Time to Go Home – Loading Kismet in Fort Lauderdale

Think we have the hang of loading the boat now!

After six years of trailering our Ranger Tugs R27, we guessed that loading the bigger boat onto the trailer would be harder. The only other time we trailered the boat was in the Pacific Northwest last fall. We took delivery of her in August and cruised for several weeks before loading her again. The boatyard lifted the boat out of the water by a travel lift and placed it on the trailer.

That’s a good thing because we were a little intimidated by the whole OVERSIZE LOAD requirements, rules and regulations. We wondered how the truck, our GMC Sierra 3/4 ton diesel would do pulling the bigger boat cross-country. We towed the R27 with this truck. It was way easier than we feared, almost a non-event. The truck performed well, Jim had all the paperwork lined up for any questioning authority and we got to test all environments of road conditions on our trip home. However, we still hadn’t put the boat on the trailer. Fort Lauderdale was our first experience loading Kismet.

Just as in trailering an oversize load across the United States from Washington State to Michigan, we found the loading process to go without a hitch.

We headed over to the ramp at Cooley’s Landing early in the morning of our departure day. Jim hired a guy we met at the dock. We’d gotten to know Bob during our stay at the marina. We probably didn’t need more help, but Bob was ready and willing to help his new friends and we were happy for the extra support.

I don’t believe the boat size matters too much. Most of our success in these two areas is because Jim is a stickler for detail, making sure all his ducks are lined up in a row. No surprises for our first time loading the boat, the whole process took much less time than we anticipated.

Jim made a strap for our R27 and it still works on the R29. Extra security, keeping the boat safely on the trailer, while on the road.