Tip: When washing straps like this, or the rigging ropes for your boat, dock lines etc. dropping a little fabric softener into the rinse water will make them a pleasure to handle.
Now you sound like Madge, the Colgate Palmolive Dishwashing spokesperson; “your hands are soaking in it”
Ray
Ray,
By the way, I think you just dated yourself .............. I guess I did too, 'cause I got it
BB,
SK
The factory shipped boats all over the US by tying ropes to the dock cleats with a piece of carpet under the rope to protect the hull.
I also use the dock lines to tie down but I only travel 2 miles to the Marina - for long distance towing i have one of those big straps like everyone else has.
My only problem with the strap is that I keep forgetting how to run the strap through the slots on the buckle thingy.
NiceAft wrote:I use this around the stern and the trailer.
This is identical to what I use. It hooks on the inside of the aluminum "I" beam of the trailer without the ratchet hardware coming into contact with the hull, so no protective cushion is needed to use it.
Care must be taken when using a heavy duty tie down to not overtighten the strap. It's easy to cause damage with these.
I haven't done it for the short distances that I trailer twice a year, but a half twist in the unsupported sections of the flat strap prevents the strap from vibrating against the hull at highway speed.
-Brian.
I use this one too. I removed the short pigtail and hook from the ratchet and bolted it directly to the trailer (custom bracket I made). Now it sits nice and low and no longer rubs the hull. I used to have to wrap carpet around it as a chafe guard.
I suggest washing the strap before use, as it tended to turn the gelcoat yellow, where it made contact. The wash water was very yellow, after doing this.
Tip: When washing straps like this, or the rigging ropes for your boat, dock lines etc. dropping a little fabric softener into the rinse water will make them a pleasure to handle.
Best Breezes,
Steve K.
Yellow huh? Does PCB-11 mean anything now?
So I'm not the only one who washes his dock lines in a mesh bag with fabric softener? Makes them last longer too, less internal abrasion from grit.
I tie the boat with the dock-lines by looping around the mast above the helmsmans seat, then down to the stern cleats
and from there to a cleat I installed on the trailer frame. from there to the sheet winch and then I lock it on the cam-cleat.
this way the mast is held in place in the mast support, and the boat is going nowhere.
This is fast and easy to tie up at the ramp, but for longer trips I think I would add ratchet straps fore and aft for added safety.
Take a look in my mods section for pictures: http://www.macgregorsailors.com/modt/in ... ?view=1912
I use 20 ft dock lines from stern cleat down around trailer frame and back up to cleat. Dock lines are there anyway, so makes it simple, quick, secure and ready for launching. I also have a length of chain
from bow eye to trailer in case winch gives out while trailering. Have been doing this for 6 years, longest tow was about 3 1/2 hrs
Used to just strap down right across the cockpit but found our on the way usage of our Mac as a caravan made climbing over the strap a pain so now we use 2 shorter straps one down each side keeping the cockpit free of obstruction....works well and of course a chain at the bow so the winch is NOT the main holding device!!
I do recall that when I picked up 'boat' at the factory in Costa Mesa they had a rope tied from the bow eye on 'boat' down to the trailer - hmmm makes you think
I suspect we all should not use the winch as the main bow trailer hold down now that I remember that.
Yeah BOAT - that's a good practice. As I remember, a separate tie down also pulls in a different, and more desirable direction (down?) than the winch does.
I two put a chain through the bow eye and around the ladder post for any lengthy tow in case of winch strap failure. I use a bow ratchet strap on very long tows as well. They're cheap and simple, no reason not to.
BOAT wrote:I do recall that when I picked up 'boat' at the factory in Costa Mesa they had a rope tied from the bow eye on 'boat' down to the trailer - hmmm makes you think
I suspect we all should not use the winch as the main bow trailer hold down now that I remember that.
Well, I had an issue with trailer winch, the plate that is hold by the screws crashd and the winch came out. So this winch is not too heavy anyway.
But by law the winch is just made to "winch and not to hold"... Here in europe even ropes are not allowed. All the holding device must have label that prooves the tests.
So I wonder the MacGregor Factory is yousing just ropes to hol.
Yup kurz, here in the colonies it's legal to haul loads secured only with ropes. Even on big trucks. The only difference is that the trucks must pass inspection points (which RARELY question how the load is tied down). Mostly all they care about is weight, drugs, and the drivers weight ticket and rest stops.
Same goes for shipping containers on cargo boats, they say the Atlantic is littered with shipping containers that fell off boats; some still floating near the surface close enough to put a hole in your boat if you hit them at high speed.
The vehicle code here in California (the capital of cars in the US) just says the loads must be secure. That's about it.
This may appear to be pandering to those posting, but the one's who really need to be reading these posts are those who don't tie down their Mac's. Either because the thought never occurred to them i.e. a new owner, or those who believe there isn't any need, and they are out there.
And most of them are probably right here in California because the CHP could care less about such things.
The only way i could think of to get people aware of this would be to start a post with a really insulting title that makes people so mad they want to read the post. That's something I'm really good at: writing stuff that makes people nuts cuz I am a troll and I know how to get people riled up but I don't want to do that here because I promised Kevin that I would not do that kind of stuff on this website.
(I would probably start the post with a title that started with the words "California Drivers" or something like that - it would be sure to get everyone to read the post, but I promised Kevin so I don't do that anymore).
BOAT wrote:I do recall that when I picked up 'boat' at the factory in Costa Mesa they had a rope tied from the bow eye on 'boat' down to the trailer - hmmm makes you think
I suspect we all should not use the winch as the main bow trailer hold down now that I remember that.
I have a giant turnbuckle attached to the trailer, right at the bottom of the winch tree. The other end pins into the bow eye. (and still has room for the winch hook). I give it a couple turns to tighten it up after the boat is back on the trailer, and tighten the lock nuts.
Had this on my Xboat trailer too. Works great and is very secure.
I'll get a picture as soon as these California drought flash floods are over
makes you think
