Seaworthy Magazine: Roll, Roll, Roll Your Boat . . . All About Trailering

Mention a skipper's boat, and he or she is liable to talk about its graceful sheer, its quickness, the way it handles, or the clever use of space below. Mention a trailer, and the first thing that comes to mind is convenience. While the marina-based boat is restricted by time, distance, and the weather, a trailered boat can be transported just about anywhere—lakes, oceans, bays, or inlets--in the span of a weekend, Hurricane coming? Put the boat on its trailer and head inland. Too cold? Head south. But convenience is only part of a trailer’s appeal. When you consider the money saved on slip fees, bottom paint, and blister repairs, it’s easy to understand why trailer boating is so popular.

Boating on a highway, like boating on the water, requires some attentiveness and know-how. That’s what this brochure is all about. Boats go aground in the water. Boats can also “go aground” on a highway. Negotiating stoplights, potholes, slick spots, and manic vacation traffic while towing a cumbersome trailer and boat takes practice. Trailers, like boats and automobiles, require TLC to keep them rolling. But no amount of maintenance will help a trailer that is too small, or otherwise inadequate, for the boat it will be towing.

The first step, then, is to choose a trailer that is most likely to get you and your boat where you want to go, despite potholes and vacation traffic.

Part I: Selecting a Trailer

With a modern boat, the choice of a trailer is often left to the dealer, which means bunkers or rollers will be positioned properly to provide maximum support. It is a no muss, no fuss deal for the buyer. He or she has to rely on the trailer dealer, however, and dealers have been known to unload inventory that may not be entirely suited to your needs. In this case, it helps to know what your needs will be and what options are available to meet those needs.


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Three things dictate how often a trailer needs to be inspected: where it is used; how often it is used; and how hard it is used. A fourth consideration, just to complicate the discussion, might be the quality of the trailer itself. As a bare-bones minimum, any trailer should be thoroughly inspected at the start of each boating season. Even if the trailer isn’t used regularly, an annual inspection and any subsequent maintenance will protect its value. If a trailer is going to be used frequently, will be dunked in saltwater, and will spend many hours traveling over bumpy roads, you’ll want to inspect key components much more often. Here are a few tips and suggestions:

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Part III: Towing a Trailer

Protecting Trailers from Thieves: A Few Suggestions

Wayne thought he was being prudent bringing his boat home for the winter. His marina wasn't in an especially good neighborhood and, besides, nobody would watch after his boat the way that he would. You can guess the rest. Despite Wayne's caution, he returned from work late one afternoon to an empty driveway. His boat had been stolen (Claim #876373A).

It's no wonder that trailer boat thefts appear so frequently in the BoatU.S. claim files. Imagine leaving thousands of dollars stored in large crates marked MONEY on a trailer in your driveway. An exaggeration? Maybe. But to a thief, especially a professional, a boat on a trailer is not much different than a stack of dollar bills. Simply parking a boat in a driveway in front of your house offers little or no security. But there are a few simple tricks, shown below, that will make a boat on a trailer a much less attractive target for thieves.

• Remove the tires. This not only makes it much harder to pull the trailer, storing the tires indoors (out of the sunlight) prolongs their life and reduces the chances of a flat tire. As an added precaution against theft, be sure to remove the hub nuts and store them with the tires.

• If possible, store the boat in the backyard or in the garage so that it can't be seen by passers-by. If the boat has to be stored in the driveway, don't leave the trailer hitch facing the street. Even if the hitch is locked or has been removed, professional thieves carry coupler devices that can be quickly attached to the trailer.

• Locks are available for props and some model outdrives. Smaller outboards should be taken off and stored in the garage.

• The more you take off of your boat, the less attractive it will be to a thief. Take all valuable equipment and documents off of the boat for the winter. Small motors, seats, and spray dodgers are all candidates for indoor storage.

• Remove the trailer's license plate and, if possible, the tail lights.

• If practical, chain the trailer to a tree.

• Invest in a dog, preferably one with a nasty disposition to deter strangers.