registering sailing vessels clubs and Associations got in first (with approval) and boats could use their sale number for their rego. Then we got BoatCode which bears no resemblance to anything until the industry started using Hull ID Numbers (HIN) but doesn't give sailboats a sail number. Then we come to recent times, especially in any racing slightly attracting the media and we have owners choosing their own sail number and then registering it with the national authority - bit like making your number plate for your car or having your name as your powerboat rego. Does that all make sense?