Getting a boat to the water and back: choosing and loading a trailer, towing safely, launching and retrieving at the ramp, and the bearings, lights and brakes that fail if they are never checked.
Do the preparation in the car park: drain plug in, transom straps off, bow line and a stern line attached, engine tilted up, trailer lights unplugged, keys and kill cord aboard. Then back straight down the ramp until the trailer's wheel wells are at the water's edge and the boat's stern begins to float. Unhook the winch strap and safety chain, push the boat off or reverse a touch more, and walk it to the dock on its lines. Pull the trailer clear immediately. Everything on the ramp should take about a minute.
How do you launch a boat by yourself?
With a long bow line and a dock cleat. Tie a 10–15 m (30–50 ft) bow line to the boat in the car park, back down beside the courtesy dock, and before you release the winch, take the line across to a dock cleat with a couple of turns. Release the strap and chain, give the boat a push, and it floats off held by the line. Park the trailer, walk back and tie the boat up properly. Never leave the vehicle with the handbrake off, and chock a wheel on a steep ramp.
How deep should you back a boat trailer into the water?
Until the trailer's wheel wells or fenders are roughly at the waterline and the stern of the boat starts to float. For a bunk trailer, the bunks should be about two-thirds submerged; the boat slides off when pushed or when the trailer is reversed a little. A roller trailer needs less depth, sometimes only the rollers wet, and the boat will run off as soon as the strap is released, so hold the bow line first. Too deep and the boat floats off the guides sideways; too shallow and it will not budge.