Trailer License Plate Tips

 29 Jun 23:

We reached an important milestone, we finally got paper titles for Skipper's trailers and I got the plate and paper title for the new MicroSport. Virginia keeps electronic records of titles does not issue a paper title unless requested, and when we registered the trailers in pandemic ridden 2021 we felt lucky to get just the registration paperwork. Now we have all the paperwork!

I put the new plate onto the MicroSport, Virginia offers an option for a smaller plate for trailers, which is good because there is less plate to get knocked off by road debris or boat yard obstructions. 

We like to use marine grade stainless machine screws and nylon lock nuts (nylocs) to attach our plates. The fasteners stay secure but also don't rust, so they can be removed when the time comes to change out plates or trailer light hardware. We have a little PTSD from past trailer plate hardware removal that involved grinders, vise grips, drills and lots of pirate words.

Video: https://youtu.be/ar7IWm8u_ho

James River Expedition with WAVE and SACAGAWEA

 29 Jun 23:

It was time to road test the new Malone MicroSport so we headed out to our spot on the lower James River with our Sunfish WAVE and Icon kayak SACAGAWEA. The trailer rode smooth and quiets, the boats stayed strapped securely to the pads and racks and we were raiding the beach in no time flat. The beach is mostly coarse sand with a good amount of pebbles and also remnants of crumbled brickwork from an old waterfront oystering business. Hard to medium packed sand and a shola bottom make this beach a good spot to dolly launch

We got Skipper rigged and launched, WAVE dcsided to fly her true colors today. 

Skipper headed out to Marker 5 and said hello to an osprey. 

Meanwhile I took a few photos and launched the kayak to be the photo ship.

Video: https://youtu.be/VUmFEN_AORI

Next we tested out the double paddle that we made last year.  The paddle is light in weight and the blades are a good size for our leisure paddling, but we can dig in if needed. 

Once again the Dynamic Dolly proves it is worth every penny spent, I was able to unload and load both the kayak and the Sunfish and roll them down the beach to our base camp. The kayak is light enough that we threw our beach chairs and snacks inside of it for the ride back to the car.

The Sunfish slid easily onto the dolly and loaded just as smooth back onto the MegaWing racks. We had plenty of tie down points and more than enough straps, we plan to use some shorter Malone straps as we fine tune our tie down routine. 

SUPER SANDY ST had the tow vehicle honors today.

Log of WAVE.

Log of SACAGAWEA and CLARK.

I was This Days Old...

29 Jun 23:

What goes here? Butter. 

I was this days old before I saw this sight... I'll be right back.

DeWALT Bluetooth Outdoor Speaker

29 Jun 23: 

Skipper has a fun playlist on her phone, and since we've been spending more time building fun things in the backyard this Summer we bought an outdoor speaker made by De WALT. We chose De WALT because a) we had the 20V battery system for it and b) we had the 20V battery system for it. 

The sound quality is good and the volume goes up to a level that we would never have it at. And the squirrels, while suspicious at first, don't seem to mind it now.

Smithfield Light

 26 Jun 23:

New lighthouse going up, are maybe a playset for the squirrels. For those keeping track, we're supposed to be repairing a Catfish and Sunfish. But the weather is perfect for marine construction.

Could be another spare bedroom for Webb...

Sunfish Shack Expansion and TETRIS

 25 Jun 23:

We got 2 more sections of the metal roof installed, expecting a lot of rain and wind tonight and wanted to get a few more boats under cover. Sunfish MADISON rejoined her sisters, the Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES moved towards her new spot and SCOUT  continues to jockey around.

Almost enough water to float the little punt SCUPPERS.

Sneak peek at the new lighthouse going up. 

Recap: Here's where we were 2 years ago. We've reclaimed the woodland acreage and all of the dollies and trailers are now on concrete or wooden decking, no more mud!

Art Pig

 24 Jun 23:

Another one of our local celebrities, near the Pagan River.

Malone MicroSport Trailer Fine Tuning

 20 Jun 23:

We added a few support bar pads to the new trailer and added D Rings to the ends of the cross bars.

We're ready to roll...well, after a short visit to DMV to get the new registration. Stay tuned!

1965 Alcort Sunfish WAVE Land Sailing

15 Jun 23: 

We plan to go sailing on Skipper's 1965 Alcort Sunfish WAVE in a few days, and to get to the water we'll be using the new MicroSport trailer. We like to have everything on the boat checked out before we get to the beach, so we do a little land sailing at the house to check that we have all of the boat bits...important things like PFDs. the halyard, sheet, rudder, daggerboard, coffee...

For the next sail Skipper chose to fly her alternate mainsail, I rigged the boat and Skipper worked the sheet from her deck chair.

We like to use decommissioned running rigging for sail ties and other "tie-tie" duties. This line came from ONKAHYE's original 1980 halyard, so we spent some time today putting a spiral whip of waxed thread on the end to make things ship shape. 

Spiral Line Whip Video: https://youtu.be/LrPKpKbWq8U

Two ends done, two to go.

Log of WAVE.

Malone Heavy Duty Straps

 14 Jun 23:

The kind crew at Malone sent us heavy duty cargo straps to check out. The first thing we noticed was the thoughtful padded buckle guard.

We find it very pleasing that the straps come in 4 different color-coded lengths, 9, 12, 15 and 18 feet. Now if only they had matched the length to ROYGBIV wavelengths, maybe I could remember which colors were what lengths. Regardless, we ordered more straps in each of the lengths and should get those in a few days. 

Malone Load Straps

Drop us a line if you would like to order a trailer, racks, etc... as we can get you free shipping in the Lower 48.

Cheers,

Clark and Skipper

Disguising our trailer passion with small boats...

Malone MicroSport LowBed System

14 Jun 23:

We received the parts to convert our Malone MicroSport trailer to the LowBed system, this dropps the cross bar height from 30 inches down to 18, making it even easier to load our 140 pound Sunfish. The kit includes low profile support bars, attachment hardware and tie down rings. We also purchased the wider 78 inch cross bars.

First order of business was to remove the racks, taller support bars and original load bars. For some folks the taller bars allow storage of items underneath boats, or use of Malone's wire basket or locking drawer. 

Here's the basic MicroSport trailer, with retractable tongue and spare tire options.

I forgot to order the hardware kit when I ordered the LowBed support tubes and load bars, but I was able to adapt the original hardware to attach the load bar (top) to the support bar (attached to trailer frame.)

The Malone pads come in several lengths and fit round, square and oval crossbars. 

Skipper of course took the new setup off-roading, and everything seemed to ride secure. We'll spend the next few trips refining strap placement, and order a few straps that have the best length for this configuration. 

We also added the tongue cross bar, which is handy for longer boats. It can be ordered for the regular 30 inch crossbar height or with a LowBed support bar for the 18 inch crossbar height. For our setup with the Sunfish we thought the 30 inch height would be a good height to fit under the bow of the boat. 

Good support and pads are on order for the crossbar.

MegaWing rack has a great fit, solid keel support and a small bit of flex in the outer wing that conforms to the V hull. We have the daggerboard trunk over the wing, that is a very strong part of the hull and having that a bit forward of the axle also gives us a nice tongue weight. From the side view the deck is not level to the ground, instead the  boat rides just a bit bow up, which also helps send any rainwater that gets into the cockpit towards the bailer plug.

MegaWing rack under the keel and aft end of the cockpit, another good support area. Under the mast step is our other favorite spot to support a Sunfish.

The J Racks for kayaks are very stable with plenty of tie down options.

This is the fixed J Rack, and there is also a version that folds for those who like to keep the rack attached but be able to fold it down for garage door clearance.

In between the boats is the area we are eyeing for spar and sail storage, coming soon.