Trestles

Daisy II off her trailer onto trestles

This has been a long time in the making but Daisy II was finally tempted off her trailer onto 'terra firma' - using a set of trestles.  The initial design for these came from this link and most of the woodwork was done during the winter.  However, in an attempt to beef up the design, a keel support has been introduced, carving up a railway sleeper.
Today, the final deed was accomplished, made all the more complex by the trailer design, the various sets of rollers getting in the way. 


Back-winching, the rear support was in place first.


rear support

At the time, the rear of the trailer was just in front of these, and the trailer was already tipping backwards with the boat resting on a combination of this support and the trailer keel rollers.  As back-winching continued, the keel had to be jacked up in stages as the trailer was slowly pulled out from beneath the boat. 
Eventually, the final position for the keel support was in place, and the balancing forward trestles were pushed in place.



Forward keel support and balancing trestles.

Technically, the hull is now much more accessible for work, although it make take a little courage on my part to spend much time underneath the boat.  However, the whole thing seems pretty sturdy, particularly with the introduction of the forward keel support.  The key motivation for doing this now is to access the trailer for servicing, whilst I have a few weeks with no immediate sailing commitments.  Plans are well advanced, however, to trail Daisy II to Cumbria in July and to Cornwall in August, so the trailer needs to be in tip-top shape! 
Depending on time, I may start chipping away at some of that old antifouling - I'd quite like to get back to the original hull, and perhaps repaint beneath the waterline - that may all have to wait until the close season.