Bottom Paint

Larry Patrick

New member
Just got boat back from Weffings. I really got to silicone the bunks next time I have boat off. With that bottom paint it wont budge forward. Had 2 friends pushing from back while I was cranking ,strap broke. Fixed that put a strap on boat hull where strap hooks, hooked it to truck bumper pulled slowly trying to get the 4 inch distance closed up to bow roller.Before I haul it to Erie. Just drug boat over wheel chocks.Hooked boat back up drove it hit the brakes ,that used to bring it forward when you get slack in there but still no forward movement. I going to leave it as is until I launch it ,then will silicone the bunks real well. Guess that paint is like bed liner spray?
 
Hi Larry!
No amount of layers of bottom paint would result in breaking a 2000# rated winch strap while trying to load. No amount of silicone is going to make that boat slide up your bunks at that particular ramp at the trailer depth you chose that day.
I bet the most likely issue here is that you were at a new and unfamiliar ramp (like City Marina Appalachicola under the bridge that Marc uses) which slopes down at a much more gradual angle than you or your boat are used to. If you had backed further down, the boat/trailer would have had 50# of carpet bunk friction to overcome, rather than 2,000 # or more. If you back down far enough, the boat could kiss the winch stand without touching the trailer bunks at all. Of course, by that point your truck's rear bumper might be underwater, and the boat might like loading sideways if there is no or minimal contact with the bunks, all of which is best avoided by prudent trailerboaters with a long enough trailer and tongue.
Much less likely would be a protruding bunk carpet bolt etc scratching the hull, but you'd notice this on the trailer before backing down the ramp.
The only other fly in your ointment I can think of is if you changed your hitch receiver, which also changes the angle of attack when you back the trailer in to load the boat. That should always be level or higer than the open transom plug, since enough of a Southern thunderstorm can dump over 6 inches of water in the boat in 1 hour, and it must drain out the bilge transom plug on the highway since water is very heavy.
My experience has been that BIG dual torsion axle trailers are best loaded as a '2-step' procedure...first, back in enough to have the FRONT trailer funders AWASH or 1" underwater, power the boat up onto the bunks until well centered and solidly on the bunks but not over 2000 RPM, then Eileen backs the rig down a few more feet (with huge rubber chocks 4-6 feet behind the truck's FRONT tires for insurance) until the top front fender is 3 inches or so underwater. Then it's easy to power load the rest of the way to the winchstand at under 3000 RPM. (We are grateful that we don't have to control and whip 300 actual horses to accomplish this). We like Ear Tec dual-talk headset radios, since I can't see her, and I don't wear my hearing aids boating. Tom Schulke of C-Otter pointed out dual cell phone headsets will also do this cheaper, but we don't like wearing our cell phones over the water.
I am surprised that your usual 'stomp the brakes at walking speed' won't slide her forward by 4 inches easy. You DID loosen the transom straps before doing that manuver (don't ask me how I know about this common error).
You will read how having the transom not fully supported by the rear bunks can cause a hull 'hook' and permanent problems, avoid that if possible if you're trailering back to PA. That's a big trip and I-95 is much more stressful on trailer and boat than the roughest rides on the water, esp with the transom and all that hangs off it not supported by trailer bunks.
If you can, I bet you'll solve this issue by backing in a bit deeper and winching up or powering up (after loosening transon straps, of course). That ramp has rocks at the end so your trailer won't fall off an abyss at the end of the ramp. Although the signs say "Absolutely NO POWER LOADING", Marc tells me 'that only applies to Bass Boats." Also, every guy around there will say 'Hey Man, I LOVE your Boat!"
Let us know if it works out,
John
 
I agree with gulfcoast john. This isn't right. Bottom paint won't make that much difference. Aside from what was already mentioned, it's possible that your trailer isn't quite set up right and that you were just on the edge of failure previously, and the extra friction caused by the bottom paint made the difference.

If that is true you likely do not have adequate tongue weight on your trailer and you should have your boat properly balanced on your trailer.

I agree completely that your likely remedy would be to back the trailer further into the water, EVEN IF WHAT I MENTIONED ABOVE WAS THE CASE. There are few situations that you won't be able to use a less than perfect setup if you just float the boat enough. This does provide an opportunity for the boat to wander back and forth more than many like, but if you tie a couple long lines to the stern you can keep it straight. Or you can winch a little, and back up a little, then winch a little and back up a little over and over until you get the boat right up snug. In general if you are exerting that much force something is very very wrong and you should re-assess. I don't mean to be critical, but what you describe: closing the distance between your bow and your bow stop by hitting the brakes could end up damaging your boat, trailer, vehicle, or you. If this was your standard practice prior to bottom paint being applied, the something was off before and the bottom paint is just the last straw. I've seen issue like this arise when bunks and guides aren't properly set up, or from something as simple as having too tall a hitch height.

Was anything else changed besides the bottom paint?
 
Agree, not related to the paint. But there are more likely other issues:

More likely the strap was weakened by the sunlight. I had to re-launch our boat because of some geometry issues with the winch post--and the strap broke on the re-launch, before I loosened it. It was rotten from the sun.

I cut out the bad part and tied an knot, pulled the boat right on the bunks. We will be re-sewing the strap this week.
 
The winch strap was getting beat up ,so that was not a big surprise. I had Weffings hook me up with a hauler to bring back boat. Tim I believe his name is,got a decent price since he was heading home to New England. Original plan was for wife and I to go back for second vacation in may. Family problems put an end to that trip back. Anyway when boat got here it was about 7 inches away from bow roller. So I naturally tried to get it cranked up tight in my driveway. That's when it just doesn't move like before the paint job. I used to be able to have one guy push from back and I could crank it up. I hope that where the crank strap hooks to boat is very strong? Started worrying I might damage it ,when I hooked truck to it with a strap and tried to close the gap, by slowly pulling forward with truck,after it pulled trailer over 2 or 3 inch concrete caps for wheel chocks I quit. There was nothing tied down ,all straps and hold downs were removed. Next time im reloading from water ,if you get slack after a couple miles I hope it will tighten up after I silicone it?
 
Back
Top