Greetings,
I need to store my SF hanging from the rafters of my garage. This will be until at least next summer. Can someone advise me regarding a good way to do this?
Thanks,
dleavell
Wavedancer,
Thanks for your information. I am a member of Fleet 51 at the Galveston Boat Club. IKE totally destroyed the club and scattered about 90 boats for more than a 1/4 mile. I was one of the lucky ones that found everything except my racing sail. I have dozens of pictures of the area if you are interested. My address is dleavell@tvp.net
Here's a $30 solution that works like a charm. It involves 60-100' of 3/8" line (depending on the height of your ceiling, two self-locking pulleys (Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowes carry these for about $10.50 ea with a 250 lb rating), 4 good sized eyebolts, and 2 pieces of foam pipe insulation (also from Home Depot).
I've attached photos - I have both a Laser and Sunfish and do the same thing for both. Its so simple, I won't bore you with the details on what to do once you have the materials - the photos speak for themselves. Basically, I flip the boat over, put the line loops under it, and then pull one line or the the other as I cinch the boat up to its winter storage height.
If some of this still doesn't make sense, let me know. Good luck.
I LIKE it. You could cut even more cost by using a discarded garden hose or by using swim-spaghetti tubing—which could be then put to good use next summer!
I just finished my weekend project....finish hanging my other 2 boats. I've had 2 hanging for several years .And now, 2 Phantoms, one Sunfish and 1 Snark . I used 3/8" x 4 1/2" wood lag eye bolts. (4 per boat) 1- 3/8" x 4 1/2" wood lag hook per boat and 1(per side) extra hook mounted above my portable hand winch. I use (2 per boat) 15' ratchetting tie downs for hanging. And 1 pulley per boat and the other 2 pulleys mounted on either side of the carring beam ( it divides the garage in half) and the winch is mounted on the center lally colum, it is able to move to one side or the other sides of the garage bays by useing home made "u" clamps. I made sure that all wood lags went into the centers of the 2x 10 floor joists. It is a work in progress, I change things as I re think them out, so, this is it for now! I will add back up support lines for safty later, the vehicles stored below them are classics!!!
I'll attach some pic
Did anybody try to store sunfish sideways in a garage? If yes, can you please post some pictures. I just bought my first sunfish and I am exploring all garage storage possibilities. Thanks
...once I got the Phantom and Sunfish in thie slings, I could spin them easily. I'm just not too sure if the rub rail on the Sunfish or the lip on the Phantom could support the wieght for long periods without some kind of damage. Of coarse you would have to tie the front and rear slings together or else the boats would possibly slip out and crash down!
You can simply tip a Sunfish up on its side on its rail and leave it. Won't hurt a thing. I do it all the time. Can tie it to a wall that way, too, like the mounting pictures to the garage ceilings. You also can tip a Sunfish (or that L-class boat or Phantom or any other) up vertically, bow in the air, stern on the floor, and store it that way. The Naval Academy does it for its routine storage, as do other collegiate programs, daily. If you're concerned, put a piece of cardboard, carpet, or an old life jacket down where you'll be tipping it up and storing it, but it's not like it's going to move. If you're concerned, tie it in place.
It's best to store your boat out of the weather if you can. If you cannot, do buy a tarp bigger than the boat, be sure you've completely drained it, and then cover it completely, tying (not taping) the cover in place. Have a great winter folks. It's looking like it's going to be a tough one!
Vertical storage in the garage sounds easy. However, if you store the fish stern down what about the gudgeon? Any thoughts on a good way to protect it?
Vertical storage in the garage sounds easy. However, if you store the fish stern down what about the gudgeon? Any thoughts on a good way to protect it?