Sea Gypsy

C

C-Gypsy

New member
Everyone has been so helpful here with my questions, even though I have been off topic many times. Therefore I decided to start a new topic (how creative, eh?)

First let me say I finally launched Sea Gypsy with my son & my father this evening for the first time since bringing it back to PA from NC last week.

Trailering was one subject I asked questions about and here is what I learned today... First, the top of the ball (on my hitch) is 21" off the ground. Isn't that a little high? I think it should be 18 or 19 inches. What is the proper height?

Second, the boat only commences to swaying when I hit 70 mph. Below that it tows just fine behind my F-350 diesel.

The new Honda 90 loads up quickly. Idleing the motor for 90 seconds loads up the plugs so bad that giving it fuel makes it stall. I can live with that during the breakin period, but will I have to change plugs or will this get better?

Running the boat for a couple hours this evening confirmed a previous thought... This boat is almost perfect!

I love how it rides, the way it handles & how stable it feels. It has been 30 years since I owned a power boat. I am used to sailboats with heavy keels. I confess the C-Dory had me nervous a couple times this evening as I am not used to a boat heeling when someone walks around the cockpit, but honestly the boat was very stable overall & I could not be happier with my new hole in the water.

Just thought I would bring a few of you up to date.

Al
 
As far as the height of the ball on the hitch - that's something that you can/should adjust to get the proper tongue weight. You should have 7-10% of the weight of the load on the tongue. Can't say exactly what height that should be as it depends on the boat/trailer combination. If you do a search on "tongue weight" here, you'll find some good info on how to measure and adjust tongue weight.
 
Adjust the tongue weight to be in the range as suggested, trailer level.

Then adjust the trailer ball height to make the trailer level for towing. With the trailer approx level to the ground using the tongue jack, measure the height of the trailer frame between the axles if dual, or at the axle if single (the trailer should be fully loaded if possible). Then match that height at the front of the trailer near the tongue using the same trailer rail support if possible for the measurement. Accounting for some sag (don't know your truck's capacity) the final height of the tongue should result in the trailer being level. This is also necessary to allow the brake actuator to work best.
 
Congratulation on your new boat, Al.

We picked up our new 22 Cruiser in North Carolina in early May. Gene was aware that our first tow trip would be about 800 miles and did a great job balancing the boat on the 2 axle Magic tilt trailer. By chance, the hitch ball was at the right height so the trailer sat dead level when hooked up to my F-150 "heavy half ton." We were trying to stay at or below 70, but occasionally hit 75 or 80 on the trip from Alliance to Portland, ME. To my great surprise after owing several other (larger and smaller) boats and trailers, we experienced no swaying at all. It is the most stable boat trailer rig at speed that I have experienced, probably due mostly to Gene's efforts at working out the right balance on the tongue.

Happy to hear you like the boat. Good luck working out the towing issues.
 
Thank you all for the advice. I will hook the boat up to my truck this weekend and do some measuring to see how level it is.

I think if the hitch it too high it would move the center of gravity rearward on the trailer, causing a slight sway.

Initially I was going to move the boat forward on the trailer but realized that doing so would then require backing the trailer further down the ramp to launch & retrieve it.

Jim & Becky you are correct, Gene is outstanding as is Carrie. Truly great people with a wonderful business reputation around the area.
 
Ok, I am guilty. Lock me up & throw away the key.

While I intended to do some measuring I ended up taking my girlfriend, my son & daughter-in-law, my sister & brother-in-law and went boating for the day.

What an outstanding day!

My son did his best at running the thing out of gas but failed miserably.

We stopped at a marina this evening for ice cream & pizza (an interesting combination) and everyone seemed to enjoy the short break.

The Honda 90 seems to load up a bit after going through a long NO WAKE zone, but I am told this will improve as the motor gets broken in. I have less than 7 hours on the motor thus far.

It amazes me the number of boats that slow down or speed up in order to get a better look at the C-Dory. Outstanding!

One area that I need to work on is storage. I am not a carpenter so can not get as creative as some of you have. However I would like to see some pics of how you have added storage to the cabin of your boat.

My 27' sailboat has more storage than you could ever imagine, and I am at a loss with the C-Dory. I just do not know where to put everything!

Please post some links to pictures of your cabins, that will save me going through all the albums.

Oh yeah, some day soon I will do the measuring and let you all know what the numbers are.
 
your 90 is a honda 4 stroke right? I dont know why it should load up at all. I have the same engine and spend alot of time trolling at idle the first year we had the boat, about 400 hours. It never Loaded up at all and should not. I would think that the choke is stuck close or more then likely half closed. four stroke motors are just car motors. In this case a civic motor and it should not Load up at all. call the shop were you got it and if they tell you that its part of the brake in proccess hang up and get a new shop now.
 
Tom,

Perhaps "loading up" was the wrong terminology to use. The motor simply sputters when I try to give it gas after idleing for an extended period.

I have seen this before with Honda 4 stroke motors (two Honda 3-wheelers). Not sure what causes it, but in any case it is getting better as I get more hours on the motor.

As for the dealer, I am very happy with them.
 
"loading up" In my mind was the build up of oil on the plugs which causes stalles and rough running. many two strokes have this problem but never heard of it in a 4 stroke so I thought you had a bad problem. What is your rpm at idle?? is it set to low?
 
Al,
I tow my 22 Cruiser with a F-350 diesel too, and I have my tongue height set at 18 inches I believe. Trailer pulls level at that height and I don't have any problems. I have a LoadRite with 13 inch tires, so if you're running 14 or 15 inch tires, you might need to adjust a bit for those.

Jack
 
Thanks Jack.

I did some measuring yesterday and found that the ball on my truck is 21" off the ground. I thought it should be between 18 - 19 inches, so I lowered the front of the trailer to 18" and sure enough the trailer is level.

This morning I ordered a hitch for my truck with enough of a drop to get the ball very close to 18".
 
Crazy question: Are you measuring from the top of the ball? ...or the bottom of the tongue? John Oh oh.... now I see your initial post said, "top of the ball".......
 
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