Trailers

[Graham W]

David,

My brakes are listed in the catalogue as overrun brakes, which must be the same as surge.  I think the system works by transmitting a mechanical force to the brakes when the front coupling is compressed as the towing vehicle slows down.  There is certainly no electricity involved.

[david]

Hi Graham,
                      Thank you. Yes they sound just like my "surge" brakes.

[Graham W]

I've been using some scales to see how much my boat weighs under various scenarios. With the absolute minimum on board (just the three sails and their associated spars) it weighs 500kg, which is now the weight quoted by Swallow Boats as the official specification for the GRP BR20 - it used to be quite a bit less.

My braked trailer, registration plate and spare wheel weigh just over 300kg.  This is more than the unbraked version with 10" wheels but if anything, the boat now feels lighter and more manoeuvrable when being towed.

The absolute minimum of kit as specified by raid organisations comes in at 60kg.  This includes oars, an anchor, warps, fenders, flares, lifevests, tools, bosun's box, first aid kit etc.  See here for a full list (on page 10) http://www.sailcaledonia.org/SailCaledonia-SailingInstructions_2014.pdf

I wouldn't want to do a raid with less kit than this and in reality, I would also take a small engine or motor and various other bits and bobs, which increases weight by a further 40kg.

In touring mode where weight is a lesser consideration, a bigger engine, a second much heavier anchor, a plank bowsprit and several more sails add another 70kg, making around 170kg in total. Camping equipment would add yet more weight.

I reckon that my trailer's GVW when loaded for Corfu this summer, with valuable stuff like the engine in the boot, will be around 950kg.  Last year and with an unbraked trailer it was exactly on the unbraked limit at 750kg but the towing vehicle was definitely overloaded with kit and luggage in the boot.

[Julian Swindell]

Hi Graham
What car do you use for towing? That can be important as even if your trailer weight is on or below the 750 maximum, it can still be too much if your car is light.
My Baycruiser 20 weighed in at 451kg is base mode when it was delivered. Matt actually heaved it up on load cell hung from the roof to check. He was most upset by the 1kg more than the design weight of 450. Even with the addition of engine, anchors etc, I haven't really noticed it when trailing, but I have a fairly hefty 4x4 (Nissan Xtrail).
How long does it take you to tow to Corfu, and where do you stay on the way? I am very tempted to tow on the continent.

[Graham W]

Hi Julian,

We've got a petrol Honda CRV, which is a 4x4 but not particularly hefty and it strains a bit going up mountains.  The overloading was from what we put in the boot rather than what we were towing.

Corfu takes a leisurely four days with stops in Kent, Switzerland and somewhere near Ancona, then overnight by ferry to Igoumenitsa on the Greek mainland and a short hop over to Corfu Town.  The journey is part of the holiday! 

[Julian Swindell]

Hi Graham
Do you stay at hotels on the way? I wonder how easy it is to find parking for car and trailer. I have considered sleeping on my boat in camp-sites, but don't know how realistic that is.

[Peter Cockerton]

Graham

Confusing information on the Bayraider 20 GRP specification :

"At only 330kg in wood/epoxy or 430kg in GRP, the BayRaider is light enough on her trailer to be easily manhandled by one person around a dinghy park – or tucked into a safe spot in a hotel car park"

The bullet points does now state 500kg as you mentioned.

Peter Cockerton

[Graham W]

Julian,

Friends in Kent, hotels in Switzerland and Italy and a cabin on the ferry.  The hotels were chosen for their parking spaces. As the journey is part of the holiday, camping would not be tolerated by my co-driver!  If you have a campervan, the Greek ferry companies now allow you to sleep in that on the open deck.  The downside is cigarette butts chucked on the roof from the decks above. 

[Graham W]

Peter,

For my GRP BR20 to weigh 430kg and the old towing weight to amount to 750kg, the trailer would have to have had lead ballast!  I think a boat weight of 500kg is much more realistic, especially with extras like Tek-Dek on board. 

[Tony]

Hi Graham
Do you stay at hotels on the way? I wonder how easy it is to find parking for car and trailer. I have considered sleeping on my boat in camp-sites, but don't know how realistic that is.

Hi, Julian.
Trailing to Greece each year is not cheap. It's the Ancona to Igoumenitsa Ferry that bumps the price up. (We've tried without a cabin and it's not pleasant. Shared bathrooms and enforced conviviality not to my taste any more.) If you are happy to sleep on your boat, camping on board, where available, is slightly less gruesome.  The road trip, however, has its own rewards. (Especially the restaurants in Italy!)
Hotels come in all shapes and sizes. The larger chains such as "Holiday Inn" "Best Western"  "Campanile" all have decent car parks if they are outside town centres and within reach of the major roads, although they tend to be a little on the bland side. If it's your first trip, use "Booking.com" or similar while on the road to find more interesting places to stay and discounted prices,very often. Booking ahead of time, though sure, doesn't allow for flexibility. Don't forget that ferries don't wait ...but YOU will have to. All the cars, caravans and lorries are herded like cattle in holding pens as the loading crews do their stuff. 
If you want to stay at a camp site in France or Italy I recommend that (like the Greek ferries) you book well in advance - as soon after Christmas as you can. They all seem to have different charging systems - per plot, per person, per vehicle (ie paying for car and trailer) so it's best to ring them up to check if the website is not crystal clear, and check others in the locality for the best deal.
One last point, membership of the Caravan and Camping Club will get you a discount  on the Greek ferries as well as the campsites and membership of the AA (but NOT the RAC, for some reason) will get you a really worthwhile saving.
Having tried both, the four day road trip is a much more pleasant experience than the horrific summer airports and the  three hour flight.  Sadly,(!) having a Deben Lugger based permanently on Paxos means I'm locked into Jet 2 for the foreseeable future.
Take my advice - keep on trailing!

[Julian Swindell]

Hi Tony and other long distance trailors
Can you turn up at a caravan site and claim that your boat is just a funny shaped caravan that you are going to sleep in?

[Tony]

Yes, Julian! That's the problem!
Turn up with any sort of  trailer  and some sites will charge caravan rates - AND extra for the tiny backpacking tent you are actually sleeping in. These are usually the sites that charge per plot - one for the "caravan" and another plot for the tent,how ever small. One site tried to charge me a flat rate for an electrical hook-up even though I had nothing to plug in!
This is why I suggest you ring the site in person before committing yourself.
Having said all that I've only had problems with the larger sites run by staff taken on for the summer. They tend to follow the rules laid down by the Management to the letter. Most places, wishing for repeat custom, tend to be more flexible.

Grumpy Old Man comment!
Stick to touring sites.
In high summer I agree with Sartre: "Hell is other people!"
I avoid large, permanent sites like the plague, especially those advertising "a range of activities for children". They can include lethal "playgrounds", ill-maintained and unsupervised, where your children will be ridiculed for talking "funny" (mind you, that happened to MY kids in Cornwall. Their Northern accents being remarked upon disparagingly by a gang of little twerps from the home counties). Urine and slime-filled swimming pools are not unknown - just try keeping your kids out of one on a hot day - and you might well be bothered at any time, day or night, by enthusiastic young people in clown make-up trying to sell you tickets for a barbecue scheduled for the day after you leave. (Bear in mind that a student in charge of a barbecue in France ,Italy, or the UK, is hardly likely to have read any of Elizabeth David's books, so adjust your expectations accordingly! )

Hope all that doesn't put you off! Ha, Ha !

Whingeing  apart, I've camped since a teenager (mostly backpacking or cycle camping) and towed my Swallow Boats Cardigan Bay Lugger for thousands of miles in the UK, France and Italy and rarely met with any unpleasantness at all.... but don't get me started on airports!

[Rob Johnstone]

Hi all, Happy new Year. I'm tempted by the idea of sailing  Vagabond amongst Greek Isles but am a little put off by a complete lackk of i formation about  launching sites. Do any of you experienced hands know of a book or web site that lists them? Or of villas that include such things in their offering?

Rob J

[Peter Taylor]

... towed my Swallow Boats Cardigan Bay Lugger for thousands of miles in the UK, France and Italy and rarely met with any unpleasantness at all.... but don't get me started on airports!

Does the CBL go in the hold or as hand luggage?

[Graham W]

Rob,

The obvious source of such information ought to be local pilot books but leafing through my Heikell Ionian pilot, slipways barely get a mention - as opposed to craning out facilities at the few proper marinas.  I suppose that because there are virtually no tides in the Med, it's assumed that anyone who wants to launch off a trailer will have their own local knowledge of the numerous (mostly free) places where this is possible.  Usually anywhere with many small fishing boats and/or tourist motor boats for hire.  I know of at least four places on Corfu where it is possible but none of them appear in Heikell or on the internet as far as I can see.