Trip out west without the boat

This is a place to document your trips with your boat. Tell us about your journeys. Share your experiences. Post your pictures.
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ris
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by ris »

Be free thanks for your comment I’m feeling pretty good today the surgery went well so I’ll be back to hiking soon. Tom foolery we bought a 18 foot long X 8 ft 6” cargo trailer with barn doors in the back and turned it into a camper. We have a blog of our boat and travel trailer journeys at “thejillkristy.wordpress.com”
If you go to that page and tap the 3 short horizontal lines on the upper right you go to posts, scroll down until you get to archives 2018, click then you click on a picture and it will show outside and inside pictures of the trailer.
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Richard
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ris
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Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by ris »

I know this is getting away from boats but our trailer build is on “tnttt.com cargo trailer conversions”
When you get to the page of builds look for “ris 8.5 X 18 new trailer build 11/1/17” the entire build is on that site
Richard
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ris
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by ris »

We had a great week with Mike and his wife didn’t get to go sailing but we had a nice time we are heading East toward Spokane
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NiceAft
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by NiceAft »

ris wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 8:57 pm We had a great week with Mike and his wife didn’t get to go sailing but we had a nice time we are heading East toward Spokane
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In case some of you are scratching your heads wondering who is who, Rich is on the right, and Mike on the left.
Ray ~~_/)~~
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Herschel
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by Herschel »

If I can piggy back on this thread, my wife and I are, also, headed west with our travel trailer and not our Mac. We head out Monday, August 2nd from Orlando headed to Escondido, CA. I-10 to I-20 to I-40 eventually. We will visit some friends in Tyler, TX and Abilene, TX and stop by the National Vietnam War Museum in Weatherford, TX near Dallas. Taking it slow, allowing two weeks for the transit. Trip is not so much for vacation as it is to support a family member in Escondido who is ill. Usually I travel with an inflatable sailboat so I can take advantage of "targets of opportunity" and get in a sail, but this time we are just in "visit friends and help family" mode. We have a good friend and his high school daughter taking care of American Spirt in our two-three month long absence. I'll keep up with the forum while I am traveling and, hopefully, get in some vicarious sailing through all of you.
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NiceAft
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by NiceAft »

Have a safe trip Herschel,
Ray ~~_/)~~
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Tomfoolery
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by Tomfoolery »

Enjoy the trip.

And secure the dishes, glasses, and anything else breakable when you’re on I-10 east of TX. That’s one crummy stretch of road. :(

Looks like we’ll be heading back to Houston in a few weeks, or maybe in September. Not sure yet. No boat, though. No time for that, and I may do it in three days instead of four, if my bod can manage it. :P
Tom
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Herschel
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by Herschel »

Tomfoolery wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 5:05 am Enjoy the trip.

And secure the dishes, glasses, and anything else breakable when you’re on I-10 east of TX. That’s one crummy stretch of road. :(

Looks like we’ll be heading back to Houston in a few weeks, or maybe in September. Not sure yet. No boat, though. No time for that, and I may do it in three days instead of four, if my bod can manage it. :P
We'll be careful on I-10. We usually stick to moderate speeds and keep a pretty good eye out for pot holes. I think most of our dishes are some kind of hard to break "Corningware" and plastic. Have learned to keep glass at a minimum on a trailer for that reason. Back in 2018 we pulled our rig through Houston at rush hour trying to get to a downtown campground. Won't try that again! :( Good luck with your Houston experience. :)
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ris
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by ris »

We are back in Florida, still 8 hr drive from home. We are in Pensacola for a week or two before heading home to Frostproof. Already planing maintenance on Mac trailer to prepare for trip to canals in NY and Canada next summer. All new springs, +new hardware, new tires, new winch, new bunks and putting brakes on trailer. Trailer will be like new. Thinking of brakes on the front axle only. We visited 18 National Parks in the last 7 months in our cargo trailer camper. We traveled around 16,000 miles. I prefer boat travel to over road travel. Love water travel at 6 to 8 mph over land travel at 65 mph!
Richard
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Tomfoolery
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by Tomfoolery »

ris wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 4:47 amThinking of brakes on the front axle only.
What kind of suspension does it have? I know you've posted about it, but I just don't remember. Equalized leaf spring? Independent leaf spring? Torsion bar?
Tom
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Be Free
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by Be Free »

It does not cost that much more to put brakes on both axles. Unless the law has changed I'm pretty sure that Florida requires brakes on all wheels for trailers more than 3000 lbs. A lot of other states have similar laws.

Boat, outboard, batteries, fuel, and a tandem aluminum trailer come out to almost 3700 lbs on my rig. That does not include water, food, and all the other junk I usually have on board.
Bill
2001 26X Simple Interest
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"If I were in a hurry I would not have bought a sailboat." Me
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ris
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by ris »

Be Free had no idea about the brakes on axles! Figured the salt would eat them up from launching in the salt water. PO didn’t have them on the trailer when I bought it so we never added them. Silverado 1500 has no problem stopping with the trailer attached so never thought about till we decided to pull it to NY to launch around Waterford NY next May or June.
Richard
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ris
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by ris »

Tom we have a triangular piece between the 2 springs. Will be home Sunday and can take a picture. Will also do the tongue weight since we never checked after putting 2 axles in place of the one axle.
Richard
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Tomfoolery
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by Tomfoolery »

ris wrote: Tue Nov 02, 2021 8:08 pmTom we have a triangular piece between the 2 springs.
Equalizer. The only way to fly with leaf spring suspension.

It also halves the effective spring rate at lower speeds, since a 1" bump only deflects each spring 1/2" as they both deflect via the equalizer. It's equivalent to putting two springs in series - the spring rate (stiffness) is halved. That's good since adding an axle usually means too much spring capacity for the load (7000 lb of spring capacity if axles and springs are 3500 lb each). I actually pulled some leaves out of mine to reduce their capacity to about 2200 lb or so per axle, which further softens the ride, and they're equalized, so super soft riding as leaf spring suspensions go.

She's old; she deserves a soft ride. :D
Tom
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Be Free
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Re: Trip out west without the boat

Post by Be Free »

ris wrote: Tue Nov 02, 2021 8:04 pm Be Free had no idea about the brakes on axles! Figured the salt would eat them up from launching in the salt water. PO didn’t have them on the trailer when I bought it so we never added them. Silverado 1500 has no problem stopping with the trailer attached so never thought about till we decided to pull it to NY to launch around Waterford NY next May or June.
Richard
Last time I checked the requirement for trailer brakes also includes the ratio between the weight of the tow vehicle and the trailer. With a 1500 you may be legal without brakes (but I'd still put them on both axles).

Salt water and trailer brakes do not get along. That is a fact. They can last a long time in fresh water but you will be replacing parts more often in salt water. Be sure to rinse thoroughly as soon as practicable.
Bill
2001 26X Simple Interest
Honda BF40D
"If I were in a hurry I would not have bought a sailboat." Me
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