Trailer boating: What we’ve learned

Fall 2024

By Tim Plouff

For the past 20 years, my wife and I have explored the coast of Maine aboard our trailerable SeaRay 215EC. While many of you might have slips, moorings, or even stacked storage for your favorite nautical toy, we explore different launch sites ranging from Jonesport, way Downeast, to South Portland, Maine, as well as plenty of other towns and ramps in between. There are many favorites – preferred because of their superior low-tide functionality, extensive parking, or proximity to favorite islands – as well as boat ramps that are best forgotten, never to be used again.

Most of the best ramps are paved and have multiple lanes. Some have fixed docks parallel to their ramps that make single-person launching much easier, and some truly are all-tide ramps that easily accommodate max low-tide launches and retrievals. Others are operational compromises that we recognize, accept, and deal with in order to explore a particular region.

However, some of the most popular boat ramps lack any sense of a modern “facility.” Great parking, lots of space, picnic tables, decent docks – and then a nasty porta-potty that just spoils the whole experience. If your mother won’t use it, why would anyone else want to?

There are hundreds of Maine’s granite islands that are public and provide controlled access to the boating public. Others are regular towns that just happen to embrace the Salt Life. Over the years, we have logged more than 300 trips to these destinations. Along the way we’ve learned some valuable lessons and repeated a few mistakes. Yet nearly every trip has been a memorable adventure.

We have learned to monitor the tides, but not to let them dictate (too much) where and when we visit the islands. Because weather is usually a larger factor than the boat ramp itself, it’s always good to have options in any trip plan.

My tow vehicle, which is currently a ’07 Toyota Tundra, does yeoman duty pulling the approximately 6,200-pounds of boat/trailer/gear. Fuel economy, never stellar for this vehicle, dips to around 9 mpg while towing. Power is not the issue here, but braking is often taxed and rear shocks wear out much faster due to the incessant oscillation of the trailer and truck traveling over less-than-perfect surfaces.

The current boat trailer is an aluminum Venture model with torsion-beam suspension, bunks, alloy wheels, and LED lights. It also is equipped with a tilt-away tongue that allows the boat and trailer to neatly fit inside the garage, which allows us to keep everything out of the weather. This trailer pulls easier, and rides much better, than our previous galvanized trailer. It is also lighter. (But I will admit, those attractive wheels are a pain-in-the-neck to keep clean.) The weak point, as always, remains the trailer brakes. We’ve yet to develop a reliable method for prolonging their life.

We do try to keep the truck as dry as possible, but there are times when ramp and tide conspire to push us into deeper water. There have been times when even the front wheels have gotten wet. The steep ramps where the pavement runs out and the harbor just drops off? They are our friends at low tide, especially when retrieving, so Kathy can drive right onto the trailer. She has never missed in 20 years.

Only two of the dozens of ramps we’ve used over the years have had access to fresh, running water. This being the case, we have equipped our truck with its own portable “car wash.” In the bed of the truck, under the inflatable, is a small 4-stroke Honda water pump, a flexible hose in a two-gallon pail (with a gallon of water for priming the pump and other uses) plus a 35-gallon plastic water tank. I also carry a portable pump-sprayer to “treat” the trailer brakes after launching (the jury is still out on whether this has any impact) as well as numerous blocks of wood and a floor jack (under the rear seat) for the inevitable flat tire. Don’t forget the various sockets and “persuader” extensions necessary to make any “in the field” adjustments. We have had four trailer tire flats, one of which was an exciting highway speed blow-out that destroyed the fender. We need not repeat that experience.

This is quite a show; a Chinese fire drill in the ramp parking lot as we rinse away the day’s salt, and even flush the engine. No brushes, no soap – just a cap of bleach to keep the tank water “fresh.”

Perhaps the most important component is a helpful, competent crew. There are many tasks to perform prepping the boat for launch, ensuring that we have properly secured everything upon retrieval, so a good crew reduces the stress on the captain. Simple things, like removing and stowing the transom straps, unleashing the antenna strap before leaving the dock, or unloading the inflatable before leaving the ramp and parking 200 yards away, help expedite the process and guarantee a happy day on the water.

Remember, the islands are calling. Smart trailer boating allows us to explore these spectacular samples of Mother Nature when and wherever we like.

Tim and his wife, Kathryn, the navigator, live lakeside in Otis, Maine, 30 minutes from Acadia, where they trailer-boat up and down the Maine coast with their 2000 Sea Ray 21-foot express cruiser Tegoak.

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