Installing guide bunks along the sides of the trailer was among the first suggestions to remedy this problem. Other forum members had installed both 2' and 5' models that seemed to work well. It certainly makes sense: such bunks would help prevent the boat from shifting sideways into the the trailer’s spinning tires. Based upon those reports, this was the first solution that I tried.
| I went to West Marine and purchased a set of 5' guide bunks. When I attempted to install them, however, I found that they simply were inadequate to accommodate the particular shape of a P-19 and the Pacific Baja trailer.
Specifically, the trailer frame is different than those of the other forum members. Its crossbeams are located too far forward and aft to mount the bunks where the problem manifests itself at the widest part of the hull. Moreover, the side beams are too far to the outside. West Marine’s bunks are supposed to be adjustable for different widths, but there is a limit to how close one can get the mounting poles to the trailer before their shape no longer is square enough along the angled curve for the hardware to secure them tightly, as illustrated in the left photo. |
| As a result, I found to my chagrin that there was still a rather large gap between the boat hull and the bunk boards, as in the right photo. While they might still function well as “guides,” they nonetheless would not prevent the boat from shifting sideways on the trailer into the tires.
Other forum members suggested mounting additional “spacer” boards behind the bunks to move them closer to the inside. This would probably work, but I do not think that I would be very happy with the æsthetics of that solution, as it would look somewhat “patched” together as though the bunks do not really fit the boat —which, of course, they do not. I therefore took my set of bunk boards back to West Marine for a refund and started to look for other ways of fixing the problem, i.e., replacing the fenders (see Part 3). |
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However, after installing the fenders, a better bunk board solution emerged. Specifically, the owner of International Marine, Ryan Forest, decided to contact their new trailer supplier, EZ Loader, and found that they manufacture 6' guide bunks that can be mounted closer to the trailer. Forum member Ron Coderre volunteered to put those guide bunks to the test and installed them on his Pacific Baja trailer. They work!
| Ryan subsequently obtained a number of those EZ Loader guide bunks for P-19 owners to purchase at a significantly discounted price and I immediately ordered a set. Ryan said that they would arrive in 1-2 weeks, but I received them only five days later.
The difference between these bunk boards and those from West Marine is evident. Rather than “bent” mounts, EZ Loader uses a welded frame so that the horizontal bar remains square all the way up to the vertical bar. It is therefore possible to slide the mounts as close to the boat as needed, as shown in the photo on the left. I decided to install my set with the mounts just beyond the fender steps fore and aft, so that the inner edge of the swivel brackets are about 12.5" from the ends of the boards. I also decided to slightly angle the boards inward at the front to help center Harried Potter when retrieving her at the ramp. To form that very slight angle, I slid the rear pole about 3.5" out from the trailer frame, and the forward pole about 2" out from the frame. |
| In this position, the middle of the guide board is tight against the hull, as shown on the right, directly above the fender —the crucial position to keep the boat from shifting sideways. Because these bunk boards fit so tightly, I am convinced that other P-19 owners could count on them to eliminate the tire-rubbing problem.
In my particular case, I had already solved the problem by installing wider fenders with fenderbacks (see Part 3), so the guide bunks are merely a third backup to ease my paranoia. Besides, my main interest is in the “guide” feature of the bunks: they make it much easier to aim Harried Potter correctly onto the trailer when retrieving her from the water. You’ve got to hand it to International Marine. They have, once again, truly gone the extra mile by helping P-19 owners solve the tire-rubbing problem with Pacific Baja Trailers. Since they merely distributed the trailers, they are as much victims of Pacific’s shoddy design as the owners of their sailboats. Few companies can match such unwaivering support of their customers. |
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