Thursday is the Big Day

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Thursday June 5th is the day I'll be moving Saratogan hull 2. Taken me a while to get all my ducks in order.

Have the over-width permit. Hope my Silverado 1500 has enough grunt to do it! I replaced the factory hitch with a class 5 hitch. Hope all goes well........ I'll shoot some pics and post them here on completion....[ATTACH]16012[/ATTACH]

[Robert L. Dvorak]

Good luck, hope everything go as planned!! Be safe. thats a cool boat !!!!!!

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Good luck, hope everything go as planned!! Be safe. thats a cool boat !!!!!!

Thanks!

[61_express]

HOLY CRAP.....that's a lot of boat for a little half ton. Make sure you have working trailer brakes.

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

HOLY CRAP.....that's a lot of boat for a little half ton. Make sure you have working trailer brakes.

I towed Sweet Zoanna twice with my F-250HD. It was pretty easy to tow as there was no machinery in the boat. On launch with engines installed, I had a friend with a one ton tow it.
The suspension on the Silverado is a bit soft, but it weighs within 400 pounds of the F250.
The trailer I'm renting has brakes, but I'm not sure how they work? I wouldn't tow it without brakes.
The trailer is aluminum and is 38 feet long! Watch those corners, Jonesy!

As I mentioned, I put a class 5 hitch on the Chev. I'm just hoping I don't get pulled over. 101 is well patrolled.....

Cheers,

Tim

[Skagitguy]

Tim, Where are you taking it to again ? Your place on the coast? Man, I bet those people will not what to do with all of that space in the driveway again ! Good Luck ! ! ! Chuck

[Helmar]

Well, take pictures every time you stop so we all know how hair raising the trip was.
Sure hope it goes smooth for you and like Chuck asked, were you taking her? Hope no real hills to deal with....
Sounds like you got it all under control.

[STOREBRO36]

Hey Tim, good luck and be safe.

Searched the club archive and found a photo of the last time you did this.

Don't know the year?

Steve

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Hey Tim, good luck and be safe.

Searched the club archive and found a photo of the last time you did this.

Don't know the year?

Steve

Steve, that's the FIRST time I moved hull 3, february 1988. Twice since then. This will be the 4th Saratogan move. Picture shows it hooked up to my Chev 1500, but I didn't tow it with the Silverado. Should be interesting!
[ATTACH]16024[/ATTACH]

[TheBronze]

Good luck! If the trailer is OK, I doubt you'll have much issue with police. Just take it easy, take breaks every now and then to check things out, and be careful on the corners! Plus, with your over sized permit you should be trouble free.

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Phase one complete. Long run to Camas (140 miles) Nice trailer, aluminum I beams and 38 feet long.
Took a while to get everything hooked up. Then the trailer lights didn't work. Another 20 minutes there. Also rented hydraulic boat lifts. These are great, but heavy at 275 lbs each. So my Silverado was sitting a wee bit low in the stern.

Got to Grays River about 2:30 and the task of getting the Saratogan on the trailer began. We positioned the boat jacks a little ahead of midships. Without engines, we discovered we were right on the fore/aft CG and we picked the whole boat up with little effort. Getting the boat on the trailer proved to be the easy part.

Finally about 5:30 we were all loaded and Tom offered to escort the tow to South Bend which I'm glad he did. The boat towed easily and I had decided not to exceed 45 miles per hour, but found myself at times doing 50. Cross winds would affect the rig quite a bit. Also the disc/surge brakes on the trailer weren't working...at least I don't think they were working.

Taking tight corners with a combined length of 60 feet was interesting and required constant attention....

Happy to report the Skagit 31 hull two is sitting in my driveway.....still on the trailer, but the tough part of this adventure is complete. I'll take the boat off the trailer in the morning and return the trailer Saturday morning. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

I'm so pleased with my little Silverado 1500 for pulling this off without a hitch (no pun intended)
I think I'll buy the old gal a tank of high octane as a little thank you! Speaking of gas, I used a full tank today and with the Saratogan in tow used 8 gallons to go 45 miles!

More tomorrow....

Cheers,

Tim aka McSkagit

[Kelly]

Amazing Tim! Nice work, esp. w/your 1500...impressive! Now that hull 2 is in the driveway, it's time to add it to your signature line

[TheBronze]

Excellent! I breathed a sigh of relief when I read this. SO glad it went off without any trouble. I look forward to seeing your progress on this gal.

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Here are some pictures of yesterday and today's activity. Picking up (literally) and moving to south Bend and then off-loading and blocking Skagit 31 hull 2.
Tomorrow morning I'll be returning the trailer to Camas. [ATTACH]16039[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]16040[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]16041[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]16042[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]16043[/ATTACH]

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Here are a couple more I shot today. A couple pics of the boat jacks. I managed to get those back into my truck by myself. Did I mention they are HEAVY! The base plate on those lifts is about 20 inches square and is 7/8 inch thick plate steel.
I set up a ladder at the stern and had the realization: "This feels familiar"[ATTACH]16044[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]16045[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]16046[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]16047[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]16048[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]16049[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]16050[/ATTACH]