Regarding Jonathan Lewis’ article Trailer-Sailor Trepidations, reader Phil Little writes:
You probably took care of this a long time ago, but my paranoia drives me to say:
You asked for any words of wisdom. Here are just two "Bearing" + "Buddies"!! If you haven't installed these yet, sooner or later, you WILL have a failed wheel bearing.......and a very bad day! Been there, done that, as they say!
I apologize to the choir for preaching to them....but I can't help myself!
—Phil Little
'77 Carver Santa Cruz, 7500 Lbs towed load, Ford 350 diesel.
Reader Ron Dietel commented on the same topic:
Also a California resident, I dislike trailering for many of the reasons you mention, although my boats have been very light in comparison. You don't mention the reason you are making this trip, but personally I wouldn't make such a trip unless my life depended on it. If you really must sail, it seems that chartering a boat would be far simpler and safer. The savings in gas could perhaps make up for your airfare and hotel rooms. An accident of nearly any type or a trailer breakdown is another reason to charter. Just my opinion.
Regarding our last Flotsam & Jetsam column and adpating a table of offsets, David Peebles writes:
Most NAs warn the builder that there may be errors in the plans. Billy Atkin always insisted the lines should be laid down full size before starting to build. Sure enough I found an error in the "Tiny Ripple" when I built two of those. I was surprised to find an offset error in such a tiny, simple boat, but there it was.
Phil Bolger has also admitted to finding errors in his drawings when he took a closer look at them. Surprising to me because he seemed like one of the most skilled draftsmen, his drawings are always so precise.
Reader David Bowers didn’t need to time to sort out his thoughts on today’s Com-Pac, Potter, Montgomery comparison article. He writes:
Oh, please! The Montgomery 15 wins this without even breaking a sweat. It may be one of the best-designed and best-built boats in its size range in history, not to mention good-looking. Well done, Jerry Montgomery!
Errors in plans? Yes, we all of us make them, even designing using computers there will be errors. But I encourage builders to report these as they find them so I can update the drawings, that means that they become more and more accurate as time goes by.
I totally concur. In Chapelle's books, and probably in his plans, we have found more than a few slips of the pen. Of course, first you have to read the slightly out of focus offsets and other dimensions in order to read the numbers to create the plans for yourself.