So the first challenge was to get it off the trailer. All of the deck hardware had already been removed (remember we were planning to flip it). This is what it looked like on the trailer.
My friend Doug suggested a method he had used on his J/22 before. It involved building building some beams and using concrete blocks to build 4 pillars (by stacking the blocks) on the outside of the trailer. Using a large 10 ton jack, we could then gently lift the boat off the trailer, and add a block under each beam. Once the boat was high enough we just pulled the trailer out from under the boat, and began the process of letting it back down. Here are some pics to illustrate.
The boat now is off the trailer, and dangling in mid air.
Time to get the boat down on the ground. Notice that Stbd front stack leaning slightly in the picture above!! We had to take extra precaution to try and get the initial ground pretty level so that the stack wouldn't be leaning too much in any direction.
We had to go block by block all the way around the boat on each stack, until the boat was more or less laying on it's side. Seem like a lot of work, but in reality, it only took a couple of hours. If you are tempted to do this yourself, my recommendation is that you get the big concrete blocks, and that you just pay attention to the stacks, as they will try to lean. Would I do it this was again? Probably. It really did make the work a ton easier.
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