Member Removed Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Launching at Baiter! Can someone advise me of the best tide state to launch, taking into consideration tide times in relation to Springs and Neaps please? Geoff Hall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afishionado Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Launching at Baiter! Can someone advise me of the best tide state to launch, taking into consideration tide times in relation to Springs and Neaps please? Geoff Hall I am heavily biased as I believe Baiter is one of the worst launch sites in the universe! But here goes.......... The best time is high springs but as Poole gets sorta 2 highs ( a high, a stand, a teeny drop, a teeny 2nd flood and a 2nd high) spread over 6hrs this gives you a wide window of opportunity. But watchout for the ebb the whole shooting match goes out in 3 hours flat and Baiter slip is about 1/2 a mile from the waters edge. The problem with Baiter is that it is built into one of the shallowest bays in the harbour. The gradient of the slip is so shallow that the trailer has to be unhitched from the car and pushed some 50 to 100 ft out into the water to get sufficient depth to float the boat. Christchurch and Lymington both have infinately better slips. Mad Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 You will also need a long piece of rope to 'rope' in the trailer when retrieving. Unless you have a couple of burly blokes to pull/puch the trailer + boat up the slip to the car. I personally don't like Baiter either, but it's the cheapest. Cobbs Quay is the most expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Kam, Wick is cheaper than Baiter - especially if you use the car park around the corner ( Wick car park is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Removed Posted June 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Thanks to you all for that information, being a "new boy" I need all the local info that I can glean. Practice makes perfect. I have break back trailer which may be a bit easier, but only time and practice will tell. GH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afishionado Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Geoff hopes......I have break back trailer which may be a bit easier Didn't they tell you it's YOUR back that gets broken!?!? Baiter is truely crap! You have to get the outfit so very far out before there is enough depth to float a fag paper. Mad Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john c Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 We used to launch our dive RIBs from Swanage boat park. Is this slip still in use??? John C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam F Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 I agree with Mike that Baiter is a bad slipway, bit is is quite sound and in good condition unlike other slips and its shallow nature makes it a little less prone to some of the errors than can happen on steep slips. It can be a pig to launch, but I find it OK - at the recent burnham comp we launched over 20 boats in an hour up to 22' in length without too much hastle. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afishionado Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 I agree with Mike that Baiter is a bad slipway, bit is is quite sound and in good condition unlike other slips and its shallow nature makes it a little less prone to some of the errors than can happen on steep slips. It can be a pig to launch, but I find it OK - at the recent burnham comp we launched over 20 boats in an hour up to 22' in length without too much hastle. Adam Adam is right in as much as the slip is so flat that 'run away on it's own' cock ups are avoided. BUT the Burnham launch/recover went so smoothly because you were 'mob handed' as we used to say in Pentonville. A man and a boy would struggle and a bloke on his own would have to be well fit. I have sugested to several new to boating owners that the best thing they could do on their first trip out is to go on a quiet weekday and practice launching and recovery for an hour or so. Sort of like the 'circuit and bumps' that one does on flight training. No one has taken the advice and their boats and fingers bear the scars to this day. I feel no guilt at laughing at the state some boat owners get into on launch or recovery. To me it seems logical that the important part of trailer boating are the launch and recovery aspects. Wolloping round the bay at 20kts on a summers day is easy by comparison, yet more time is spent on that than learning a bit of basic know how......... I have noticed that as I get older and less fit and strong, I have had to use my brain and experience more. The daft thing is, is that now things go smoother than ever before. The message is clear to me.... Brute strength, an over supply of energetic rushing round don't work as well as a quiet think about the easyest way of doing the job. Here endeth the 386th lesson Mad Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Removed Posted July 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2005 OK so I know what you are all talking about now. On 23rd June, on a quiet Thursday afternoon, with the help of a young lad, the launching and maiden voyage of Maggie May took place from Baiter slip. Despite having a break back trailer, the boat would not come off the trailer! I pushed the trailer further out - still no joy. I tied lots of bits of rope together and pushed the trailer out further, and further, and further, and further. Eventually, the only bits sticking out of the water was the trailer winch and my chin, and then the boat floated off the trailer. After a couple of hours pleasantly cruising around Poole Harbour, and thrashing around Studland bay, I was satisfied that the engine runs well and ecconomically, and the boat comes up on the plane easily even when well loaded. Back at Baiter, the boat winched back onto the trailer very easily - never even got my knees wet. However it is an exercise I will not be repeating. The trailer brakes now work again, the bearings have been repacked with grease, the back gathering rollers have been sorted to allow an easier launch. I have decided that all future launches will be at Wick, so I will be contacting those with the local knowledge for some tips. Guess I will also have to look for somewhere to store the boat in the Christchurch area as well. Look out Smooth-hounds, here I come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afishionado Posted July 3, 2005 Report Share Posted July 3, 2005 OK so I know what you are all talking about now. On 23rd June, on a quiet Thursday afternoon, with the help of a young lad, the launching and maiden voyage of Maggie May took place from Baiter slip. Despite having a break back trailer, the boat would not come off the trailer! I pushed the trailer further out - still no joy. I tied lots of bits of rope together and pushed the trailer out further, and further, and further, and further. Eventually, the only bits sticking out of the water was the trailer winch and my chin, and then the boat floated off the trailer. After a couple of hours pleasantly cruising around Poole Harbour, and thrashing around Studland bay, I was satisfied that the engine runs well and ecconomically, and the boat comes up on the plane easily even when well loaded. Back at Baiter, the boat winched back onto the trailer very easily - never even got my knees wet. However it is an exercise I will not be repeating. The trailer brakes now work again, the bearings have been repacked with grease, the back gathering rollers have been sorted to allow an easier launch. I have decided that all future launches will be at Wick, so I will be contacting those with the local knowledge for some tips. Guess I will also have to look for somewhere to store the boat in the Christchurch area as well. Look out Smooth-hounds, here I come! Geoff, here's a little wrinkle (don't worry I have lots and am happy to get rid of one. Sorta like plastic surgery)........ Get whats called a 'turning block' (a cheap second hand one will be best) and fix it (bolt or tie it well so it can't slip) to the very back end of the trailer. Then get a length of rope about he length of the boat plus a bit for knots. thread the rope round the pully block so the rope is turned 180deg (turning block see!) and both ends of the rope are about 2/3rds of the way to the front of the boat. Now tie a loop in one end and fix a strong shackle on the other end. To use....... On arriving at the slip and removing all boat tie downs, if the slip is shallow sloped. Release the winch rope from the boat and undo it until it can be hooked on to the loop in your nice shiny new 'launching tingymejig rope', the shackle end of the rope then needs drawing up (by letting more winch line out) so it can be shackled to the bow eye of the boat. I bet your there already! Yep , you winch back the winch line you let out and hey presto the boat is pulled BACKWARDS down the trailer to about the 'half way off' mark. Either get your feet wet or do a teetering tightrope act down the trailer and undo the shackle , give the boat a shove and there she is floating away on the tide because you, YOU TWIT forgot to hold on to the bow rope Mad Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted July 3, 2005 Report Share Posted July 3, 2005 Mike, what a brilliant idea, which I will put into practice immediately. Many thanks. I have been launching boats off trailers since 1958, and I have to say that Baiter is the worst I have ever experienced. I have now modified the rearmost rollers on the trailer and together with your wrinkle I anticipate no problems in the future. However I am still not going to use Baiter again as I know the cost of replacing brake and bearing parts will cost me more than what I might save on cheap launches. Once again many thanks for a simple but effective idea. Geoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted July 3, 2005 Report Share Posted July 3, 2005 Geoff, If your next launch is from Wick. BEWARE !! There is a considerable drop off at the end of the concrete. On launch the other week I managed to bottom out the trailer and it would not have been retrievable without 4WD. At least when the slipway had holes in it there wasnt a dropoff like there is now. Lymington on the other hand is superb ( but can be pricey - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam F Posted July 3, 2005 Report Share Posted July 3, 2005 The drop off at Wick has been repaired again. They have errected a sign - 'Beware of sudden drop at end of slip' they have also inserted to scaffolding poles at each end corner of the slip as markers and they have repared the drop off with a few tonnes of gravel. It is now a 1st class slip and even big boats will launch with ease - Gordon and I saw a 23' rib being launched without the guys feet getting wet on Friday eve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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