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.