MaineLine - One Man Boat

July/August 2000

A "one-man boat" means different things to different people. I have owned several types of one-man boats; I own four of them right now. I have a kayak that is strictly and in every way a one man boat. There is my canoe, less than 12 feet long, that I consider to be a one-man boat; it can hold two people (in a pinch) if they're friendly. Then there's the jet boat I sometimes use for guiding. I fish as many as three people out of it, and it's a one-man boat. The 20 foot Lund that I guide out of the most, and which to many looks as big as an aircraft carrier, carries as many as four fishermen. To me, this is still a one-man boat.

How can that be? Can all those boats, from eight feet to over 20 feet, be one-man boats? You bet! They can all be handled, in the water or on the ground, by one person: me! And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Have you ever watched the foolishness that goes on at the average launch ramp? I have seen as many as three people, up to their armpits in ice-cold water, trying to wrestle a boat onto a trailer. The way I count it, that one was a five-man boat, 'cause there were two more up on dry ground supervising this horror story! And the language, it was a terrible thing to hear. Those guys were not happy, and everyone for a mile around knew it.

I was sitting in my one-man boat, watching this whole mess, waiting for my partner to back my trailer in when they got clear. They finally got the boat on the trailer (more or less), and got the trailer off the ramp (more or less). Partner backed our trailer down the ramp, never once getting out of the truck. I drove the boat onto the trailer, he pulled us out, and then the language really got terrible from the five-man camp. My partner didn't stop rolling until we were about a half-mile from the ramp. I mean, those folks were hostile!

It's so unnecessary. Nowhere is it written that you must suffer in order to launch or recover your boat. Nowhere is it written that it takes two, three or four people to get the boat back on the trailer properly. It does take a little thought, a little money (but very little extra), and a little preparation to make almost any boat, regardless of size, a one-man boat.

Why a one-man boat? Before fishing a new spot with clients, I frequently fish it for a couple of hours the day before. This ensures that I will not waste too much of their time. In many cases I do this by myself. There's a need for a one-man boat. Once in a while, I just feel like going fishin', as opposed to guiding. I don't always know when this feeling is going to come on, and I don't care. I have a one-man boat; all of my boats are. I don't want any other kind.

How do you go about making up a one-man boat? It all starts with the trailer; if, the boat is too big to manhandle. When you get to be my age, manhandling stops at about 65 pounds. Actually, at my age, all fishing boats should have trailers. The trailer is what makes or breaks the one-man boat. Rollers have no place in the life of a one-man boat, except maybe the very front one, the one by the winch stand. Everything else should be bunks.

The tongue of the trailer must have a trailer jack with a wheel on it. This one thing, even with a small boat, is worth its weight in gold. If you ever have one, you will never again be without one. The winch and winch stand? Once you are set up right, about the only thing you will be using it for is to anchor the boat while towing.

The bunks should be carpeted and provide enough support to not only hold the hull, but to avoid stressing it, as well as extending just past the transom, so as to adequately support engine weight. In the case of smaller units without power trim on the engine, the bunks should be installed fairly high, to insure prop clearance when driving the boat onto the trailer. Yes, driving on. Why pay all that money for a motor, then crank the durn thing onto the trailer?

A good lighting system, preferably waterproof, is the next necessity for the trailer, and don't even consider a trailer without Bearing Buddies or some other good trailer bearing protection system. I have driven thousands and thousands of miles since I started using these and have never had a bearing failure.

The last item for the trailer is a good tie down system; one that will keep the boat on the trailer under all road conditions, while at the same time allowing it to "work" slightly on the trailer to minimize road shock. Sound complicated? It's not, but if you are buying new, spend an extra hundred bucks with the dealer and have him upgrade the trailer one length/weight category and prep it as outlined here. If he can't (or won't) do it for a reasonable price, think about another dealer. Your boat is going to live on that trailer for a lot of years.

Now, let's rig the boat. This is really tough. You need to add one item to the boat if it's not already there. A piece of 3/8-inch nylon line (unless it's a big, big boat) with a locking, heavy-duty snap on one end and a spliced loop on the other, exactly one foot shorter than the boat. The snap goes on the bow eye and stays there. It's a foot shorter than the boat so that when it falls overboard, and it will, it can't get into the prop.

You are now the proud owner of a one-man boat. Here's how to make it work for you: When launching, pull up and stop well clear of the ramp. Prep the boat and trailer to launch. Get in the habit of doing everything the same way, in the same sequence, every time by yourself. If someone must help you, check all of their work, every time. If you don't do it this way, sooner or later it's going to bite you on the butt, big time! Yes, Virginia, it's happened to me, several times!

Start at the bow of the boat and the winch stand. Unhook the winch from the boat and reel out about two feet of slack winch cable, line or strap. Make sure the snap hook on the end of your bow line is hooked up and straight on the bow eye. Be sure the bow line is laid out on the bow or in the boat in such a manner that it can pay out without tangling in anything. Release the safety chain, if used, from the bow eye. Hook the loop on the bow line to the snap hook on the winch cable and make sure the winch is locked so it won't pay out anymore winch cable. The bow of the boat should now be completely unhooked from the trailer, except for the bow line, which should be free to run out without getting snagged.

Go to the stern of the boat making sure that nothing is holding the boat and trailer together on the way. If there is, release BOTH sides before going to the transom. At the transom, make sure the drain plug/plugs are in place first. Sooner or later you will forget this. There are only two kinds of boaters: those that have and those that are going to. Unhook the tie downs from the transom to the trailer.

There should now be no connection between the boat and trailer except the bow line, which is hooked to the winch cable. IF YOU STILL HAVE ROLLERS ON THE TRAILER, DON'T YOU DARE MOVE A MUSCLE UNTIL YOU HOOK BACK UP THE WINCH CABLE AND SNUG IT UP! If the trailer is on bunks, you may proceed.

Start your tow vehicle and ease over to the ramp and get lined up to back down. Ease (EASE) down the ramp; watch the boat in your side mirror. When the trailer wheels get to the water, slow down even more but make all your moves gentle and smooth. You should see the stern of the boat start to lift off of the trailer. When it looks like most of the boat is floating, tap and hold your brakes. If you have done everything right up to this point, the boat will gently float off the trailer and you can GENTLY start easing the boat trailer up the ramp, towing the boat by the bow line and winch cable, GENTLY into the ramp.

When the boat grounds, stop the tow vehicle, lock up the brakes and shut it off. If no one is waiting to use the ramp, this is a good time to practice a little. Disconnect the bow line from the winch cable. Crank the engine on the boat and back away from the trailer a ways. Go back to the trailer and gently ease the boat up to the bunks, paying particular attention to the centerline; line it up.

Check to make sure you have sufficient water to keep your prop clear of the bottom of the ramp. Trim up some if you have power trim or use your shallow water drive on smaller engines if you have that to ensure bottom clearance. Ease the boat part-way onto the trailer, then back off and do it several times.

Now you can launch and recover your boat all by yourself. And you didn't even get your feet wet! Using this method, I have (by myself) launched and recovered a 20-foot Lund Alaskan three times in one day and never gotten my feet wet. With a little equipment modification and a little practice, and a lot of thought, most of you can too.

One-man boats have lots of advantages but to me the biggest is the complete freedom to go fishing where I want to, when I want to, with or without whom I want to. One-man boats are the only kind of boats that I'm willing to live with.

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