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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

To tow or not to tow?

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IndyJim
Navigator

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USA
130 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/15/2002 : 23:03:46

Ahoy Fellow Cat Skippers!

I'm planning a trip central Indiana to Florida in early June and I have a Catalina dilemna. Since this is my first season with my Catalina 25, should I tow it down and give it a go on the intercoastal waterway? I just bought a Dodge Durango with the big 5.9 litre engine. It certainly has enough power to pull with the factory towing package but its kind of soft in the rear end.

Do any of you trailer you Catalina very often? My original plans were to trailer her to the reservoir, hang her on my mooring and trailer her home in the fall. But since I was already going to the land of Mickey Mouse, I thought about taking her along for an adventure on the intercoastal.

This is not my first boat, but it is my biggest (former Oday 192 owner) In your experienced and wise opinion, should I wait a boating season and maybe try this next summer? Or is trailering a Catalina 25 almost 800 miles no big deal?

I know lots of you don't do much trailering but any help you could lend on this would be appreciated. I guess I could put it in the Ohio River, then the Mississippi, then the Gulf and then around the southern tip of Florida and back up the coast but I don't have a month out of my life, just a week. :)

Speaking as a new Catalina 25 owner, you all are a great resource. Thanks in advance!

Jim Brandenburg
"Itza Dew Sea"
#4525
SK/TR

Edited by - on

n/a
deleted

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125 Posts

Response Posted - 04/15/2002 : 23:16:06

Jim I think you will have to seriously appraise the response from your fellow C25 owners. I have a C250 WB and it's a dream to trailer, of course it's a great deal lighter than the C25 ( cause you can't leave your ballast at home).. I trailered from Sacramento, to mission Bay in San Diego last year. That's about 600+ miles. Your dodge has enough power, but I would be concerned more about the short wheel base, being squirrelly in winds and and emergency manuevers. You would not want to put the tranny into overdrive, because without a speciual towing package, you risk frying the transmissiom ( over size tranny cooler etc.) I would also have some concerns over the braking power of the durango ( small discs/drums)
On the C25/C250 home page I believe under "LINKS" there is an excellant article concerning this issue......let's hear what everyone else thinks....

Edited by - on

Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

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1595 Posts

Response Posted - 04/15/2002 : 23:31:55

Leave it at home. Plain ans simple. If the trip was strictly to trailer sail I might change my mind. But to combine the adventure may lead to undue stress and will at the least slow you down. I would hope to that your trailer is well prepped. Bearings inspected and lubed. If the trailer sits all winter with the boat on it in freezing conditions you might also consider all new tires. Either that or face ply seperation on the highway at speed. Tires that sit all winter on trailers or RVs tend to fail on the highway in summer.

Edited by - on

Ed Montague
Captain

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USA
499 Posts

Response Posted - 04/15/2002 : 23:51:24

Jim, You are one ambitious guy. Towing 800 miles will take you close to two days. Averaging all your stops for food, fuel, and relief you will be doing good to average 50 miles per hour. That's 16 hours and then you still need half a day to launch, provision, and decompress from the drive. That doesn't leave much time for sailing if you only have one week. Where does the time for Micky Mouse come in?

My family and I towed our C25 from near San Francisco (100 miles east) to the San Juan Islands north of Seattle. Over 800 miles!! and some pretty good mountains. We pull with a Dodge Ram 2500 Turbo Diesel and I wouldn't want to do it with anything much lighter. Your Durango is a fine vehicle and will certainly pull on the straight, flat highway. The downhill stuff is where the mass of the boat and trailer will put a prayer on your heart. I'm not talking about just major grades, just the little stuff will do it. My boat/trailer combo weighs in at over 8,000lbs. You will need at least 10% of that weight on the tongue of the trailer to keep the rig from swaying/whipping. I like a little insurance, so make that 1,000lbs. Can the Durango handle that? Use the Durango locally for a few trial runs first. Get a feel for the road and the load. Good luck.

Ed Montague on 'Yahoo'
1978 #765 SK, Stnd, Dinette ~_/)~

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/16/2002 : 00:07:58

One word,

<b>"CHARTER"</b>

Enough said.

Don Lucier, Northstar
C25 SR/FK

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5909 Posts

Response Posted - 04/16/2002 : 11:16:00

Jim,

I agree with Don. I keep my C-25 at Brookville Lake in Indiana, but bought it new in northern Florida and trailed it home. It is a lot of work to tow it, rig it, launch it, and to do all that in reverse at the end of the cruise. For a one or two week vacation, it makes much more sense to charter. The boat is ready to board when you arrive. All you have to do is load your duffle bags and provisions. The cost to charter a nice 30 footer is not much more than the cost of a nice motel. Don't worry about qualifying for a charter. Charter companies check you out, and they are not that difficult to satisfy. When I drive from Dayton, Ohio to Tampa Bay without the boat, it takes about 16-17 hours, and I put the cruise control at 75. Towing the boat will take much longer. When I pulled the boat back from Northern Florida, it took about three and a half days, but one day of that was spent having a rebuilt transmission and a transmission cooler installed in Montgomery, Alabama.

The west coast of Florida, between Tampa Bay and Fort Myers, is a super place to cruise. Years ago I wrote an article for the Mainsheet on cruising in that area, with lots of useful information on how to get around, and on places to go and things to do. If you would like a copy, e-mail me your snail mail address, and I'll send you one. (In the past I tried e-mailing it to someone, and it didn't come out legible.)

Steve Milby "Captiva Wind" C-25 T/FK #2554

Edited by - on

Tim~OR-IDA
Deckhand

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17 Posts

Response Posted - 04/16/2002 : 22:31:09

Let me get my two cents in. Trailering doesn't have to be all that bad. I helped my boss trailer his Com Pac 27 every spring and fall from eastern Oregon to Anacortes Washington and back to place it in a charter fleet. 600 miles and two mountain passes. We pulled it with a Suburban with a 454. The Com Pac weighed 10,000# and had a 9.5 foot beam. We set the cruise on 65 and had a great time.

Two Keys:
Strong tow rig
Good Trailer with brakes

I will be pulling my Cat with a Ford Crew Cab Dually with the diesel. Way overkill. I've pulled a 35' 5th wheel to Alaska. Trailering isn't such a big deal as long as your pull rig is appropriate. If it is an automatic and it is over 80 degrees when pulling, take it easy and make sure you have a good additional transmission cooler.

Edited by - on

Ken Cave
Navigator

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USA
148 Posts

Response Posted - 04/16/2002 : 23:55:13

Ariend of ours pulled his Catalina 30 from Santa Fe,New Mexico to Anacortes WA without a problem-except for the different signs he needed for "Wide Load" between the states.

Another friend of ours has just launched his 25 Catalina Swing Keel in Anacortes after a day driving from Eastern Washington without a problem (he does this about every other year!).

If you got the rig that can handle it, it should not be a problem!!

Ken Cave

Edited by - on

IndyJim
Navigator

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USA
130 Posts

Response Posted - 04/21/2002 : 22:00:11

GClark, Douglas, Ed, Don, Steve, Tim & Ken,

Thanks alot for all you input. Speaking as a new C-25 owner, I really appreciate the wealth of experience and wisdom that resides on this great site.

I've looked into rear stabilizers for my new Durango($350) and I think I'm going to pass on the tow to Florida this summer. Maybe I'll try it after I'm more accustomed to pulling her around Central Indiana. Heck, if I don't sell my Oday, maybe I can pull her on my trip to the land of Mickey Mouse.

So far, I love my new "baby". Its a major step up from the 19 footer I've owned for the past 4 years. She's only been afloat for a week and a half and she's turning heads at my local reservoir. But it's one heck of a job stepping the mast!

I should probably start a new topic string but does anyone use a mast raising system and if so, how does it work and what does it cost?

Thanks again for all the info. I hope to be helping some other newbie after I get some wind under my sails.

IndyJim
"Itza Dew Sea"
#4525 sk/tr

Edited by - on

MattL
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 04/24/2002 : 02:56:22

Indy,
I tried to post a reply a few days ago, but had computer troubles. I would like to add a couple of thoughts. I have read many people describing the dificulty of trailering a fixed keel. We got ours last season and have trailered it to our home, the lake ~ 20 min drive, and back again. We just got a new pickup, 1 ton, because our jeep GC just wasn't big enough. (We were looking for something bigger any way<img src=icon_smile_blush.gif border=0 align=middle>. Last week end my neighbor helped me make a mast raising device, like in Catalina Direct, and I tried it out yesterday. The new aid helped a lot. I asked a guy walking by to help and the two of us got the mast up. I was kind of tired afterwords. I think the biggest trouble with the fin keel is not the size of the boat but the size of the mast, and this is the same for all Cat 25's except the tall rigs. Actually launching is easy, and I was supprized at how easy it was to put on the trailer the last time we did it. Granted you have to have a long dock on the side.

Matt
EC Rider
Cat 25 86'
FK SR

Edited by - on

IndyJim
Navigator

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USA
130 Posts

Response Posted - 04/25/2002 : 23:26:02

Thanks Matt. I have a swing keel with a tall rig and I'm delighted how easy she is to launch and get back on the trailer. I have the tongue extension on my trailer so its pretty easy to get her deep enough to float off without even getting the back tires of the Durango wet.

As for the mast raising system, I'm going to pursue it heartily. I've had plenty of help so far. I just don't like the idea of having to rely on it, ya know? I guess I'm spoiled from my last boat. I could step the mast single handed on her. But that's history now.

Thanks again.

Edited by - on

Bristle
Admiral

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USA
834 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2002 : 10:16:24

I think you had the idea already, Indy... Tow that Mariner down to FL--you can drop her in anywhere, and you can set her up and take her down in no time. (I had a Daysailer with a tabernacle--many years of great fun!) And who knows, if you put a For Sail (or Sale) sign on her, you my not have to tow her back!

Dave Bristle, 1985 C-25 SR-FK #5032 "Passage" in CT

Edited by - bristle on 04/26/2002 10:21:02

Edited by - on

John V.
Admiral

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USA
559 Posts

Response Posted - 04/30/2002 : 00:15:07

The C25 SK is a trailer sailer. It's meant to go places. Take it with you. I've never heard of tires losing tread because of being frozen, and I certainly don't want to charter when I have a perfectly good boat that I can take anywhere. I regularly trailer my boat 500 miles each way to my summer place. And year after year something goes wrong. That is part of the joy of travel, unexpected things happen. carry a grease gun and a spare tire, a sense of humor and heart for adventure. I mean after all we're sailors, We like to go places and it is the process of getting there that is the thing we like the most. If you want secure hassle free travel sit at home and watch Rick Steves travel videos. I'll do anything to be on the water. All winter I spend my time on frozen water saving injured skiers for National Ski Patrol.

Take your boat to florida and sail the St. Johns river enjoy crystal clear water. I can't wait to have the time to go too. If someone will teach my classes for me, I'll be gone in a minute.

John V. Nin Bimash II
1977 C25 Sk #153

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IndyJim
Navigator

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USA
130 Posts

Response Posted - 05/02/2002 : 23:24:13

John,

Thanks for the advice and the confidence too. You exemplify what sailing is all about. Its not just the destination, its the adventure of getting there.

There is one other small factor for me to consider. I will be hearing "Are we there yet?" and "How much longer til we get there?" If you toss in a couple of "I have to use the bathroom's"... well, you get the idea.

I guess I'm getting close to decision time about the tow.

Thanks alot everyone!

IndyJim
"Itza Dew Sea"
#4525 SK/TR

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