Usually late at night, when everyone's asleep and I'm done with my homework, I look for things to buy for my unfinished boat. It doesn't matter how much I'd spent just hours before, or how many boxes are due to arrive. I look. Sometimes, it's stuff I really don't need, like stainless steel cowls (price: $200 each). Or, maybe something I'd like but will put off for a bit, like an inflatable raft. Or something I really do need, like plastic cowls (price: $22 each). I'm pleased to report that I've solved a major problem yesterday.
Behold, my trailer, a Karavan KKB 17 1800', purchased from a local shop.
They had it in stock and agreed to hold it for me until I was ready to use it. It's similar to the EZL80B that some owners bought and its specs are in line with the custom Trailex model. I tried to get West Coast Trailers to build me the same one that a fellow builder got, but the guy couldn't be bothered to return my phone calls despite me begging for him to take my money. One time, the WCT guy couldn't take my call because he was busy negotiating a new lease. If he agreed to build my trailer he might be in a better position to negotiate. So, no -- don't use West Coast Trailers. Once I'm done with the painting and able to clear the garage a bit, I'll call some friends over for a Boat Flippin' Party, Part 2, and put it on the trailer for good where it'll sit until I finish the build.
But let me tell a little story about how I got to this point. You see, I'd spent the better part of two weeks and dozens of hours researching, calling, and visiting trailer folks without much luck. The problem is PocketShip is a strangely shaped boat. It has a keel, but not much of one. It's short, but wider than its length would suggest. It's heavy (relative to its size) and tall. So a narrow, long trailer doesn't work, nor does a short, wide one. It can't fit it onto a personal watercraft trailer and anything that fits a bigger boat uses a much bigger trailer (like 20 feet long). I really like that it's just over 17' end to end and the swing tongue brings it down to 15' for storage.
I'll need to add a keel trough (I can't put a roller forward as it doesn't have a long enough support bar there) but otherwise it's decent. Just a tad wider, heavier, and shorter than the Trailex trailer, it's also about $1,500 less -- and that's a lot of dough! Not to mention I don't have to put it together.
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