On Sunday the 28th, we were to meet up with Larry
and his some Mike at the boat and get her hauled and rigged for the road. We
agreed on 10am as the trailer was not going to be ready until between 10am and
11am. Stu and I got there about 9:45am. I walked around and looked at some
boats, some very neglected which is always a sad sight, saw a Manatee, some
pelicans, and some nesting cranes. Larry showed up promptly at 10am and we got
on the boat to motor over to the ramp. We motored around in the fairways for a
while looking at birds and just talking about sailing. After about 30 minutes,
we ran out of gas….. The wind blew us over to a private dock that had seen
better days but, I had the boat hook in my hand and fended us off and we nudged
in gently. Stu held the boat to the dock and I grabbed the gas tank and walked
the half a block to my truck and then drove a couple more to the gas station
where I put in about 4 gallons. Make sure right?
So after the gas fiasco, Larry called his son Mike as it had
been over an hour since he said he was on his way from the trailer shop. New
wheels and tires, bearing buddies, and new lights on the trailer at no
additional cost to me. He said “Where are you?” Mike replied “At the boat ramp,
where are you?” To which Larry replied “No you aren’t, we are there and you are
not.” So after a little more chit chat and ooopps, Mike went to the wrong boat
ramp… So about 40 minutes later he arrived with the trailer.
All looked OK, except for a fleeting moment I thought the tires were a little under. All told, about an hour and a half delay....
It took about 5 attempts with the boat and trailer to get
the boat floated on as close to center as we could get it. It was getting
pretty hot too, Florida sun and 80+ degrees….. So after we got the boat on the
trailer finally, Mike took to setting the bunks and getting things tight on the
trailer. After that, we started undoing the forestay and the baby-stay. We had
the jib halyard attached to the trailer winch so we could get things
disconnected as need be. After that, we had Stu, all 6’3 and 300# of him, in
the cockpit and Larry and I on each side of the mast. Mike began to unwind the
winch and the mast started to come down slowly. Just like we wanted. We did
have a few “oh hell” moments dropping the mast but, we kept her straight,
sorta, and Stu kinda caught the mast the last couple of inches it came down.
But, nothing broke!
After the mast was down and I had it secured at the bow,
Mike basically said “Go to Harbor Freight, get some straps and strap here and
here and have a nice trip home.” By this time I had come to the realization
that we were going to be in Florida another night. It was already after 2pm and
I was tired, Stu was tired and we both were disappointed about spending another
night and not heading towards home. But, in the grand scheme of things, it was
the best move.
So between going back to the hotel to re-book a room, going
to Harbor Freight, then towing the boat back to the hotel, I think we crossed
the Manatee River 6 or more times that day…. I also had to hook up the ground
wire for the trailer lights as it was just hanging there. This trailer was just
worked on by a trailer maintenance shop right?
So we got back to the hotel, got back in to a room, then
walked over to the Oyster bar again for dinner. Plan is to be on the road by
7am to get to Dalton Georgia for the night. 576 miles away, 12 ours probably on
the road. The forecast… fog and rain… YEAH!!
So we got up on time, had something, no idea what now, to
eat quick and we headed out in to the ¼ to ½ mile visibility fog. It also
decided to rain a bit about an hour in to our journey. The run through Florida
was un-eventful save the rain and fog that eventually burned off. We got in to
Georgia and were feeling pretty good about things so far. I was doing about
55mph comfortably, over that and she wanted to dance a little back there. We
got about midway in to Georgia, around Cordele, and I noticed that the boat was
moving a lot more than it should over the bumps and what not. I told Stu it
looked like we had a problem and as luck would have it, the exit we took had a
Home Depot right there. So we parked in the lot and I headed in for a set of
adjustable wrenches as I saw right away the right rear bunk was loose from the
boat. We spent some time messing with that and got it tightened up. Every time
we stopped for gas, every 120-150 miles, I would check it and Stu would wrench
it tight again. Yes, he is a bit stronger than his old man…..
 |
| Yeah, that's not right.... at all... |
Night began to fall as I soon realized this was going to be
a bit longer of a drive than initially thought. Oh joy, back in Atlanta
traffic! At Night! With a trailer you are no longer sure about!! Weeeee!!!! In
the middle lane and getting passed on both sides by those bat-shit crazy
drivers again. Was pretty white knuckle there but, we made it through and
finally got to Dalton 14 hours after we left Florida. Yeah, a bit tired…..
The temp had dropped to a chilly 41 degrees and the wind was
blowing about 10-15 so yeah, it was kinda cold. LOL
I know you are riveted to your chair reading this….. It is
an amazing story so far, right?
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