Sea Grant Specialist talks about trailer maintenance as part of Your News Now's "Discover Better Boating" Series

Syracuse, NY, June 16, 2012 - In the summer months, people travel all over with their boats. In this edition of Discover Better Boating, New York Sea Grant's Recreation/Tourism Specialist, Dave White, met with Ron Renslow at the Oneida Lake Marina just northeast of Syracuse to learn about the importance of the trailer you use to tow and launch your boat.

"Ron, is there anything special I have to do for my vehicle to tow my boat," asked White.

"Not a special vehicle, but you need a vehicle that is sized for the boat you're towing," said Renslow. "In your owner's manual it will tell you what the weight capacity is that that vehicle can tow. That is what you need to match the boat with the vehicle. Don't oversize it. Don't tow too big of a boat with too small of a vehicle."

"What do we need to do to prepare our boat to take it to the launch ramp?," asked White.

"Well, the first thing you need to do is hook the trailer to the truck or your tow vehicle," said Renslow, who also illustrates the process in the video below. "Second, latch the trailer. Third, place your safety pin in so that the latch does not come undone. Raise your crank all the way up, release the pin, and lock it in the up position. Then, you have to hook your trailer lights to your trailer, turn all your trailer lights on and test all the lights on the trailer prior to driving to the ramp or the lake that you're going to. And always be sure to attach the two safety chains up to the tow vehicle."


In June, NYSG's Web Content Manger, Paul C. Focazio, tagged along to watch Dave White and his boating industry guests get their on-screen time with YNN's "Discover Better Boating" series to discuss how boaters can get their trailer ready for the summer season. Photo by Paul C. Focazio, NYSG


In addition to watching how YNN's "Discover Better Boating" segments are put together for TV viewers, NYSG's Paul C. Focazio also pitched in as a Central New York YNN lighting technician. "It's always good to help pitch in, though, especially when the key objective is to make our New York Sea Grant specialists look better on camera," said Focazio. Photo by Kara Lynn Dunn, NYSG


"Now that we're here at the launch ramp, what are some of the special things we want to remember when getting our boat ready to launch out onto the lake or river?," asked White.

"The most important thing is to remember to put the drainage plug in the boat," said Renslow. "The next most important thing is to remove the rear straps that tie the boat to the trailer prior to backing the boat into the water."

Be sure to join us next month when we're going to talk about what to look for when buying a boat.

New York Sea Grant and the Boating Industries Association are partners in the Discover Better Boating series, from which segments will run on YNN stations every third Saturday from May through October. The YNN channel, based in Syracuse, telecasts two separate program feeds, one to Central/Northern New York; one to the Southern Tier. YNN is available to nearly 600,000 cable subscribers across a 25-county, 15,000 square mile area.