Haulout
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Wed 28 Nov 2012 09:45
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Norsand's Yard at Whangarei does not use a modern
Travelift (a modified seacontainer travelling crane, with lifting staps
which go under the hull), but rather the old-fashioned method of having the boat
float onto a steel cradle lowered down a slipway at high tide, then pulled up by
a chain. This is ideal for catamarans and trimarans, and really heavy boats
which can utilise a marine railway set into the slipway. But it's slow - at most
two boats per tide.
We'd never used this method before, so it was a
novel experience - especially since we were right on the maximum draft that the
Yard could handle. This meant that we had to come out at the height of a Spring
tide, and can only go back in on one or two days per month.
So here we are coming out:
 We have been floated over the cradle and have been
pulled up half a metre out of the water to check that everything is properly
positioned before the full weight comes on the keel. Ali can be seen on the
left, dealing with all the tension and excitement by having a nice calming
gossip on the phone.
And here is the 'puller' - a tractor attached to a
hauser and chain. You can also see the rails set into the slipway, but our
trailer was on ordinary wheels:
 Now we're a bit further out with the weight on the
keel and the sides supported by four vertical steel arms:
 And finally, after an hour or so, we're on dry
land:
 The process requires three people, and is very slow
compared to a Travelift - but it's much safer (you can't drop the boat, which
happens!) and much gentler. We prefer it. And you end up in a very strong stable
cradle with loads of room to work, instead of being surrounded by a small forest
of props.
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