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I’m crouched down behind my 16-foot skiff with a pair of cheap multitool pliers picking at a wad of braid fishing line jammed behind the outboard’s propeller. No, I don’t have a prop wrench with me. Most of my tools are 350 miles away, sitting in a shed in Maryland, and I’m at a boat ramp in upstate New York. After two hours of towing across coastal plains, three hours winding up and down through the Appalachians, and then another hour hauling through a chunk of the Adirondacks, I’m tugging and ripping at that line, praying it hasn’t already damaged the prop seal. I think to myself, “I need a vacation.”
Wait. … This IS my vacation.
Travel curmudgeon that I am, I stifled a groan and forced a smile when my wife first announced the family was going to spend a week at Seneca Lake. Why leave Chesapeake Country during prime fishing season when stripers should be snapping and cobia could be chomping? To my mind it seemed ridiculous, but I was determined to be the good husband and father who goes along to get along. Then she mentioned that the VRBO rental she’d picked out was lakefront. Interesting. Next, I discovered it had a pier with a lift available for renters who brought their own boat. Fascinating.
Once I realized I could go vacationing with my boat in tow, this saltwater-centric Chesapeake Bay angler began Googling “lake trout,” and “smallmouth bass.” Despite my best efforts, I got excited about taking this vacation.
But now I sit here at an unfamiliar boat ramp with my insufficient tools. Thus, a critical lesson of vacationing with a boat in tow became obvious: Instead of merely running down the usual pre-trailer checklist, you also need to do a thorough systems inspection. Had I done so, I would have spotted braid twisted all around the prop.
By now lesson No. 2 should also be obvious: Pack every tool you can stand to, just in case. My selection may have proved insufficient for a rapid repair, but eventually I pulled the final thread of line free, and the seal, luckily, remained undamaged.
Part of the adventure of vacationing with a boat in tow is overcoming adversity, thus the grin on my face was exceptionally wide as we performed a quick sea trial. And before the sun set that evening, we had our first Seneca trout kicking in the cooler – victory in a foreign land! That grin stretched even wider.
With the boat on a lift, you can head out for another fishing trip moments after a rain shower has passed. Photo, Lenny Rudow
Max Rudow hauled up a beautiful lake trout. Photo, Lenny Rudow
Is vacationing with a boat in tow more fun? Ummm, YES! Photo, Lenny Rudow
Options & Obstacles
When trailering a boat on vacation, an inventory of issues can arise before you ever make it to the ramp. While the haul on this tow was problem-free, other road trips I’ve taken were not. With that in mind, before you hit the highway on your own trailer-boat vacation, consider your options.
VRBO/Airbnb. Many vacationers use these services these days, and they have some issues specific to trailering. For example, booking the last house on a dead-end street with no turnaround and a tight driveway can be disastrous. Same goes for getting a place without a spot to park the trailer. Using Google Earth to get a bird’s-eye view of the location prior to booking is helpful, but it’s not enough. Appearances can be deceiving, and a parking area that looks large enough for a truck and trailer may really be sized for one or the other. When there’s any doubt, reach out to the property owner beforehand via the booking service to ask about specifics.
Having a pier at your vacation home is great, but having a lift is spectacularly convenient. A lift eliminates all worries about mooring in an unfamiliar place, keeps the boat safe if a storm rolls through, and you don’t have to think twice about leaving a boat with an unpainted bottom in the water. Best of all, your boat sits ready for use at any given moment – no launch ramp required!
Unfortunately, all boats do not fit all lifts. Sling-style lifts are great because they’ll generally self-adjust to hold boats of various shapes and sizes. If it’s a bunk lift, you need to find out the spacing and dimensions of the bunks ahead of time to make sure your boat fits. But the most important factor to ask about is lift capacity. Don’t forget to add in the weight of fuel and gear aboard when calculating whether a particular lift can handle your rig.
The rental’s location and access to the nearest boat ramp is an obvious consideration, but also check access to amenities. Will you need to travel for fuel, and if so, by land or by water? What about ice, fishing tackle, sundries, and food? If these things aren’t easily at hand, you may want to consider changing locations.
Hotels. Staying in a hotel with a boat in tow has different challenges, but they’re rarely insurmountable. Parking is usually the biggest issue. Some hotels and resorts have dedicated areas for oversized vehicles and trailers, but sometimes the best move is simply parking as far as possible from the main entry where there are likely to be several spots in a row.
When staying at a hotel with parking spots lined up head-to-head, you’ll need two adjoining spots. In that situation, should you need to unhitch the boat to run your vehicle into town or make a supply run, someone could unwittingly park the boat in. Carry a pair of traffic cones to block off the spot in front of the boat while you run errands.
Another issue in some hotel parking lots is theft. If the trailer is secured to the truck with a lock, the boat may be secure, but gear and visible electronics should be locked away and hidden from view. Depending on the area, you may want to lock items like fishing rods and wakeboards in the tow vehicle, or possibly even shuttle them back and forth to the hotel room for safekeeping. Add a level of security with a portable motion detector alarm and leave it in the boat. Inexpensive models go for as little as $25 and, for about twice the cost, you can get alarms with remotes, so you can turn it off from the hotel room if it goes off by accident. Just make sure the alarm is a waterproof model if your boat is open and exposed to weather.
Everywhere you go. At any venue, the most critical thing is to look before you leap. Never enter a parking lot without checking to be sure you can navigate it with a boat in tow, and don’t even think about going through tight spots like a fast-food drive-through.
If you get into a pinch, remember that the best way to maneuver a small boat in tight quarters is to unhitch it from the tow vehicle, reposition the trailer tongue manually, then move the tow vehicle into a better position to rehitch it. This is the go-to tactic when you accidentally pull into a dead end or realize you can’t make a sharp turn without hitting something. With rigs too large to move by hand, unhitching and moving the tow vehicle into a different position may or may not get the job done. Like we said, look before you leap.
The family gathers for a fresh fish dinner, caught in Seneca Lake. Photo, Melissa Rudow
Tip
The Payoff
Lest you wonder if it’s worth all that hauling hassle in the first place, trust us, dear boater, there’s no doubt that it is. With your boat in tow and new destinations on the horizon, the opportunities for waterborne fun are endless. Just picture towing the kids around a mountain lake on an inflatable, exploring new waterways, and cranking up species of fish that you’ve neither seen nor tasted in your lifetime. Vacations can be fun, but a vacation with your boat is a whole lot more fun.
How did our adventure to Seneca Lake turn out? Absolutely magnificently! We caught dozens of lake trout, yellow perch, and brown trout. We enjoyed sunrises on the water followed by lazy lunches and afternoon naps, then went back out on the lake to catch the sunset bite. We visited lakefront wineries by boat. And shortly after returning home to Chesapeake Country, we booked the very same boat-lift-equipped lakefront house 12 months in advance (I never did catch a Seneca smallmouth, after all). But before we leave next time, I’ll give that propshaft a very close look.
Photo, Dan Armitage
In It For The Long Haul
If you’re new to long-distance trailering, you should know it’s significantly different from your usual runs to and from your local ramp. One of the biggest differences between towing on local streets versus hitting the highway is the speed at which the rig will be traveling over long distances. That pace creates higher heat for your trailer’s tires and bearings. Here are some additional considerations before and during long-haul trips:
- Perform a pretrip inspection and replacement of suspect tires and bearings before any long-distance haul. Also remember to do regular checkups en route and keep replacements available in the form of spare tires, wheels, and bearings. One of the most important items to check is the air pressure in your trailer and tow vehicle’s primary tires, as well as the spares. Do this when they are cold, and bring the pressure within the recommended guidelines listed with the trailer and vehicle service manuals (and note that may be lower than the maximum psi stamped on the tire).
- Check your trailer’s tongue weight if you haven’t done so recently. It should be between 7% and 10% of the total weight of the loaded trailer.
- Perform walkaround inspections of your rig every couple hours when stopping to stretch your legs, grab a meal, or fuel up. Inspect safety chains, look for loose straps, and check for overheating by placing a hand on the tires and hubs. Any surface too hot to hold a palm against may be overheating and deserves further attention. Also check and tighten all cover straps and attachments, which can loosen with exposure to wind and water.
- Pay special attention to covers and canopies because highway speeds can compromise them. Make sure any cover you leave on a towed boat is designed for over-the-road use and the abuse it will be expected to withstand. Boat covers intended for use at freeway speeds are held in place with a series of heavy-duty straps that wrap around the craft to snug the top tightly in place and keep it there. Bimini tops should be collapsed and their covers folded and encased in the boot, then secured to the lowest point possible, either against the top of the windshield or along the gunwale.
- Remove and securely stow electric trolling and auxiliary motors whenever possible before an extended tow. Aftermarket supports and locks are available for both if they must remain attached to the bow or transom. Likewise, electronics such as fishfinders, VHF radios, and GPS receivers mounted on quick-release bases can be easily removed for over-the road towing and general security.
- Secure or stash any accessories, such as personal floatation devices, seat cushions, and coolers and lids, that are susceptible to blowing out of a boat towed at highway speeds. Even deck carpeting may work its way loose.
- Watch the “bow wave” from passing trucks. Speaking of things blowing around, large-volume vehicles such as tractor trailers and motor homes develop a high-pressure wave of air in front of them and low-pressure area to their rear as they roll down the highway. The effect varies depending on the shape of the truck and the conditions, but when a truck approaches to pass you on the left, first your trailer and then your tow vehicle will be pushed to the right. As the truck passes, the low-pressure zone it creates will then pull your rig back to the left. Be prepared to compensate for the pressure variables by counter-steering slightly left and then right to adjust for the effect.
- Bring spares and tools. Some additional items you may want on hand for long-distance towing include extra wiper blades, a floor jack, spare hub kits for trailer wheels, wheel chocks, and bearing grease. And as tempting as it becomes when packing for a family vacation, avoid using the boat as a utility trailer for the trip — the additional weight can throw the rig’s balance off or even overload the trailer.