Thread: GIS in Santa Rosa, California

Well, I've come against an obstacle. I live in a condominium with a a detached garage that is also my workshop. I have plenty of room to store my completed GIS inside on its trailer. The problem is....the homeowner's association is mandating that garages be kept clear to park your car inside. That means that I'll need to store my GIS away from home at a pretty fair price, not to mention not being able to just hook up and go sailing after work at the lake located 5 minutes from my home. This has all been enacted within the last month, and at least 4 boat owners were given 30 days to get their boats moved out of garages and stored elsewhere. Right now, moving isn't an option, and neither is paying hefty monthly storage fees...

...so, I am building a sailboat that'll store in my roof rafters AND will ride on my lumber racks on my pickup. The GIS is going to have to wait, sadly, but I'm not willing to wait to have a decent sailing boat. I just received plans for a Bolger June Bug, that I'm planning on doing some tweaks to. But that's all for another thread on the other forum.

Is there anyway to hoist it up and have it hang from the rafters above your car? You probably already thought of that, anyway. Bum deal, man. Homeowner's associations want everyone to live the life "As Seen On TV" -bored, plain, robotic, as opposed to anything remotely realistic or exciting. Adapt or die, I guess. Good luck!

I could hoist the GIS into my roof rafters as well, but there is the issue of the trailer. I'd still have to store it somewhere else.

MIIIIIIIIK! We have a need for a fold up version of the Goat! He wants to build a goddam ugly Bolger

I understand. A bunch of fuddy duddies visiting their investment properties one a year decide on crap rulings like this without any thought whatsoever for the quality of life of the building's inhabitants. We call them Drongos in Australia, and the residents who go further than they should to annoy the other inhabitants are called Boguns.

What a shame. I think I have seen pics though of someone cartopping a GIS. It seems far too heavy to do it alone, but maybe it is an option.

Two people could manage it most likely....not so much a weight issue as it is physical size. The downside is having to take someone with you every time you want to go sailing, which is completely unacceptable to me. I'm not anti-social, mind you, but I do like to get out and away by myself whenever I can.

Rick,

Sorry to hear about the interruption of your Goat plans. Man, that sucks.

Build the (tweaked) June Bug and enjoy it. And plan ahead to attend next year's COOTS' September messabout. That's the most fun I've had in a long while. Would have been better with my own boat there, but then I need to have a boat to take. Next year... next year.

I am very close to having the space I need to build the hull.

Bob

Originally Posted by Rick_Tatum

Two people could manage it most likely....not so much a weight issue as it is physical size.

I've heard it said that the longer boats are easier to get onto the roof racks than the short ones because rather than lift them up in one hit, you lift the bow onto the rear roof rack, the left the stern and push it forward. I hope this works because I've got a 15 rowing skiff that I hope to be able to car top.

The biggest argument against this method that I see (apart from the boat getting half way and then you discovering that the beam is wider than the roof rack) is having the gunwales slide over the roof rack without tearing off all the paint - some sort of slipery mat or carpet seems like a good option.

Richard

Originally Posted by Rick_Tatum

Two people could manage it most likely....not so much a weight issue as it is physical size. The downside is having to take someone with you every time you want to go sailing, which is completely unacceptable to me. I'm not anti-social, mind you, but I do like to get out and away by myself whenever I can.

My sons & I built the first GIS in the Americas. We cartopped it for the first two seasons. It's not daunting, but it's no treat either. Usually it took my oldest and I to take it down or put it up on top of our Mazda MPV. We carried it right-side-up. At the end of one long, tiring weekend, my son had hurt his shoulder, and I put it up top by myself. I managed it, at the cost of some paint on the van and on the boat... but it's not a chore I'd like to repeat. We've trailered it ever since.

Cheers,

The GIS is dimensionally too large to fit the lumber racks on my pickup. It just won't work...

This whole thing really pisses me off. It wasn't an issue two months ago, but now I have to either settle for a different boat or pay too much money to store my GIS off site. Moving isn't an option at the moment.

Originally Posted by Rick_Tatum

The GIS is dimensionally too large to fit the lumber racks on my pickup. It just won't work...

Size of racks doesn't matter that much. Just fit two pieces lumber around six feet long across your roof, tie them down, then place the bow of the boat under one tip of the rear lumber, rear of boat best equipped with casters or on a piece of carpet, lift the bow on the lumber, then lift the transom and push the boat over the lumbers in place. My 12 year old son did it with our VW Passat last weekend alone. OK, our goat is still without tanktops and without bottom runners, beeing some lighter, and i had fitted the lumbers myself first. but he could manage the loading alone and needed only little assistance to unload. Just for a test we did it for the way back with the Renauld Kangoo of our Friend. With the short roof not ideal, but worked for the 12 km back. Again he needed a bit assistance to unload. If you dont have lumber: two staves osage shoud do the trick Greetings - Jörn

It sounds like your setup works good for you, unfortunately, that won't work with the rack setup that is on my pickup. There are side posts on the rack which limits width of anything carried to 4 feet.

Hi Rick,

That is incredibly annoying. Hope you find a good solution one way or another.

Best wishes
Michael

Going over tops of sideposts? Jörn