Pulling a Scot out of water without a tow vehicle

Submitted by njwiley on Thu, 03/24/2016 - 01:31
Forums: 
Owning, Rigging, and Sailing the Flying Scot

I'll be floating my new (to me) Flying Scot for the first time this Spring and am not sure how i'll go about retrieving her. The boat is kept in a yard right off of the water where it can be easily rolled over to a gentle ramp with a trailer dolly. However, this launch area is intended for small boat lauched by hand only so they don't want tow vehicles running around in the area. My question is whether it's feasible to pull a Scot & trailer OUT of the water by hand with a dolly or if that is too much weight. Is anybody doing this and, if so, how much help do you need pushing/pulling in the process?

Bernie Baker

Tue, 03/29/2016 - 15:07

If you are doing this by yourself and or on a regular basis, it sounds pretty difficult.

abl1111

Mon, 07/25/2016 - 19:49

careful with a come along

dgirving

Wed, 03/30/2016 - 15:53

We would launch and recover our Scot from the marsh each season with a Seitech dolly connected to the trailer. She went in pretty easy, had to control the speed a bit from what I recall. In the fall, once cranked on the trailer I think we had two pushing and one pulling to get her off the marsh and up the hill to the backyard. Definitely doable, but not preferred for a weekly routine.  I guess if your crew is young and strong enough...

njwiley

Wed, 03/30/2016 - 23:31

I had a feeling it was doable but there's nothing like real world experience to confirm hunches. Good idea to use a comealong - I'll investigate that idea or maybe choose another boat launch.
 

Brian Dellett

Thu, 04/07/2016 - 22:11

I would try another launch site. You really don't need much of a vehicle to tow the Scot and launch it. We have a hitch on our Toyota Matrix and have towed it from NJ to Lake George NY and have launched her from a pebbly street end towny launch many times. If the tide was too low we actually took the trailer off the car and walked the trailer in till she floated knowing it would be easy to take her out as the tide came in.  My buddy was like what if we can't get her back to the car? I told him we would get the boat on the trailer and then use the trailer winch to pull the trailer up to the car!  We had the afternoon without the kids and we were SAILING!

jackalope

Sat, 04/09/2016 - 08:06

It will greatly depend on the ramp condition, incline, and the trailer condition. If you use a come along be careful not to stand behind it (or have anything important there) in case something gives way. I would avoid a rope and use something that cannot snap back (like you use on a trailer wench).
If you can sail (or paddle) to a real ramp maybe it is easier to move the trailer and vehicle there?
 

sawyerspadre

Tue, 04/12/2016 - 20:53

i would be very careful about trying to pull a Scot up a boat ramp without a car.  Boat ramps tend to be slippery, and many have a drop off at the end if the boat gets in too far.
if you are going to try this, be sure you have a good group of helpers that can pull it out if it gets to be too much for you.  I have been to regattas where they have used small lawn tractors to ramp-launch boats, to save space and not have cars running around the launch area.  Possible?
Keep in mind that the boat with trailer weighs about 1200 lbs all up.

njwiley

Mon, 07/25/2016 - 01:40

For anyone else facing a similar challenge, I picked up a 4 way block and tackle from Amazon (link) and it made the task of both launching and retrieving the boat & trailer manageable by just myself and a helper (wife/teenaged son/etc). The key for this to work was having a good anchor point at the top of the ramp.