Laser storage above water

L

lotrfan

New Member
I'm about to buy my first laser, but am trying to decide the best way to store it during the season. The problem is the lake where I will be sailing has sea walls, and I won't be able to use a dolly to get the boat in and out of the water.

I spoke with the salesman at one of the local shops, and he said he's had a lot of people use a lift designed for personal watercraft, but I don't know if this sounds like a good idea to me. This would rest the boat on it's hull, which from my reading is a no-no.

With a brief search of the forums I find that some people have built floating platforms, with gunwale supports, but my only concern with this is weather at the lake (we don't live there) as well as some of the larger wakes left by powerboats. Is this something I need to worry about?

The only other thought I've had is that the boat is coming with a dolly (which, as I've said, I won't be able to use regularly). I haven't looked closely at the construction of the dolly, but do you think I might be able to design a system whereby the dolly would still hold the boat, and then lifted (somehow) onto a support system above the water. Perhaps on a small platform supported by dock posts?

Any and all insight is appreciated! Thanks!
 
Supporting the boat on the bottom while lifting it in and out of the water should not be a problem. Subjecting the hull bottom to thousands of bounces while trailering is bad for it.
 
I have tried to solve this puzzle before as well, In an attempt to be on the water asap. I made gunwale supports and affixed them to the end of pier pilings, which lifted the boats about 2' out of the water.

The gunwale supports made it hard to cut my covers on, and as seems to be your issue, the boat came off the pilings when an exceptionally large powerboat wake came by. I decided to just Pull them out of the water, which I cant do myself.

I would imagine it would only take some minor engineering, a few tools and a 12-pack to modify a PWC lift to support the boat under the gunwales, or modify it to support the boat on it's deck and not on it's hull.
 
Find out if there is a dock you could store it on upside down, you can use carpet to protect the boat. If there isn't one already there you can buy or build one. It will be much cheaper than a hoist system.

You don't want to store your laser for long periods of time on anything that can deform the bottom like the dolly strap, it is important to use the gunwale supports because the gunwales are stronger than the bottom of the boat. You can also store it upside down, the deck can be supported by straps and it won't deform easily.
 
Thanks for the ideas ... if I were to use a dock section, is it ok to store the boat upside down on the dock, or would I need to elevate it a bit?

Incidentally - even though this doesn't seem to be a particularly common issue, I'm surprised nobody has come up with an idea for this (and marketed it).
 
it should be ok flat on the dock, make sure that it is secure especially during storms. If you're using old carpet make sure it hasn't hardened up in any spots since this can scratch the hull, you could secure a few 2x4's under the carpet so that the boat won't be resting on the cleats, this way more of the deck area will be supporting the hull.

Also make sure that if the dock has cleats on it that you are carefull not to hit them when you pull the boat up on the dock. A few people that were helping out with the junior program accidentally lifted one out of the water over a cleat last summer and it put a big hole right in the side/bottom.
 
If you have a triangular plan form dolly with under bow and side post supports you can strap the hull securely to this and pull it up almost vertical sea walls (and lower it into deep water from the top of these and the whole thing will float as long as it is strapped securely together).

Can even sail the boat with dolly short distances to a beach if the triangular dolly is strapped on securely.

The triangle plan form provides better protection and stability (than the single center beam style ones) when hauling the dolly up a dock.
 
Try taking along plenty of food and drink and don't bother to come in until the end of the season.
 
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