Driveway Sailing

1st day home.. Really Honey it was free!!!!
And Now!!!!!! Tadaa!!!! trailer sailing at its finest.
And now fro a closer look.. See the bright reflection from the hull.
Dolphin 15 revived

Odds N ends

Winch post to be cleaned naval jelly and a new line needed.
1st day reminder . Spars need a travel attachment.
More clearance near the front of trailer needed
Pressure wash the upper deck. It may get compounded but painting will be next season

Dolphin trailer rebuild

Well it looks like larry wanted the project done... so he threatened to finesse the trailer .. Actually we started by removing the old ratty rusted bunks. In the pics you see the 1x66"x6 PTL i used oinstead of 2x4s for bunks. i should have made these longer. They do have enough flex to support the boat but they are not holding it high enough off of the front roller.


Here is the trailer cleaned up and the new bunk supports loosely installed... There are the old tires on the side and the grinder used to remove the bunks.. The wolfe clamps are my favorites.. german closeouts from Home Depot.
Stapling on the carpet onto the bunk supports
One bunk installed , one to go. It needs to be longer, but it does cure to hull with no bouncing.
I still need to replace the coupler to a 2x 2 and rewire the lights and attach the spare.
As Larry says a free boat and trailer is "the gift that keeps on taking "

Barlow#15 winch rebuild

The Dolphin Sr project left an opening on Sunday to cleanup and lubricate the Barlow #15 winch I got off of eBay. I disassembled it and cleaned and greased the bearings and springs.

After cleaning and lubing. I reassembled it and took it up to the boat where I discovered this was the later edition of the winch..

Notice the difference in profile and color. Also this one uses the Allen bolt to keep the drum on.

On the web there are 2 versions of the instructions that show how disassemble each type of winch .
Version 1 Version 2

Trailer details

The trailer reassembly weht fairly quickly as everyting lined up and was able to go together quickly.
Since I chose to use the low profile wheels the fender will eventually have to be adjusted, since the axle was 2 inches longer to accomadate the fatter tires .

The trailer hub was where I learned the greatest lesson. i t appears that instead of using bearing buddies you fill it with grease from tthe back and it pushes grease out of the rubber seal..sorta like a bearing seal failure only controlled. This is supposed to be a saltwater technology so I look forward to long bearing life and cool runnings man.


Size matters --At least in trailer tires . the new tire will help dissipate heat and has a max 50 psi max so it should run fine at 20 psi on sand or gravel beaches as a dolly tire.


Here's a better view of the difference

Trailer rejuvenation

So here's the assembled trailer and a couple of pics of the hull.
Larry is a boat perfectionist and it shows in the hull paint job.
The next pic shows a close up and he's still not satisfied with it.
I hope he doesn't cringe when it goes into the water.




Trailer assembly part 1- "Parts is parts" The new axle built by Com-Fab. while looking around the shop i found these tires. They advised a traditional 5 spoke 12'' tire but I chose these so I could deflate them and use the trailer as a dolly in sand or on regular ground. They say thy are good to 600lbs before their limitations show up. Even if i am totally disgusted I can always go back and get the 12's . But working with a trailer builder means the advice is tempered by experience.

Everything ready to assemble .

Sail Repair

The sail was also a Craigslist find and for $25, it should make it through the 1st season.

It came with some abrasions but it should work fine after a bunch of sail tape.

More of Larry's handiwork


Sweet and smooth like a baby's bottom


Late evening makes for blue pics

2 more coats to go.

See more of Larry's skill at seapearlboats.org

Com-Fab trailer axle rebuild

This is the kind of place the boat bug gets you to .
Metal, trucks , down hill in a light industrial park.


Axles wheels trailers ... I'm loving it already

What y'll have, whatta y'll have????

One axle with slipper springs , 600lb capacity for a jet ski..
O.k. coming right up welcome to Com-Fab Trailers.

Larry's magic

The hull is finally coming together .
It has been patched and filled and faired , then sprayed.
Larry has been working his spray magic and I believe he wants to add 2 coats after this.its going to look sharp on the water. I'll cringe at the 1st scratch on the water but then we'll enjoy the heck out of it.
In the next 2 posts I'll detail the temporary sail and the trailer axle rebuild in the next couple of posts

The saga on the trailer

The Boat repair has gone swimmingly with a lot of help from Larry .

In addition to patching the hole and installing a 6 inch Beckson Port he has helped with the prep and painting, so I am eternally greatful to him.

The trailer is another story though.

Dropping the axle was very easy.

After that I inspected the axle and running gear and discovered some major corrosion from marine dunking.
Once I removed the wheels this is what I was left with .

Viewed from the underside you can see the corrosion on the axle and slipper springs.

The axle appears to be shorter than the ones sold at Northern Tool by about 6 inches so I will have to go to a jet ski shop and see if they have the complete axle.

If I cant get it that way I will have to buy some channel iron and get it welded up.

Another option is getting the larger axle and moving the original fenders outward for correct fit.

Reviving a Dolphin 15 boat

This blog is dedicated to Dolphin 15 that I picked up off of Craigslist in early July..

There are a few web resources that talk about the

Dolphin and I wanted to document what and how much it costs to bring a boat back to life .
The boat came with an impact fracture from the trailer and thats the 1st order of repair.

The boat is meant to be a sail trainer so it doesnt have to be perfect but the hull should keep water on the outside.
The repair priorities are
1st season-hull integrity, used sail, trailer integrity.
2nd season-newer sail.
So far the most expensive component looming is the trailer integrity..
The list reads as follows:- axle, springs lights, bunk risers..
even with a free trailer .. all of the running and load bearing gear will have to be replaced.