AD 14 KIELGE

[gonandkarl]

Hi,
Yes please George send me the pictures of the floor as I find kneeling on it rather hard as well and yes I have some drain holes forward of the hatch they are about an inch long and 2/8 inch high. I use them also to put a strap thru it to hold my slip wheels for the bow and they are secured with a second pair of straps going to the hand holds behind the window on each side of the boat. While the slip wheels at the transom are secured with 2 bolts thru the transom drain holes to a board leaning inside against the transom.
Ks8 I can assure you there will be pictures of the splashing. I bought a trailer a few years back when it became too cumbersome to put my rowing boat onto the roof carrier but I had in mind to use it for the Adelie as well. It was a special offer so I did not hesitate a lot and did not really find out if it is suitable for my sail boat I only knew it is for a boat with max 4,5 m long which my AD14 is. Ever since then I am puzzling how to adapt it to hold my bunks I made for the Adelie. I think I will wheel it into my building shed and place it under the lifted boat and let it down onto the trailer as is with 2 struts with twin wheels and a keel roller and see how it likes that and most of all where to place it to have only 40 kg of tongue weight at the tow hitch. The trailer has the option to move the axle 16 cm ( 6,3 inches ) forward which I might have to do depending on my finding of centre of gravity. Then I want to strap my 2 bunks under the boat and try to find out where to place the 4 support struts that I want to have under the bunks.
Any ideas what I should or should not do in this trailer adaptation is welcome.
Greetings from Karl

[das boot]

I sent you the pictures you requested via Email.

[das boot]

As for the trailer your idea sounds good I bought an old used trailer built for a 20 foot inboard run abought a lot heaver than I needed but it was cheep I think I pais a few hundred dollars that was a lot of years ago the back end of it is getting week dew to salt water but I can weld in some plates if needed. For now it works fine. On my boat I can slide the boom into the front of the cabin and then swing the back into one of the birth areas to the boom fits into the birth for travel it works.

[ks8]

I did something like that fitting my boat and custom made bunks to the trailer, but it would be too long to detail here. I was fortunate. The final solution and fitting was barely enough to get the boat to launch at most ramps, but enough. whew! Some shallow descent ramps require a push off to launch and some cranking to get her back on the trailer, but most ramps are just enough to float her off. And that is my thought for you.... that the final bunk position will be low enough in the water at most ramps so that the boat will float off and away easily. It was a detail that I did not think through as well as I should have, but I was fortunate. If I had not had the custom trailer made with a vee in the cross members, and the extra long tongue, it would have been quite an embarassment on splashday with the new trailer, I was planning to use the same trailer in the future for a VG18, but life is throwing plenty of curve balls lately. I'll enjoy the CV16 for now. But that long tongue also helps get the trailer down the ramp far enough to help float the boat off, at most ramps. Of course the nice steep ramps make launching very easy, as long as they keep the ramp clean so the wheels do not spin when hauling her out. Overall, the work and thought put into the trailer and bunks will be appreciated at every launch.

My pictures of the trailer are not nearly as thorough as other parts of the boat build, but here is the gallery.

[gonandkarl]

Hi,
Thanks George for the pictures of the floor and KS8 for the trailer pictures. I realized that through the curve of the trailer bunks its angle support needs to have a wedge to be horizontal for the support struts. It looks like you made them out of aluminium. Is that so ?
I will definitely use angle profiles on the bunks and U-profiles for the support struts like you showed me in your trailer gallery.
Greetings from Karl

[das boot]

On setting the bunks on my trailer i kind of alined then but leaving all adjustments loose then set the boat on the trailer and let the boat settel in place only then did i tighten all the boots this worked well for me,

[ks8]

I used the typical available hardware used for mounting bunks, purchased at the local marine store -- the galvanized steel uprights and the 90 degree mounting angles and galvanized bolts, washers and nuts. I did not make anything metal myself. The only thing I 'made' were the custom shaped bunks themselves (the shape locked in by making them of tortured three layer laminates as in the photos -- simple but time consuming), the large keel/skeg 'pad', and the various props and supports needed while I fit the bunks to the boat and the trailer for attachment. Of course, I had the trailer manufactured to a sketch and measurements I had provided (I couldn't find them quickly now if I tried), so that I would get a trailer that had the vee in the lateral crossmembers, and the crossmembers were positioned very close to where the frames in the boat are located. The vee was necessary (for me) to allow for the keel/skeg pad to mount low, without having the boat sit way too high on the trailer. It never would have worked out if the crossmembers had been straight. I had first 'shopped' at a marina yard looking at the various WESCO trailers there with boats on them already. That is where I saw the option for the Vee crossmembers on some of the trailers. I figured since they manufacture the trailers themselves, a slight repositioning of their welding jig should easily accomodate my measurements so that the bunk mounts would be directly under the frames in the boat. After contacting them, this was indeed the case and they said it would be no trouble at all. (This was inspired by a fellow CV16 builder (Leon I think) who had a roller bunk break through his hull while trailering -- it was not positioned under the structural frame of his hull). My trailer manufacturer was about 400 miles away, but they made regular deliveries to a dealership only 50 miles away. What a pleasurable difference from the first company that couldn't give me a commitment after a year. The only problem was that one of the hub grease seals was very leaky, but they swapped that out for free within a week and I was good to go. btw -- in case I ever trailer my CV16 on a roller bunk trailer with roller spacing beyond my control, I added a laminate under the seats to hopefully prevent what Leon experienced (you can see it in this picture laminated to the hull bottom panel, extending to just short of the cuddy frame). Just another extra ten pounds to my boat.... and another... and another.... But she is tough, and a few unexpected incidents proved it!


Understandably, adapting a used trailer will require a little more creativity, but should be a minor project compared to having built that beautiful boat.

Well what do you know! I found the sketch attached to the 2010 email that I had not yet deleted! Note to any current NC or SC builders.... the contact info on that sketch is outdated. The company has changed since 2010. If they still make trailers, you will need to research the current state of the company and their products.

[gonandkarl]

Hi Ks8,
Thank you for the extensive way you described the trailer adaptation. I am also scared to use rollers and therefore I built the same as you 2 bunks laminated and shaped while the boat was upside down. I have now quite a bit of theoretical knowhow and now I start the practical side. First I want to find out the centre of gravity of the boat to know where the axle of the trailer has to be. I will put the keel on twin wheels and move it fore and aft until it balances on these wheels. Naturally I will put straps on both sides to hold the boat upright. This is my plan for today.
Greetings from Karl

[ks8]

Happy balancing

[gonandkarl]

Hi,
Before I can balance the boat any further I mounted a new steel cross beam for my boat building shed that will not bend under the weight of the boat.



And I removed the three doors of my shed so the place is ready to move the boat out soon.



Tomorrow I will balance my boat again to find the centre of gravity and I will put the cabin roof the wash boards and the rudder on to the boat to have it exactly as I want to tow it.

Greetings from Karl