After crawling through the search results on "Sunfish trailer" I'm thoroughly bewildered as to waht to do with my own trailer project. I have an old trailer given to me by a family friend that was originally designed as a trailer for god-only-knows what kind of boat. The trailer is about 8 feet long in terms of actual carrying space. The trailer is basically a long steel tube with a small rectangular frame at the extreme end that carries the axle and suspension. This frame is about 2 1/2 feet long and about 4 to 5 feet wide. I want to carry the boat in a manner that will allow me to unload it singke-handed, so I figured right-side-up is best. I currently have 10 feet of 4x4 running through the brackets that carried rollers. I wanted to use athwartships bunks, but I have had difficulty in attatching them to the center beam. I also heard that this style of transport can damage the boat. Here are the two options I am weighing.
1. Reattempt the athwartships bunks with 2x8s instead of 2x4s. I would notch the bottom of the bunk after cutting the contour of the hull and fit the notch into a corresponding notch on the center beam and secure with angle brackets. The bunks would be covered with two layers of 3/8" pipe insulation foam.
2. Build some sort of frame to hold longditudinal 2x8s as per the Corpus Christi sailing center website. I really haven't explored this option much, so any suggestions on how to do this sturdily would be appreciated.
I have extremely limited means and an '05 Caravan to put the materials in. I do not know how to weld and have no access to any welding equipment. I want to get the trailer done so I can get sailing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
1. Reattempt the athwartships bunks with 2x8s instead of 2x4s. I would notch the bottom of the bunk after cutting the contour of the hull and fit the notch into a corresponding notch on the center beam and secure with angle brackets. The bunks would be covered with two layers of 3/8" pipe insulation foam.
2. Build some sort of frame to hold longditudinal 2x8s as per the Corpus Christi sailing center website. I really haven't explored this option much, so any suggestions on how to do this sturdily would be appreciated.
I have extremely limited means and an '05 Caravan to put the materials in. I do not know how to weld and have no access to any welding equipment. I want to get the trailer done so I can get sailing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.