Towing a sailboat by bike? Anyone doing it?

[planetluvver]

I am so frustrated....

I own a small sailboat, and she sits on a trailer in the driveway because I do not own a car.

When I think of storing her at a sailing club for small boats, I am daunted by the inconvenient commutes, with unpleasant and scary sections for cycling. There are other places to launch her much closer to home (one ramp is under two miles away), but the prospect of trying to tow her by bicycle is intimidating, if for no other reason than her five foot beam (width.)

I have thought of buying a kayak instead, but I really would like to live aboard a sailboat eventually, and for now a dinghy is the ideal boat for me to be learning on. Besides I am stubborn, and in an ideal world, I would not use a fossil fuel burning vehicle to transport a wind powered vehicle.

I would like to know if anyone is doing this, and if so how?

Thanks!

[OakLeaf]

I would think that the length would be much more of an issue than the beam.

I've never seen it done, but I don't know why you couldn't mate up a lightweight boat trailer to a hitch meant for a bici.

I've seen people pulling canoes of at least 14 feet behind their motorcycles, and honestly it looked very unsafe.

But if it's only two miles - and you equip it with plenty of red flags as you would for an ordinary oversize load - it could work.

[Cataboo]

It apparently can be done:

http://www.pdracer.com/transpor/biketow.jpg

[Eden]

depending on the weight you might need a beefed up bicycle, but if a person can tow this, you should be able to rig something up to tow your boat :p
http://www.tinyhousedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/camper-bike.png

[planetluvver]

My main concern about the width is that I would need to take the entire traffic lane to tow something five feet wide. And while I think I would have the right to do this, I doubt if many motorists would agree. So I have never even started to solve the technical problems.

Gosh, it would sure be cool to tow a sailboat behind my bike! (Though I might be too exhausted to sail by the time I got my boat to the river!)

I think that I read that my boat weighs 310 pounds, and it is 14 feet long. I have no idea of what the trailer weighs.

[OakLeaf]

I think that I read that my boat weighs 310 pounds, and it is 14 feet long. I have no idea of what the trailer weighs.

:eek::eek:

I was thinking something more like an El Toro or a Sunfish.

Your main problem is the WEIGHT. (And then, still, the length.)

You'd need to link your bike brakes with brakes on the trailer, and I don't know if that's possible; and you'd need MONSTER forearms to be able to brake it in any case.

I wouldn't do it.

[bouncybouncy]

I would say it would depend on the roads but I can't assume it would be an issue...if I lived where my parents home is I could ride to the launch without any issues, but from my home to the launch it would be a bit of traffic nightmare!

Sounds like an adventure!!!

http://www.tonystrailers.com/kayak/

[OakLeaf]

depending on the weight you might need a beefed up bicycle, but if a person can tow this, you should be able to rig something up to tow your boat.

Cute, but not the same thing at all.

(1) The camper cap is over the rear wheels of the bike, which has brakes.

(2) There's no articulation.

PLEASE don't try to tow an unbraked, articulated load that weighs probably twice what you and the bike do, and is more than twice as long. Remember all the horror stories about U-Haul last year... how a trailer WITH brakes is not supposed to weigh more than the towing vehicle?

[planetluvver]

My main concern about the width is that I would need to take the entire traffic lane to tow something five feet wide. And while I think I would have the right to do this, I doubt if many motorists would agree. So I have never even started to solve the technical problems.

Gosh, it would sure be cool to tow a sailboat behind my bike! (Though I might be too exhausted to sail by the time I got my boat to the river!)

I think that I read that my boat weighs 310 pounds, and it is 14 feet long. I have no idea of what the trailer weighs. Sounds like a lot, but I weigh 260, so maybe it is not so bad... But one concern isn't pulling the weight, but the weight pushing me on a descent.

[planetluvver]

:eek::eek:

I was thinking something more like an El Toro or a Sunfish.

Your main problem is the WEIGHT. (And then, still, the length.)

You'd need to link your bike brakes with brakes on the trailer, and I don't know if that's possible; and you'd need MONSTER forearms to be able to brake it in any case.

I wouldn't do it.

Don't worry, I am probably too lazy! I just thought that I would throw the idea out there. Because I am frustrated about the boat sitting unused. My boat is a Lido. But the only real advantage to the Lido is that it happens to be sitting in the driveway.

But thanks for the idea of looking for a car-topper.

Actually, I am probably only thinking in this direction because the desire to buy a car has been recurring several times a day.

On the other hand, I do live in Portland, and I see plenty of tall bikes, and other contraptions. So I could find the local resources are out there to help me, if it can be done.

Last year at the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, Washington, there was a darling little boat that someone made specifically to be tow by bike. It used skin and frame construction. Unfortunately, every time I visited the boat, the owner wasn't around.

BUT... If I could rig the Lido to camp in on land, and get a custom rig to haul it, gee, I would have a sweet little toy! (Again, if I had the energy to move it anywhere.)

FUNNY.. over the weekend I had said I wanted to travel by sailboat, and someone said I couldn't find a slower way TO travel. But I think I just did! Drag the sailboat around with a bicycle! LOL

[HillSlugger]

With a boat that weighs that much would you be able to back it into the water and launch it without it getting away from you?

[sarahkonamojo]

Take up windsurfing/board sailing.

Boats can be trailered into the water by hand easily with a hand cart. I'd look into drydock options rather than towing with a bicycle.

Sarah