XV. Roll, Roll, Roll Your Boat

We start by flipping the boat to improve access.

A quick inspection reveals some minor rot, a couple of dings to patch and a lot of missing fiberglass.

Building a double gantry to Lift boat onto trailer for less stress on us. Checked a number of DIY implementations - basic design was single gantry, big feet & centered chain fall on oversized beam. I was looking for a design with four lift points rather than one.

Finally, made my own design. Key points were retractable casters, low enough to roll into garage, each corner (excepting wood) rigged for one ton, adjustable boat length - down to one foot for storage.

Fortunately I was able to repurpose some stuff - overall out of pocket was $200+

Gantries still in development…..

Lifting

Finally, back on trailer ready for boat work

Here we are, back on trailer with pointy side up (as the sailors would say). We learned a lot on our second flipping try. This time we rotated while still on the gantry straps instead of ground rolling. Much easier, safer & less stressful!