Magnum 21 trailer yacht

This was the condition of the Moustique when I got it home. All the standing rigs (steel stay wires) have been removed by the owner and kept in a bag inside the cabin. The mast was secured back to front on the yacht. It is obvious that this yacht has not been used for quite a while.

I made a list of jobs to do before launching. There was water in the cockpit (rain water). I need to replace the jockey wheel with a new one with a bigger wheel to tilt the boat up front to drain all the rain water to the back.


1. replaced jockey wheel

I used a trolley jack to raise the front of the trailer in order to remove the old jockey wheel. Estimated original tongue weight was about 85 kg which is too heavy for me to lift with one hand as I flip the jockey wheel with my other hand.

The whole job took just 30 minutes; but this new jockey wheel was not easy to track down. I found it at Smart Marine near the base. Burnsco Marine did not have this old style jockey wheel with a longer reach. My front lawn is sloping the wrong way!

2. scrap and paint
After water blasting the trailer, it became obvious to me that it was necessary to give it a new coat of paint before trying to get WOF. The front part was corroded badly, probably needed some oxy-welding to remove the corroded parts. Sure enough, it failed the WOF. I had to do some remedial welding on the trailer and also install some [white] lights facing forward because the boat was deemed too wide (over 2 metres). If I had a cousin who is a mechanic in a small country town, the story would have been very different.

The rear part looked like in better condition. I went to Andrew Fink for a quotation but he was too busy this month to accept any new jobs. The man mentioned 9 hours work, including using a crane and slings to lift up the boat ($200).

I decided to give the job to a shop in Frankton. The man even showed me a way to lift up 500 kg by myself. I will launch it at Hamilton lake, leave it there for a few hours while the trailer is being welded next Friday. To save $200, I am prepared to do some work. I removed the outboard engine, rudder and mast, storing it temporarily behind my house.

To avoid lifting heavy weights (due to a bad back), I used a table with wheels for transporting the heavy motor from the front yard to the back of the house. A wheel barrow is no good because it has only one wheel in front and tend to topple sideways under load. This table has special locking wheels. I bought it at the Hospice shop last Thursday for $20, just for this job. Afterwards it becomes my portable work bench. I have been looking for one for some time; but they were expensive and did not fit all my requirements. I need a sturdy work bench for woodwork. This table is just the right height for installing a bench vice.

The mast was quite easy to remove. I left all the standing and running rigs still attached to it.

I have also been trying to raise the mast a few times last week on the front lawn. It was quite easy using the main sheet blocks as a hand winch and pulling from the cockpit. The bottom end is pinned and it cannot fall side ways like the mast on a Hobie 16 which has a rotating mast. For lifting that mast I used a special gin pole arrangement with the hand winch and installing two temporary side stays to keep it in one plane.

The rudder is even easier to remove than the mast. Two pins hold it firmly to the transom. It normally sits inside the cabin while the boat is on tow.

The boat is now ready for launching; no mast, no engine, no rudder and everything removed from inside the cabin for safe keeping in case of delays in the welding job and I need to leave the boat overnight at the lake.

I left it at Hamilton Lake for half a day, tied to a post in front of the yacht club where there is a constant stream of walkers around the lake during the day. It should be ok to leave it there unattended for a few days. If necessary I can anchor it in the middle of the lake and paddle ashore in my kayak!

As it turned out, the welding job took 4 hours. I replaced the hand winch and shifted its position to reduce the tongue weight on the tow ball. It is now all good and I can manage quite easily when connecting the boat to the 4x4.

I have replaced these items on the trailer: the tow-coupling, jockey wheel and the hand winch. The cheapest was the winch which I bought for $5 from the Hospice shop on Lake road, a year ago.

The tail lights and wiring have also been replaced with a new type of submersible LED lamps which I found at Auto Trials in Frankton.

The front facing white lights are small but very bright. The best thing about using submersible lights, is this. They are now an integral part of the trailer; no more handling of separate light boards for me.

The side supporting wheels on the mud guards may have to be adjusted or replaced with larger size wheels later; then every thing on this trailer is complete. I can start renovating the inside of the boat to suit my own special requirements as a single hander. My intentions are to use it for free camping on the South Island to explore lake Pukaki, Tekapo, Wanaka, Te Anau, Wakatipu; Marlborough and Milford Sounds, then the Abel Tasman national parks...