El Toro Trailer Updated

You probably dont remember but a while back, I did a posting on kayak trailers that could be towed behind a bicycle.  The tow bar on that one broke.  The fundamental problem on that one was that it was made out of a fairly skinny piece of redwood that just wasnt strong enough.  This time I used oak.  Oak is stronger but the bar sticking out from the trailer is still about 8 foot long and so it flexes quite a bit.  When youre pedaling, the rhythmic motion of the pedaling sets up a back and forth oscillation of the trailer which is not only annoying but also slows down progress.

There it is with an El Toro loaded up for a test run. The length of the tow bar might seem extreme, but it has to be long enough to tow 20 foot (7m) kayaks.

I knew how to fix the oscillation problem which is by adding some cross braces in the form of a triangle, the universal stable polygon. But due to lack of ambition, I never got around to it.  But since the tow bar broke and I had all the tools out to replace it, it was time to add the bracing as well.  Mission Accomplished! as George Bush would say.

And the view from the rear.  The El Toro, an invention of the Richmond Yacht Club is 8 foot long and 4 foot wide.

Tow bar triangulated with two side braces for lateral stability.

And the link from the tow bar to the bicycle.  I should shorten that. Next time.

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Trailer and a Paint Job

I found a 16 tilting boat trailer on Craigslist for a reasonable price, so I bought it. Ill need to re-carpet the bunks, but now I have something to put the boat on when its time to flip the hull.

Trailer: Check.

Last night, I painted 2 coats of System Three WR-LPU Whidbey White on the hull. I used the basic "Roll and Tip" method, which seemed quite easy after watching a couple of online videos. 

Since the paint was going on top of System Threes Silvertip epoxy, the tech support folks at System Three said there was no need for a primer coat first. Id have to say that the technical support people at both Flexdel (makers of the Aquagard marine paints) and at System Three have been both responsive and helpful.

2 coats of Whidbey White

The WR-LPU is a two-part paint. I mixed a 16 oz batch for starters, and that proved just enough to paint two coats on both sides of the hull, (excluding the transom). I havent decided yet whether to add a third coat.

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