So you bought the boat but now the time comes when you attach it to the back of the car or truck and drive it home. Generally speaking the larger and more powerful the vehicle the bigger the and heavier the boat that you will be able to tow will be but you should always check the vehicle manufacturers hand book or website for the maximum towing weight of your particular car or truck. After all it would be a bad move to buy a boat only to find out that you need another car to tow it with, of course the other option if you only tow infrequently would be to hire a vehicle. I used to do just this before I had a large truck, my boat is 26 feet long and the family car was not up to task. This was economical for me as I tend to put the boat in the water at the beginning of the season and pull it out in the fall, so the boat and trailer only did two trips per year.
Successful trailering begins before you even pull out from the driveway. Make sure that the boat is securely and correctly strapped down to the trailer. Do not rely just on the hook at the bow attached to the winch to keep the boat in place. As a minimum you should also have a strap over the aft end of the boat to keep the boat snug on the rollers or bunks. Some boats have U brackets on the transoms especially for strapping the boat down with ratchet straps. If your boat does not have these then put a strap or a rope over the entire boat attaching it to a secure point on the trailer. I have lost count of the amount of times that I have been overtaken by boats on trailers that are not secured properly attached only by the winch hook. If the winch were to let go there would be nothing holding the boat on the trailer and boat and trailer could separate. As you hitch the trailer to the car check the nose weight or in other words the amount of downward pressure on the tow hitch which should be about 100 pounds in most cases; too much weight and the front wheels of the towing vehicle will trying to lift off the ground too little and the trailer will wander at speed. Both situations need to be avoided as they can cause you to loose control. Then attach the safety chains between trailer and tow vehicle. With the boat strapped down plug in the lights and get a helper to operate the brake, indicator and tail lights while you check they are working. Assuming all is well have one last walk around the trailer and towing vehicle; we are now ready to set out on the road.
The first thing that you will notice is that the extra weight of the trailer unless the boat is very small will slow the car appreciably. This means that you have to allow extra time for the car to accelerate and slow down. Allow extra room and apply the brakes earlier than you normally would and do not make sudden turns or lane changes. With the boat on the back your overall length will be at least doubled and you need to make wide turns when going around corners to avoid pulling the back wheels of the trailer over the curb. Take your time and you will soon get the hang if it, just don't be in a rush. If you are new to trailering then it may be worth while taking the rig to a deserted parking lot to practice maneuvering, this is especially true of reversing which soon separates the men from the boys.
Reversing a trailer is counter intuitive and paradoxically the larger the trailer generally speaking the easier it is. The extra weight helps but it is largely due to the wheels being further back from the towing vehicle. The key to reversing is to go slow and don't panic. Start with the car and trailer perfectly in line with one another as you slowly back up. You will almost certainly start to see the trailer start to turn one way or the other. The first instinct is to turn the steering wheel away from the turn just as you would if you are reversing without a trailer on the back but this makes the turn more pronounced instead of making the trailer come back in line with the car. When starting out the easiest way to correctly steer and make the trailer go in the desired direction is to grip the bottom of the steering wheel with one hand. Then move your hand in the direction that you want the trailer to steer. Moving your hand to the right moves the trailer to the right and conversely moving your hand to the left moves the trailer to the left. If things start to get a little out of control pull forward a little to straighten up then have another go. With practice you will be able to back into almost anywhere then when you get to the launch ramp you'll look like a real pro.
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