The motor was mounted on the new heavy duty bracket.
We tried backing the truck up as much as possible, but it was not nearly enough to float the boat, with the 2 foot draft and the big 15" tires.
We once again had to resort to using the long rope trick. The boat was pulled ahead until the trailer tires were just out of the water. The wheels were blocked, and the truck detached. That is a scary situation.
You can see how much further out the boat has to go to get into deep enough water.
When the boat was launched for the first time, in 2006, I forgot to take off the straps securing the boat to the trailer. This time it was the centerboard. I forgot to tie it off in the up position, so it had dropped down an caught up in a trailer cross member.
To fix this, I had to get to the boat. We couldn't pull it close enough to the dock, so the dinghy had to be inflated so that I coulid row out.
To the rescue!
Off and clear.
Now the mast can be stepped, the boat rigged, and the sailing season started.
