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If you plan on traveling perhaps to a distant regatta, you need some way to protect your boat. Graham Bantock at SAILSetc has detailed plans for a boat box, made of wood. There is not room in the box for the bulb, which Graham suggests making removable from the fin, because he says he puts the bulb in his luggage, away from the boat. The box plans cost about $1.50 plus mailing, but Graham obviously has a nice wood shop. After looking at it and trying to conjure up what a skilled carpenter might charge me to make it, I looked for another solution. Somehow I found myself at a website with wonderful, large suitcase type things. Take a look at SKB find their double golf bag cases, listed under Sports Cases. The price is $159 plus shipping, and be sure it is ground transportation, you are shipping a lot of air. SKB's online sales lists the distributor I got mine from, Beacon Worldwide, (who sometimes has stuff on sale) in Anaheim, California. SKB hard shell golf cases are crafted to exceed the ATA (Airline Transportation Association) specification 300, category 1. This specification establishes a stringent standard for transport container design ensuring the product's ability to withstand a minimum of 100 air trips. It may seem like overkill, but when I travel, I've got a lot of stuff in the case. It is all strapped in and padded with foam. I have my boat (which is completely isolated from everything else by a Plexiglas partition), the rudder, the fin, the bulb (separately packaged in a PVC tube which is bracketed into the case, so it cannot get loose), my tools, my spare parts, my radio and case, my boat stand, and my folding chair. I have a little room so I can put in my wading shoes, don't know if my boots will fit in! All the straps and other partitions, I riveted through the case. I did not make room for my masts and sails, they have a case of their own that is actually made for skis. I have not used this yet as all my trips so far have been by car, no air travel at this point. So my sails live in the blue Triple Rig Bag I got from Sailsetc. I have seen copies of this made into hinged wooden cases, with room for three rigs, but this is again a job for a carpenter with a good shop. Another approach I have not tried is to break down my two piece masts and pack the rigs in the main case, I probably still have some room. |
Where do you want to go?
Click photos for larger size
Here is all the stuff I need!
And it all fits in the box!
01/09/2006 |
