Showing posts with label chocks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocks. Show all posts

Thursday, May 14, 2026

Painting Trailer Chocks

16 May 23:

Trailer chocks got a coat of Rust-Oleum Safety Red. 

Monday, November 23, 2020

Chocks

 15 Nov 20:

Easy to make chocks. Get some scrap 2x4 and bevel off about half of one edge, 45 degrees. On the bottom use a spade bit to drill a 1 inch hole about halfway through, then use a 1/2 inch bit to drill completely through. Find some spare bits of line and  hide the know in the hollowed out area on the bottom.





Thursday, May 23, 2019

Capn Jack's SOPs - Trailer, Boat Gear, Car, Launch and Retrieval

23 May 19:

Came across some note in Capn Jack's memo book, a rough draft of his Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for trailer sailing his 1971 O'Day Day Sailer II CYANE. We are transcribing them here for posterity and further development. If you have comments, please add them below and we'll incorporate them into future checklists.


Unedited v1.0
Boat Trailer
1. Trailer coupled to car and pad locked
2. Safety chains connected
3. Tipper mechanism locked in place
4. Boat tie down straps in place and taunt
5. Trailer wheels greased
6. Tail lights connected
7. Boat winch safety strap connected to boat
8. Dolly wheel cranked up
9. Safety rope for boat to trailer

Boat Gear
1. Anchor and rode - S
2. Life jackets - S
3. Seat cushions - S
4. VDS Visual Distress Signals - S
5. Weather radio - S Cell phone
6. Compass
7. Fist Aid Kit - +
8. Hats with spares - +
9. Water and snacks - +
10. (Tools and parts) box
11. Paddles (two) - S
12. Sails, boom + rudder tiller
13. Drain plugs
14. Bow and dock lines
15. Knives, bailer, frnder
16. Sunglasses and sunscreen
17. Deck shoes
18. Battery and case, motor
19. Flags

Car
1. Grease gun and lug wrench
2. Spare tire, lug nuts
3. Chocks to block wheel on car when launching


Launching and Retrieving Boat
1. Untie mast and slide back in crutch
2. Bend jib to mast
3. Ensure side stays are connected and free to move
4. Insure halyard is in mast
5. Slide mast to tabernacle
6. Raise mast while keeping watch on shrouds as to tangling. Connect mast to tabernacle
7. Connect jib forestay to boat bow
8. Connect boom to mast
9. Bend sails to mast and boom. Remove boom crutch
10. Tie main down haul and out haul
11. Install and tie rudder and tiller
12. Install motor and battery
13. Connect bow line
14. Remove boat to trailor
15. tie down strap
16. Remove trailor lights
17. Back trailor down ramp and set brakes. Put trans in park, block wheel and turn engine off
18. Disconnect wench strap from boat bow to trailor
19. Tip trailer (use "T" handle) if needed
20. Slide boat off trailer
21. Start car and put in drive. Remove chock while depressing brake and unlock same

Reverse SOPs to retrieve boat.

"Coffee Time"

S - Safety
+ - Health

Jack was an Environmental Safety and Health professional, so we are guessing that his annotations of the S and the + sign that looked like the first aid cross were to denote Safety and Health gear. Part of his job at at the chemical plant was to develop SOPs, so it naturally carried over to his messing about.







We couldn't help but laugh at a few of the steps, like Boat Gear #8. Hat's with spares...."oops, there goes my hat!" and Launching and Retrieving #4. Insure halyard is in mast....that must have been a fun day :)

Let us know what your notes would be!

Cheers
Clark and Skipper and Capn Jack




Monday, May 21, 2018

Trailer Chocks

21 May 18:

We like to make chocks for our trailers, paint them the boat color if we can. Usually there is a scrap 2x4 or 2x6 laying around, pressure treated preferable. 2x4s work great for tires up to 12 inches, bugger tires like the 2x6s. Cut 4 blocks, 12 inches each. If we want to get fancy we bevel the edge that fits under the tire. Next we bore a 1 inch or larger hole on the bottom to make room for a stop knot, a little over halfway through. If you bevel the edge of the blocks, bore the holes on opposite ends so the bevels will be inboard. Then drill a smaller hole through the middle if that just a bit larger diameter than the scrap line that we plan to use. Now is a good time to find a heel of paint and put a coating on the chocks, we use a bright or contrasting color so we don't trip over them, luckily we don't have any concrete or grass colored boats. 2-3 feet of line is enough, run through the holes and put a figure 8 knot on the ends.



Fair Winds and Happy Chocking!