So i Bought a Redwitch
for those who dont know A Red Witch is a shallow draft 20-foot (6 m) trailerable, fixed keel yacht, designed to fit under major bridges on the Swan River in Western Australia, development by Hill & Cameron Yachts.

i Purchased mine for $1000 in what i deemed to be average to poor condition. the trailer was practically a wright off. however the hull seemed to be damage free, just in need of a good sand and paint.

However it done come with a few treats including
3 sets of sail ( 3 by 3 main, jib and spin)
a 9.9hp outboard
4 new beds
2 CB's
4 brand new life jackets
and a box of assorted bits and bots



And the Trailer

Those awesome Rims are how i managed to "squeeze" it through my garage and get it out the back.


First job was removing the Yacht from the trailer. i did this bu jacking the trailer, then supporting the hull and lowering the trailer.


Rear End Supported


Front supported too and trailer out



Rust Rust Rust

Cutting Time

New Springs and Hangers

Mocked up

Ewwww Time to Cut this off.

Ill add more Progress Later

Making good Head way on this now


Testing the new hubs


Rose Joints in and looking good :)

You are going well there mate and will no doubt have a lot of fun with this yacht.

Your trailer had the old DuraTorque suspension which my Windrush Wildfire trailer had. I think you can still buy those units but you have already changed to springs.

The Red Witch is the historic/traditional WA beginner's keel yacht and obviously a very successful design. She should get you out to Rottnest and back safely if you don't load her up with stuff she don't need.

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the forum. Please keep the pics coming with your progress, brag as much as you like and ask as many questions as you like. We are a friendly bunch here. Cheers Cisco.

Cheers Cisco

Definitely will be asking for advice. i mainly decided to change from the DuraTorque due to their limited "serviceability" and high price tag.
My Replacment Design is some what experimental, so far it seems to work well.

oohhh and lots more pics to follow

Lathing down the stub axles to fit inside the 40mm box section, the entire brown/rust section was lathed down to fit in.


Also Knocked these chocks holders up (seeing as the chocks were free). Going to add some stainless steel wire so they don't go walk abouts



Wheel arch and rim on to check clearances. at least these arches wont rust like the last.

axles all finished

locating Lugs



the paint is taken ages to dry, its pretty cold here .........

Looks like we've got a West Australian version of HG.

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samsturdy said...

Looks like we've got a West Australian version of HG.

thanks sam

This HG guy sounds awesome.
Just saying

PS next Post imminent

Sort of Starting on the Electrical side now, well at least welding the mounts on.
the Light are supported by 2 lengths of 20x20 Angle Welded to the 25x25 SHS

Both now on and the number plate Light and holder, i must admit i like the nice clean look its getting.

Thinking i might extend the rear of the trailer for safety reasons, dont want it to be able to flip backwards


Now that all the welding is practically Complete its time to start painting.
ill be using a steel primer first followed my some industrial paint i have that does specifically say salt resistant "lets hope there not Lying"


My Extendo draw bar, adds an extra 2m to the draw. should keep the car dry whilst loading/unloading.

PAINTING!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhh gotta love that no more welding feeling......

Paint Done, gotta love that no more Painting Feeling.

Here's That extension Piece i spoke of earlier, this stops the tow ball end lifting more than 1.5m off the ground.

More to follow but that can wait until tomorrow, killer head cold currently.

Just a couple of suggestions mate. This is basically an immersion trailer so having a removable trailer light board would be a good idea. Even if those lights you have are rated as waterproof you can be sure you will have a problem with them one day.

Second thing is the extended draw bar. More weight and the bolts holding it are a bit of mucking around and they will wear and rust. You can achieve the same result using a wire or rope strop. A snatch it strap from an auto shop would be ideal.

Otherwise you are doing a great job on the trailer.

Does the trailer with yacht on board come under the weight at which you need to have brakes on the trailer wheels??

The lights and electrical cinnections are ip68 rated so they should be fine, fingers crossed.
The database has some thin nylon washers/disks to prevent wear and tear. I preceded the idea of the longer draw bar over ropes due to its higher control whilst reversing. The trail used to be used with just a rope.
Trailer weighs in at 125kg and a loaded Redwitch is supposed to weigh in at 600kg so just under the 750kg, I must admit when towed it to mine I barely noticed it. So no brakes required. But if I want to add them.later its easy enough.

Cheers for the advice :)

Those lights work perfectly underwater. It's a shame we have to have tin number plates! Time we had plastic ones for boat trailers. Nice job too on that trailer!

Not sure it but was legal but I have coated a number plate in about 5 coated is clear cote before so it didn't rust.
Worked like a charm

Well Thats starting to look the part
all together and looking the part, putting tyres on rims was not enjoyable.



Must admit im loving the paint on the trailer, looks like a bought one :)




Starting Electrics now, time to get my OCD wiring on yay!!!!!!!!!!!

Unleash the OCD!!!!, these enclosures were hard to find, Rated waterproof rated to 1m, but im still going to fill them with silicon once ive tested the wiring.


Looked into a few differnt ways of supporting the cable, if these end up not lasting ill see if i can find some SS one's that can be riveted.



I decided to add a Loading light to aid with night time ramp fun.

5 core to the Tail light and 2 core to the Number plate light.




The Work Lamp has an LED globe in it and runs off the Tail light circuit, but does have its own switch on the back.





all that's left now is the electrical joints and underwater connectors (damn their expensive, $23 each)

wholly crap, HG has a rival.

can't wait to see you get stuck into the boat.
Nice work.

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crustysailor said..
wholly crap, HG has a rival.

can't wait to see you get stuck into the boat.
Nice work.

Those stick on cable holders wont last weld so chain links and paint them and zip tie your wiring loom to the chassis
if you can bend the chain links like a banana slightly the cable will sit in them nicely and zip ties make it a real nice job
Red witch builder
Id buy an extra red witch and make a catamaran if it was me
Then bring it over here and give Crustysailor a run for his money

Yeah i wasn't sure if they would, they were cheap enough. the old trailer had the chain links welded on.
ive seen some good stainless steel ones that rivet on, ill try and find a picture of them.

Started Cleaning this rusty Beast off,


Steel Primer, this ones good at sealing it up and smoothing it out.

2pac Primer, i now kinda want to paint the whole thing battleship grey............

nah ill stick to the gloss white.


So far painting is going well, my plan is to roll paint it and tip brush after, wont be as good as a spray job but by applying plenty of cotes it will give me plenty of material to smooth out.

Well....... took the trailer for the first drive (empty of course)
and it worked perfectly, lights all worked first go, must admit the loading light was brighter than i thought.
the trailer seemed to track perfectly. once loaded i will have to re align the toe in/out and the camber to account for the 600kg payload.

got a few punch list items to get done before it will be ready for loading.

been making good progress on the hull though, all the areas i can paint whilst on the stands are done, few little touch ups and it will be ready to go on the trailer so i can paint the rest.



Still needs a few more cotes, probably three more, will see how far the paint goes. id say the whole thing will use 8L in total at about 4-5 cotes overall.

Here's 4 cotes on the front, ill give it a cut back and see if it needs a fifth.


any hint or pointers on how to do Pinstripes down the side, im thinking 2 stripes one thin one thick??

Great work Stuman! Nice fun little boat!

Pin stripes or boot top lines I would just go to a local sign writer they have plenty to choose from......or you could mask it with fine line tape and brush one in. But I think it would be cheaper and a better job if you go with the sign writer .

Cheers Southace

ahh yes Boat Top Lines

Yeah i was thinking that might be the easiest solutions, although i am obsessed with doing everything myself :)

wouldn't mind also getting its name painted on the stern too.

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Stuman92 said..
any hint or pointers on how to do Pinstripes down the side, im thinking 2 stripes one thin one thick??

1. Every stripe you put on it creates two mask up cutting in lines if you are going to paint them. I did double boot topping lines once and swore I would never do it again.

2. If you get hold of a car strips and stripes man, he will have a large range of different stripe combinations. Real quick and real easy.

3. For the name on the stern go to any sign writing shop and they will be able to computer cut it in any font or script you want. Real quick and real easy.

Getting it done is starting to sound alot easier, and now that i think about it, ive seen a mobile guy who does it for cars.
my hand writing is pretty shocking so that counts me out doing the name.

Starting to look into what ill need for the cut and polish, any advice on that one?
Method brands etc?

I also need new Port Windows, any hints on buy/make?

Hi Stuman,

where are you sailing once you get up and running?

I sail a Redwitch out of Mandurah. It lives on the hard at the yacht club. I use a rope to launch and recover, a bit of a drag but cheaper than in a pen.

If you get in touch with the Redwitch Association they may be able to help with windows etc.

Love your trailer, want to do mine??!!!!

thanks MEGAMAX

not sure where ill mainly sail from, im in wattle grove,
ive tried to get in touch with the redwitch association a few times but never heard back......

hahaha depends how bad yours is, but im always ready here to help.

just finished gluing the rubber to the keel support section.
and the wiring



Ummm which wire goes where.............


all done, custom junction box.




All Rubber lined
will probably add some more to protect against on approach

nah Stuman, do the strip yourself. This is 50mm metallic charcoal tape purchased online ebay. 2 years later its fine. Do like a 1'' tape down from your deckline as a guide, or above waterline if its going there, then place the tape next to it,press down hard and peel protective tape off. Below if the final waterline tape coming off but you get the idea. I needed a 50m roll to do both sides of 2 hulls for about $75, but you'd get away with 15m. Very rewarding part and finishes off IMHO.

Stuman looking good man keep it up Im glad some one else is on this thread now I can have a rest its just Mc Nautical s Romance thread that in irons at the moment you to Shaggy

and if you do fins another redwitch , buy it and give crusty a run for his money once you add a bridge deck

Thanks guys, yeah I might do the pin stripe myself, thinking navy blue.

HG I did find another witch for sale last night. But pretty sure I'd get in a bit of bother with the trouble and strife.

It took a lot of blood sweat and foul language mumbled under my breath but she is back on the trailer!!!!

I am thinking you should go back to the bar supports on the bilge each side. The roller supports increase the load pressure on the hull down to a very small area as in four short lines of contact.

The original bar supports spread the load quite well. With the rollers, when you go over a bump it will be like hammer blows on the hull at their contact point. Have a serious think about this.

With the paint job I think she would look great if you painted the areas you have left in dark blue with red edge strips 25 or 50 mm wide. A very modern and racy look.

It's his boat Cisco not your loadass 9.5 let him be with the final product!