Science of Boat Extraction

So it’s spring and time to do my favorite science project of the year that is remove my boat from its winter storage also known as the garage. After doing this for the last couple of years I pretty have the system down. The first time it took nearly half a day but now it only takes a couple of hours. When we bought this house I thought the boat would fit in the garage by a couple of feet it really ends up being about six inches. So let me take you on the journey of removing my boat from the third garage stall.

The trick was applying the science of air pressure, levers, compression and gravity.

To Start, do you remember the word problem in high school about the semi trailer that is stuck under an overpass and how can they get the semi unstuck? Right, they let air out of the tires. So before anything can happen with the boat the air pressure in the tires need to be reduced from 35psi to 15psi. Since this happens in fall when I put the boat away the tires are already reduced so to begin, science trick one is done.

OK so let’s get a lay of the land first is how close the boat sits in the garage. Check out the photos below. The boat has 4 inch clearance with the front of the garage and notice how the bow railing is sitting just below the shelf on top. The shelf actually had to be moved the first time the boat was put in, but that’s another story. The stern railing, installed last year, really causes issues with the garage door. So I have to nudge the garage door up a little higher and pull the boat back roughly 2 inches so that the bow(front) railing clears the shelf. Now it’s lever time!! So to get the back of the boat out of the garage it needs to be lowered several inches. Since I can’t let more air out I need to raise the front of the boat which causes a lever style action using the tires as the fulcrum to lower the back of the boat. The front eventually gets raised up as high as it can go almost 18 inch difference.

Recap. Tires deflated, Boat nudged back 2 inches, then bow raised.

Next push boat back. Did I mention my boat weighs approx 3000 pounds with the trailer so moving the boat alone happens slowly carefully while moving tire block as not to the boat move too far at a time. So once we get the stern railing out of the garage the next big hurdle comes and that is main cabin.

The cabin is interesting because it is a bit higher then the railing and uses one more minor piece of science to get it through the opening. The sliding hatch on the cabin needs to be pushed all the way open. The cabin slants forward so this effectively lowers the height of the hatch. I use to have to take the handle off the hatch but instead I changed the angle of the handle so that it wasn’t in the way. Looking again at the photos below you can see how tight the cabin fits. For the this trick I use the third piece of science, my weight compressing the trailer springs to get the cabin through the threshold of the garage door opening. I just need to move it the first 6 inches under compression then it’s OK to release.

The biggest issue to deal with at this point is the that slight slope of the driveway now makes the boat want to keep rolling. So now I’m fighting a little gravity but no worries I have my tire blocks helping me out. By the way that was science lesson number four if you’re counting.

OK so two thirds recap. Stern railing out, Compressed trailer springs, cabin out of threshold, gravity in play.

Almost done now and the hard part is really done. As the boat slides backwards the jacked up bow now is too high to clear the garage door so once again we lower the bow to make room for the bow railing to exit the garage.

However once the boat is out all is not complete. I need to add the adequate air back into the tires and then raise the bow a bit. The reason for raising the bow a bit is that the boat will naturally flow water off the deck but it must be level or slightly raised in the front so water drains to the rear. Once finished then the boat is officially out of the garage. Of course it is facing the wrong direction to attach to a tow vehicle but that my friends is another Project.

SO here is the science recap for the boat removal project.

1. We use air pressure or lack there of to lower the boat and trailer by a couple of inches. (think semi stuck under the overpass)

2. We use the front trailer dolly wheel to make the trailer act as a lever to raise and lower the front and back of the boat.

3. We use spring compression as we apply weight to trailer spring lowering it the extra inch or to that is needed.

4. We combat gravity as the boat wants to roll downhill and we use blocks of wood to block the tires from rolling.

Let me make this clear if my garage was 9 inches taller in the door none of this science project would be needed. Then again what would be the fun in that?