PDRacer Sailboat

Transporting Your PDRacer
As individual as who you are and the PD you just built, how you transport her to the water can be done many different ways. Many sailors agree, the most dangerous part of sailing is driving to and from your launch point. Regardless of whether you have a boat or not, other drivers are crazy and can cause you to run off the road, or they can crash into you. Transporting a boat has extra dangers, it is of the utmost importance to transport your boat in a safe way to keep it from coming loose on the road and possibly killing you or someone else.

Trailer & Gate For Side Yard
The EASIEST way to transport & store your PD, is with a trailer. You don't have to load or unload it, all you do is wheel it over to your car and tow it to the launch ramp. The key to making it easy, is to have a big gate in your fence so you can wheel your boat anywhere in your back or side yard. If you can build a PDRacer, you can certainly build a big gate in your fence.

Harbor Freight Bolt Together Kit Trailers
There are many inexpensive trailers that are available as bolt together kits. The most popular one is from HarborFreight.com in the picture to the right. It is their boat trailer model, and costs around $300. It comes in a bolt together kit, so you do NOT have to weld it. I have used them for years and they are great.

These trailers are very light, you can easily wheel it around by hand with the tongue, and pull it behind the smallest of cars.

Harbor Freight also carries a small utility trailer kit that only costs about $175. This is a picture of Tim Cleary's boat on one of those.

I have a few photo essays at Shortypen.com of other harbor freight trailers:
HFTrailers
other interesting trailers

2 PD's on a trailer
With some creativity, you could carry 2 or more ducks on a trailer.

Slide Off Dolly
If you have a standard utility trailer, you can make a slide off dolly to make it easier to launch your boat.

Abrahams PD Dolly
Ken Abrahams had a old popup camper that he converted into a utility trailer. It did not have a tail gate, so he made this dolly to slide on and off of his trailer.

I am pretty sure that pickup trucks were designed for a primary purpose of carrying PDRacers. :)

Pickup Truck Bed Extension
If your pickup truck has a short bed, you can get a bed extender for it. It is just a simple thing that plugs into your trailer receiver.

The manufacturer's label on the extension shown in the photo showed it was made by Carry On Trailer - 800-240-3121 but I was unable to find it on their website.

Sid's Detachable Wheels
Sid Forbes made this detachable set of wheels to make the 600 foot trip from his house down to the nearby pond. Simple as can be, the axle is made from all thread rod which fits through the lawnmower wheels. Placed in the center so the boat balances on the axle.

Cartopping
Cartopping can be VERY dangerous. If you don't strap it down properly, or if a strap comes loose while driving, the boat can fly off the roof and smash into oncomming traffic, killing everyone in that car.

The other big problem with cartopping is that you add an extra load and unload cycle to every boating trip.

Cartopping
-- At home: --
- carry the boat over to the car
- load it onto the car
- try not to scratch the paint on your car
- strap it down properly
-- At the lake: --
- unload the boat off your car
- carry it over to the water to launch
- go back to your car and get the gear
- take the gear back to your boat and load it up
go sailing

Now do everything again (in reverse) when leaving
Only now you are tired from a long day of sailing, do you really want to heft the boat up on top of the car?

Using a dedicated trailer for your PD,
this is how simple it is:
-- At home: --
- Wheel the boat over to your car and hook it up.
(you leave it strapped to the trailer, and most of your gear is already in it)
-- At the lake: --
- back up to the water
- unstrap boat from trailer
- setup mast, slide boat into the water
go sailing

Strapping the boat properly
If you are going to cartop, this is a common method is using 4 straps:
1 - bow strap, this will keep the boat from sliding back off your car.
2 - stern strap, when you hit the brakes, there are incredible G forces that will try to slide the boat forward.
3 - belly straps, these keep the boat from sliding back and forth. Just open your doors and run the strap all the way around.
Tip: If the tie down straps vibrate or hum while driving, put a twist in them.

Warning about shifting: If the boat shifts during transport, the strap might loosen and most of the cargo straps use hooks on the end, which can fall off leading to disasterous results. So you should check your boat during your trip and make sure the straps are on properly.

Chuck Leinweber made a bolt on bunks for his roof rack. They extend a bit further out to the sides so that he can also strap his mast along side of the boat.

I always thought this was a neat photo - this guy made a custom bicycle and is pulling a 20' sailboat with it.

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