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[oldiron]

 Like many folks I've had this problem of how to get the boat, safely, from the house to the pond and back again with no damage and yet make it relative easy to carry and pick up. Our usual display stands don't tend to lend themselves to comfortable transport in the luggage area of our chosen vehicle. With that in mind I put together a mobile "dry dock" for carrying most vessels I have with no alterations and affords the vessel reasonable protection at the hull level and is relatively easy to carry (that part may be qualified when one picks up a 25lb tug). The design can adapt quite readily to the attachment of various designs of carrying handles if desired.
  Construction is of plywood. The side walls are topped with half round stock that will be gentle on the saddle straps. The saddle straps were made from tie down straps sewn up  with loops in the end to allow them to slide on the aluminum rods on either side of the dry dock.
 The dark strips seen on the dry dock are foam rubber (more specifically dry suite rubber) glued to the wooden edges to protect any vessel while it is being placed into the dry dock.
  In use the vessel rests on the slings which can be slid up and down the aluminum rails to give adequate support to any vessel put into it. This allows for different hull shapes and varying keel depths. The propellers and rudder hang out the rear end of the dock. The dock could be made long enough to accommodate those to ensure they are protected to. The whole site quite comfortably and stably in the car and transports the vessel well without damage.

 oldiron

[Damien]

Good idea I had similar ideas for a stand for my seaport. Your models are looking good too.
Damien.

[oldiron]

Good idea I had similar ideas for a stand for my seaport. Your models are looking good too.
Damien.

Thanks very much. I found it helped solve my transportation problem.

John

[Peter Fitness]

Nicely made, oldiron, the stand AND the models.

I went for something simpler, as shown below; each model has its own stand. The dowels are countersunk about 5 mm into the end pieces, then glued and screwed from the outside with stainless steel screws. There is sufficient room under the dowel to allow hands in. The boats are protected by sticky back high density foam strip. They are cheap too, each stand has only about $2 worth of materials in it. The bottom edges of the stands have a non slip strip stuck on to prevent sliding around in the car.

Peter.

[oldiron]

Nicely made, oldiron, the stand AND the models.

I went for something simpler, as shown below; each model has its own stand. The dowels are countersunk about 5 mm into the end pieces, then glued and screwed from the outside with stainless steel screws. There is sufficient room under the dowel to allow hands in. The boats are protected by sticky back high density foam strip. They are cheap too, each stand has only about $2 worth of materials in it. The bottom edges of the stands have a non slip strip stuck on to prevent sliding around in the car.

Peter.

  Neat idea, however,  my my intention was to have one stand for all my vessels and one that would protect the side of the vessel from other things in the car boot rather than leaving it exposed. I had tried the individual stand route, but found too much of the boat was left exposed , plus I had to store the other stands if they weren't being used for display too.

 John

[Peter Fitness]

  Neat idea, however, my intention was to have one stand for all my vessels and one that would protect the side of the vessel from other things in the car boot rather than leaving it exposed. I had tried the individual stand route, but found too much of the boat was left exposed , plus I had to store the other stands if they weren't being used for display too.

Fair enough, John. However, each of my boats is stored on its own stand, which they also travel on, whether it be to a display, or to the sailing venue. So far I have had no damage to any of the boats, caused by travel (touch wood).

A couple of our club members have made launching cradles using the webbing slings idea, on an aluminium frame, and they work well for heavier models. The one shown below was excellent for bigger boats, but was unfortunately destroyed when vandals set fire to our storage container.

Peter.