How you ask? Easy! I went by a construction site and found a scrap piece of 24-inches diameter, 3/4-inch thick, white, smooth, PVC sewar pipe. It was about 9-feet long. I cut some old acrylic into circles that fit over the ends (no manufactured caps available and they would've been too expensive anyway), used L-brackets as inner guides, lined it with insulated tubing and added hasps and padlocks to make the end covers. Painted them white to match the tube. I also cut some plywood into two cradles which are bolted to the trailer frame to hold it in place and support it. Multiple coats of outdoor heavy-duty white paint on them.

And voila! A 7-foot long storage tube, big enough to hold everything from boom to tiller to sails to PFD's - everything! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> It's so sturdy you can stand on it and it cost me practically nothing! Just the cost of the mounting hardware and end-cap hardware.

"But he said 7-foot long storage tube. I thought the tube was 9-feet? What happened to the other two feet?"

Ah! I cut a foot off of each end and then cut them in half. Lined the insides with foam and outdoor carpeting and mounted brackets to the bottom. Ditched the rollers on the trailer which could put dents in the hulls over time and made four foot long hull cradles to baby-soft support the huls. Even added upright pvc tubes with refelective tape the back ones to help guide the boat into the trailer at steep ramps when the trailer goes under.

Storage tube and hull cradles all for under a hundred bucks! I'm rather proud of my home-made ingenuity. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The whole system works great except for one thing: If you launch the boat down a ramp off the trailer and dunk the trailer, make sure to remove BOTH end caps (not just the rear one) which with their insulated tubing forming nearly airtight seals... you wind up getting a 7-foot long by 2-foot wide floatation device. Enough to float the boat, trailer, rigging, and screaming crewman clinging to the trampoline! Found that one out the hard way the first time. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Yeah - I know what you're all thinking, "let's see some pics of this thing!" I've got them. They're just on the PC at home, so ya'll have to wait until tonight if I get any requests to post them. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

our bending breaks and shears stop at 10' as does most material supply. you can special order 12' stuff but it's mucho expensive.

" . . . But officer, it's scrap, I tell you!" <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Yeah, my first sailbox was made of "scrap" 2x4's and plywood I "found" at a construction site, too. Luckily, that was about 25 years ago. I think the statute of limitations has expired by now. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I wondered who was taking all my building materials off my job sites. I have made the sail tube out of pvc but it is real heavy and cost a lot around 100.00 for 12' ( getting it from a construction site is steeling unless you ask first). I have had a sheet metal shop make about 16 boxes at a good price out of galvanized sheet metal 10'x 22"x14". The first one's I made about 6 years ago were 125.00 each and have lasted great. The newer one's were around 250.00 each. I have added a 4" piece of pvc to one end to hold the spin pole. The drops from the pvc pipe do make great hull cradles. I put mine on the grill on a piece of foil at 250 deg and then shaped them with a piece of wood cut to the shape I wanted.

For the record - I DID ask permission for that piece of pvc so it wasn't stolen. And yes, it's heavy. Very heavy. About 100-pounds heavy. But it's on the trailer which can handle it. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />