I spent the last four days of July being trailer trash:  riding with the boat trailer as it came from the Edmonton World Masters Games in Canada, back to San Diego, California. I started learning how to drive a boat trailer as well, although this trip was mostly spent in observation and other "hands-off" lessons (at upwards of a million dollars in cargo, I wasn't arguing). This got me thinking about the very "hands-on" business [ed: a-hahahahaha] of trailer loading and unloading, a huge undertaking which, as a coxswain, you can help along tremendously. Assuming you know what you're doing.

The average 8+ is worth twenty grand (-ish). Expensive, so it's worth taking the extra care to make sure they are properly secured before they hit the road. And obviously it doesn't do you a lot of good if you get a shell halfway across the state for a regatta, only to find out nobody loaded the riggers for it. Don't scoff—this has been done. But there are things you can do to avoid these potentially embarrassing/disastrous situations (think "we had to scratch the crew from that event"). As follows:

Boat Loading Prep

First and most importantly, have a checklist of all the things that need to go on the trailer/leave the boat house.

• Shells (know the race schedule and what boats are being used more than once)
• full set of seats (all in the same box if possible)  
• full set of assigned oars (make sure they are the right ones)
• full set of riggers (make sure they are the right ones)
• nuts and bolts (either screwed back onto the boats after the riggers have been removed or placed in a container of whose whereabouts you are cognizant)
• tools appropriate to all boats (power tools if necessary; 10mm, ½-inch or 7/16ths wrenches)
• tees or slings/trestles to rest the boat on. If possible, have enough for the number of boats you'll be taking to the regatta
• "boat box" containing whatever your boat box contains; tools, parts, extra clams (for both 4's and 8's), tape, zip-ties, boat ties, spacers...stuff.
• Coxboxes (with charger, especially for more-than-one-day trips)

Label the seat-boxes and riggers clearly with the name of the shell—just stick a piece of tape on them with the boat name if they are "community use" boxes. For the long term, it also helps to label (in gel pen perhaps, or on colour-coded tape) the seat/rigger numbers; so you get the magnet in the right place, and you don't have to wonder why the unlabeled bow rigger doesn't fit at five-seat. If the seats stay in the shell, make sure each seat is secured with a bungee cord

Tape the rudders so they wont move in transit. With string rudders, pull the strings toward the centre of the coxswain seat and wrap tape around them both; with a stick rudder, wrap the tape around the stick and the string on one side (check with your coach on this one). Take something to cut the tape with (unless you like using your teeth), and for goodness sake remember to cut the tape off BEFORE you go out on the water; it's SO stressful otherwise.

Make sure your coxbox leaves the boathouse. Take one that works; if it's been problematic but bearable during practices, bring it to the attention of your coach. Crackling is annoying; coxing a race without it is annoying. Not winning and then wondering if you could have done better if your box had worked...is annoying. Make sure it's charged as well (If you generally take your box and tools with you anyway, make sure they leave YOUR house when you do; put them with you car keys/on top of the clothes you plan to wear/someplace you wont forget them).

The Actual Business of Loading Boats

If you know your race assignments, you can divide loading responsibilities by the boats you're going to cox. This may involve keeping an eye on the novice coxswains. In that case, the checklist applies to "your" boats.

Know where boats are going on the trailer. Know why they go where they do. Usually the bigger boats go on first, on top or on one or the other side, and then there's a balancing act. During racing/traveling season, make a note of whether certain boats generally go on the same rack every time. The boats that need to go on first aren't always the ones that are ready to go (if for instance the first boat that needs to go on is the very last to race), so see how you can work around this—load one side first, or just have everything de-rigged and ready to go, so it goes more quickly when you are ready.

READ MORE

Plan how you're going to get the boat onto the trailer. They usually go in bow first, particularly if the stern extends beyond the length of the trailer. When going on lower racks, follow the procedure you use for putting the shell on boathouse racks at the end of practice [ed: that procedure is beyond the scope of this article. If you're not there yet in your coxswain training, perhaps you should sit this one out and watch how it's done a couple of times before attempting it yourself. Help with other stuff]. "Planning" involves making sure that:

-         at least one side is free before the middle racks are loaded

-         there is a place for you to go before you call "Hands on!" (because making people hold the boat at waist indefinitely is, well...annoying. And not a good way to endear yourself to the rowers)

-         there is enough room for you to turn the boat around if necessary

-         there are enough people on the trailer to receive a boat that's being threaded through the middle or going up and over heads

-         the taller people are on the boat  to hand it off to the shorter people waiting on the trailer

-         everyone is ready before you give a command to hand the boat off.

Unloading works pretty much the same way.

Load the trailer floor (slings, oars etc) last, or in such a way as to facilitate ease of loading.

Tie red flags to the sterns of all boats sticking out the end of the trailer. THIS IS IMPORTANT. IT PREVENTS ACCIDENTS. JUST DO IT.

At the end, go round and recheck everything on the list. Check that everything is on and secured. Never assume that someone else must have done it. It's better to have everything checked twice than to have something not checked at all.

Loading the trailer can seem like a completely random process the first couple of times you do it, but it makes more sense as you go along. You can learn a lot from the people who've done it before, so keep your eyes open and ask questions when appropriate (hint: during a hand off from "up-and-over-heads" to the highest rack on the trailer is NOT an appropriate time). Safety first, efficiency second; fun a close third J. Good luck. Chils.

coxgurrl