Currently there are 22 boats at the club that would need a wet lift. This is around 40% of the boats that are lifted using the club trailers.
Wet lifts create difficulties in terms of the number of lifts that are possible on a tide, due to time taken to launch or recover and store. There is higher potential for accident and injury during the process. There is also a higher risk of boat toppling during winter storms due to improper propping.
It should be remembered that the yard master and his team are volunteers and it has become increasingly difficult to organise the lift ins and lift outs so it has been decided that the club will aim to reduce the numbers of boats needing a wet lift to 15. This number will be subject to review over time. This will inevitably take place over a few years.
In practical terms this will mean that new member applications with boats requiring wet lifts will not be considered.
Members selling wet lift boats will be expected to tell potential buyers that the boat will not be able to remain at the club.
Members buying a replacement boat for a wet lift boat will be expected to replace it with a dry lift boat.
This policy does not effect members with trailer boats using their own trailers for launch, recovery and storage. These trailers should maintained so that they are always available for use.
New policy concerning boats requiring wet lifts.
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Hi all. Mollycoddle can lift out and in dry if that helps.
When the vote was held to switch from crane to our own tractor and hoist it was said all boats would be accommodated. Ever since, some of us with boats needing a wet lift have contributed through subscriptions and work parties to enlargement of the site and slip, two hoists and two tractors, but now it seems we are a nuisance and may not replace our boats with similar or sell within the club, all without debate or another vote.
Regardless of how we got here, there is a problem.
Lift keel sailboats and some mobos are very shallow draft and capable of getting into the hoist well before there is enough water on the slip for bilge keelers to land there. The process might be speeded up by marking the hoist with depth indicators at 1ft intervals and calling boats in by vhf as soon as the depth they need is reached. You cannot tell depth at the slip from a mooring and we used vhf to call boats in to the wall with the crane. It just needs whoever is in charge to have a handheld vhf and know the depth needed. Once a boat is hoisted the bilge keel owners want to be away to their boats as quickly as possible but there is still the hauling out and placement to do. If wet lift owners were also tractor drivers this could free up another person. Maybe we should set up some tractor familiarisation days to allow enough time for some wet lift owners to become drivers. I for one would do that because once Azurian is on her yard trailer all helpers dissappear to their boats, but the tractor can be used to park the trailer.
Wet lift boats on trailers or proper support frames are among the safest and easiest to place as everything is ready to receive them, maybe just some minor adjustment of support pads is needed so not a lot of people needed.
I can see adhoc propping with bits of timber is time consuming and potentially dangerous and to me it seems reasonable to expect owners to have purpose made supports. I can think of two boats which have fallen over; both lift keel. In my view both were stood on supports with too narrow a footprint and in one case broadside to the sea wall taking the full force of a W gale. Things to be avoided I suggest.