The Ballad Exchange

We have now sold or motoryacht so it is time to move Sanlen to our driveway. This way the restoration will go much faster and easier. The plan is to move her on next Thursday.

I do have some concerns since I have removed all bulkheads. The main bulkhead is still in place but the two pieces aren't connected by the crossmember. My fear is that the boat is to "loose" to withstand the forces from lifting and transportation.

Any advice is most appreciated

I will post pictures from the move

When I had my Ballad lifted onto the trailer I put in the old main bulkheads and connected them with a couple of 2x4's in an "X" shape to keep things stiff. I also put in a post from the floor up to the cabin top, near the mast step.

Thanks Peter,

I believe I have to mount something similar. Did you notice any excessive movement in the hull during lifting or was this enough?

It was only a brief lift, about 5m from cradle to trailer. If the lifting straps are going to squeeze the hull sides, a couple of wood struts from gunwale to gunwale inside the boat might be a good idea.
I did notice, after removing all the bulkheads, that the cabin top sagged a bit in the area of the mast collar. A temporary post inside the boat fixed this.

I have now mounted a post between the floor and the cabin top and connected it with a post secured between the main chainplates (they are still in place, will be removed when the main bulkheads are restored).

This post between the chainplates was actually used by many Ballads racing in Scandinavia in the 70's. It prevented hull deformation when the rig was tightened hard

Might also consider bracing the companionway opening during the lift, Jan. When we lifted our Ballad, there was some visible flexing there. No permanent damage, but you could see quite a bit of movement.

Thanks Bob, I guess the flexing was transverse? Do you think a post from side to side (mounted under the gunwale) just in front of the opening will be enough?

We lifted with a giant forklift & did not use spreaders, so the straps really squeezed the boat. The movement at the companionway was mostly transverse, with a little 'diamonding.' I think you could just wedge a timber across the top of the opening and you would be fine -- maybe a couple nails or screws into the end of the timber, to keep it from falling out during the lift. Or a piece of tight-fitting scrap plywood wedged into the washboard slots. Really, plastic boats flex and no damage was done, but that companionway opening is fairly large (over 1 meter, corner to corner). As we lifted the boat, I kept running in and out of the cabin to look for trouble, and that area was the only spot that distorted enuf to notice.

Best practise is to use spreaders on the straps, but we had extremely short notice and could not arrange them.

Thanks for the advice. I have now mounted a post from side to side just in front of the opening.

Today is the day

Good luck! It's a stressful thing, seeing your boat hoisted into the sky.