No Need For A Boat Lift, Go Old School With Rails.
Man thats the set up
While cruising ebay, a daily adventure, I came across this listing of a cool 1930 Chris Craft. Now I know we have done a lot of ebay stuff lately, and its spring so interesting stuff is popping up. But, this story is not about the boat, it’s about the cool rail its on. Sure, the boat looks fantastic and nicely done. So defiantly worth looking into. LINK BELOW! But the rail. This guy has this set up dialed in. Look at it. He can back up into the garage-ish thing, and roll that sucker right into the drink. NOTE, if the owner went this far with the rail, clearly the boat is restored to the 9’s
Rail perfection
NICE!
No lift, no boat house zoning rules?. So, here is the question of the day. It looks like a rail system is not all that complex. Like a ramp? Maybe even less complex, and looks like it might even be about the same cost as a lift, boat house thing? Am I crazy. This way your boat is always tucked away?
YOU CAN SEE THE EBAY ITEM HERE
And here is a small section of an article done by Texx last year on Kermit Sutton’s collection, Texx’s images and comment of the Kermit’s Rail system.
“The automated rail system works great. When we returned to the dock, Kermit approached the dock with enough speed to steer the big 30′ Super Bear Cat into the submerged cradle with the protected guide posts. Once the engine is shut off and the passengers are on the dock, with his wireless key fob, Kermit actuates the winch and the cradle moves up the rails into the boat house. I am guessing the entire procedure takes less than 5 minutes and the boat is back in the boat house for a quick wipe down.
There was a time when all the yards rail hauled with boats cradles made specifically for each boat. The old CC cruisers were delivered on their own cradles that were stored in the yards and run down the rails to haul and launch. Unfortunatly most rail systems are long gone and now our only options are to travel lift, crane, or trailer haul. Not the best. Can put a lot of stress on the old hull not having the full support that was designed into the cradles. I’d love to have Kermits set up for my old cruiser.
We had a rail system many years ago. It was not 100% reliable, and when a wheel breaks or jumps the track when you are halfway up, you are in a bit of a pickle. You also need a fairly flat piece of land near the water which we are fortunate to have but which is on available on a minority of the shoreline on our lakes. That said, a more robust system leading to an on land boathouse is a very good option for those with zoning challenges and the space to do it.
There currently is a 2001 20′ Hacker for sale on “Port Carling Boats” that can be purchased with the rail system it sits on.
That is a very nice system and keeps everything so well protected. I would think you may also run into some zoning challenges with “boat garage” locations and rail installations. (things like this seem to be getting harder to do)
There is so much these days about covered slips, rails, and boat houses, are those of us in the northeast the only ones still using simple moorings?
Matt you are slipping, didn’t you notice the really neat boat “lift” on the next dock over in the original ebay listing. You can get the grandkids out on the dock to turn that huge wheel to lift it.
Troy,
A little south of you, in the northeast, is Lake Hopatcong, NJ. It is a spectacular “boathouse” lake. It’s just lined with them and some from the “old money” days that are quite ornate and beautiful to view.
But you’re right, many lakes have too many rules about docks. Covered? maybe. Enclosed sides? very rare. And many lakes only allow floating docks.
If you live on a lake, I believe you should have the same options for parking your boat as you do for parking your car.
Who would not love this?
WE HAD A MARINE RAILWAY AST THE CC DEALERSHIP
I WORKED FOR IT WOULD HAUL UP TO 60 FT AND
IT WENT INTO A BUILDING SO WORK COULD BE DONE
IN THE WINTER
The listing on ebay states a “5100” bottom, is that not quite as good as a 5200 bottom?
This came at just the right time
I am in the mist of laying out the new boathouse and this may be a better idea. It would be different and better protected.
Pete