I'd like to add a sail box to my trailer. Are most sailboxes built to be waterproof or allowed to fill with water and easily drain? I was planning on not making it waterproof and maybe laying strips of wood along the bottom to keep the gear off the floor..

You may consider 1" or 1 1/2" pvc pipe on floor instead of wood. Lighter and wont absorb water. Mine is an old Aluminum box that was Free - it is water proof in rain but not when I back it in to the lake. But it does drain.



Edited by sailinagin on Apr 08, 2011 - 07:14 AM.

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David
Memphis, TN
'84 Hobie 18
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Here is the dilemma with a "waterproof sailbox", you mount the box on the trailer frame lengthways just above the axles, but when you back the trailer and cat into the water, you have.......... a floating trailer, even with the weight of the cat. My sailbox is 12' long and this was what I encountered, my solution with my sailing circumstances was to drill holes into the bottom of my sailbox. Because I am a trailer sailor, sailing the rocky shores of lakes in the midwest, I have to set my cat up on the trailer which means unpacking everything out of the sailbox, so it did not matter that the box filled up with water, it was dry by the time I got back from sailing. For rainy conditions I plug the holes.

A beach sailor would not have to do this as he would have beachwheels to trundle his cat down to the water, so it just depends on each individuals circumstances.......?

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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Im a trailer sailer as well so the box will allways be empty when backing it into the water, I was curious if the box would be buoyant enough to actually float the trailer.... I think Ill go with a non-waterproof box with the PVC bottom. Good idea sailingagin!

Car Guy, With a beach cat you don't have to float the boat on and off the trailer. I only back in till the water is just below the axle. Then just push the boat off. To reload I pick up the bows and place them in the rear cradles and use the trailer winch to slide the boat back on the trailer. This keeps the axle bearings and the sail box dry. I have not had a wheel bearing problem since adopting this method more than 12 years ago.
My cat box is built with a hinged door located in front of the main beam when the boat is on the trailer. It is built to be rain proof but not air tight.







Edited by skarr1 on Apr 08, 2011 - 11:04 AM.

Good suggestion by skarr1, once again it depends on your circumstances, does your trailer have cradles or rollers, if you have rollers are they the narrow gage rollers? If they are narrow it's more difficult to winch the cat up without the cat slipping off the rollers and putting gouges in the gelcoat, this was my experience with my H16. My P18 has a much wider gage roller which makes winching up so much easier as these rollers are wide on the outer edges narrowing down to the center to act as a guide. And these rollers are easy to obtain from any boat store, you could use the cadillac of mounts and go with cradles which are more difficult to obtain and a lot pricier, all depends on whats available.

My trailer has bearing buddies and I regularly pull the covers off to check grease levels due to the fact I submerge my trailer when floating my P18 off, $15 grease gun from Wal-Mart ensures sufficient grease for bearings at all times.

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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My trailer has home made carpeted cradles. I spray the carpet with sailkote. When I bought the boat and trailer the cradles were made out of sheet metal. They were falling apart due to rust. I made new ones out of thicker metal. I wanted to change to rollers but could not afford to buy all the parts (I had the steel). After reading of the problems Turbo has with gouging the hulls I am glad I built the cradles. I have also helped others with rollers load their boats and some of them have the same problem. Some people build guides to keep the boat on the rollers. You want to make the trailer as safe as possible. No telling what can happen at the ramp, with power boat wash, wind, waves, and sometimes stupid crew.




Edited by skarr1 on Apr 08, 2011 - 03:08 PM.