What Is a Travel Lift?
A mobile crane that lifts the boat from the water with web slings passed underneath — the main machine on haul-out day and the one that answers the question, ‘where do the slings go?’
A travel lift is a huge U-shaped wheeled crane: it drives into the basin, passes two web slings under the boat (three on larger craft), then carries the boat in slings to its yard space. Capacity is stated in tonnes and should be judged against the boat’s loaded displacement.
The critical detail in the lift is sling position: if the slings land on the shaft, saildrive, stabiliser fins or underwater sensors, you can cause expensive damage at the moment of lifting.
Be ready for your haul-out appointment
Loaded displacement: not the book tonnage, but the boat’s real weight with fuel and water on board.
Sling position: most builders mark sling points on the hull; sharing those marks, or the photo from ‘how we lifted her last year’, is the most useful input.
List of protrusions: tell the operator about sonar, sensors and any recently added equipment.
Make a habit of photographing the boat in slings: you capture both a reference for next year and an annual record of the hull condition in the same frame. Catamarans also have a width limit; not every lift can handle every boat.