10/26/20015
Got a call from my trucker friend and said today was the day to load and make ready for the haul to the coast
great been waiting for two months, it was raining and my buddy said are you nuts loading in the rain ? Well maybe so i don't have any papers saying i was saine . He showed up about 1:30 pm and we started to lift the boat off the pad where it had been sitting for 6 years i didn't think this day would ever come... He brought his very large wrecker over to do the lifting and placing ........
Then we backed the lowboy trailer under the boat.
Secured the boat to the trailer and made it ready for early morning start ...being the over sized load it was we had to wait till daylight the next morning...got off and rollingat 9am Tuesday 10/27/2016 .
Cruising down I 85 southbound at 68 mph everything was rolling well and had a smooth run on good roads .
Arrived in Mobile 6 hrs and 14 mins from time we left Covington ....
Turner Marina was the splash point and they did a fantastic job of unloading the minute we pulled on the yard ...
About 50 minutes later the boat was in the water .....no leaks
Decided to step mast in the morning by this time was a little tired and the adrenalin had taken its toll ....pulled over to the transient dock and tied off for the night and plugged in to shower power ...went and got something to eat and settled in for the night ...
Got up the next morning and they got stirring around about 9 am ..at 10 am mast was stepped and secure ...spent the next 6 hrs adjusting standing rigging and revving lines (running rigging)...there is one young man that works there from time to time that i really think a lot of...... the guy is going to be a winner very sharp kid.....i made the comment about powering up and leaving the marina and how i didn't want to embarrass myself in doing so...his reply was leave after dark ......i finally powered up at 4 pm and backed around and out and headed for the channel and the 7 markers i had to watch on my port side on the way out ...got to the 7th marker a took on a heading of 114 degrees and run up to 5.5 knots at 2800 rpms and everything was going well even though i was crossing in an easterly direction the wind was from the south at about 10 to 12 knots and causing 2 to 3 ft waves to slap my starboard beam from time to time...this boat is really tippy toed ...i look out to the south and there were 3 dolphins coming my way as if to say welcome and they run with me for a while like having an escort..... i named them curly ..larry and... moe ...in a little while there was a container ship headed south in the ship's channel off to my port ...so i sited on it via my stanchion to see if he was falling back or gaining on the stanchion well he was gaining so i didn't worry much about him.... other than slowing up some to make sure he was going to clear my path and he did just that .......
In my running i locked the wheel and slowed to 2.5 knots and went down below and checked the engine room and stuffing box ...everything was looking well except the stuffing box was a little hot so i backed off on the nut till i could see water going to the bilge and locked it back and went top side..and resumed my speed and sat back and enjoyed the trip across.....i was preoccupied with my first run so much i didn't think of taking pics on the way over ......
Made it across in 2 hrs a distance of about 9 to 10 miles ...came to the markers for the shallow channel into the marina and slowed for the right turn and executed the turn and made my way into the slip...a couple of fellows were on the finger pier and i tossed them a line ......then i rigged up the stern lines in cross fashion...and then went forward and secured the bow ....
I really enjoying my first ever solo voyage on a sailboat...the 6 years i have been getting this boat ready to use was well worth the wait
Spent the rest of that week and up until wednesday of this week on the boat making sure everything was going to be ok before i left to come back to covington so i can start selling off my woodworking shop...and on the way home about a 100 miles from Atlanta i got to thinking i really don't want to mess with liquidation why don't i just turn around and go back south ....but that would only prolong the out come so here i am...i will go back down and spend Thanksgiving on the boat that week ........."until that time Maxwell until that time" (Jackie Gleason in the movie Sholder in The Rain)
Got a call from my trucker friend and said today was the day to load and make ready for the haul to the coast
great been waiting for two months, it was raining and my buddy said are you nuts loading in the rain ? Well maybe so i don't have any papers saying i was saine . He showed up about 1:30 pm and we started to lift the boat off the pad where it had been sitting for 6 years i didn't think this day would ever come... He brought his very large wrecker over to do the lifting and placing ........
Then we backed the lowboy trailer under the boat.
Secured the boat to the trailer and made it ready for early morning start ...being the over sized load it was we had to wait till daylight the next morning...got off and rolling
at 9am Tuesday 10/27/2016 .
Cruising down I 85 southbound at 68 mph everything was rolling well and had a smooth run on good roads .
Arrived in Mobile 6 hrs and 14 mins from time we left Covington ....
Turner Marina was the splash point and they did a fantastic job of unloading the minute we pulled on the yard ...
About 50 minutes later the boat was in the water .....no leaks
Decided to step mast in the morning by this time was a little tired and the adrenalin had taken its toll ....pulled over to the transient dock and tied off for the night and plugged in to shower power ...went and got something to eat and settled in for the night ...
Got up the next morning and they got stirring around about 9 am ..at 10 am mast was stepped and secure ...spent the next 6 hrs adjusting standing rigging and revving lines (running rigging)...there is one young man that works there from time to time that i really think a lot of...... the guy is going to be a winner very sharp kid.....i made the comment about powering up and leaving the marina and how i didn't want to embarrass myself in doing so...his reply was leave after dark
......i finally powered up at 4 pm and backed around and out and headed for the channel and the 7 markers i had to watch on my port side on the way out ...got to the 7th marker a took on a heading of 114 degrees and run up to 5.5 knots at 2800 rpms and everything was going well even though i was crossing in an easterly direction the wind was from the south at about 10 to 12 knots and causing 2 to 3 ft waves to slap my starboard beam from time to time...this boat is really tippy toed ...i look out to the south and there were 3 dolphins coming my way as if to say welcome and they run with me for a while like having an escort..... i named them curly ..larry and... moe ...in a little while there was a container ship headed south in the ship's channel off to my port ...so i sited on it via my stanchion to see if he was falling back or gaining on the stanchion well he was gaining so i didn't worry much about him.... other than slowing up some to make sure he was going to clear my path and he did just that .......In my running i locked the wheel and slowed to 2.5 knots and went down below and checked the engine room and stuffing box ...everything was looking well except the stuffing box was a little hot so i backed off on the nut till i could see water going to the bilge and locked it back and went top side..and resumed my speed and sat back and enjoyed the trip across.....i was preoccupied with my first run so much i didn't think of taking pics on the way over ......
Made it across in 2 hrs a distance of about 9 to 10 miles ...came to the markers for the shallow channel into the marina and slowed for the right turn and executed the turn and made my way into the slip...a couple of fellows were on the finger pier and i tossed them a line ......then i rigged up the stern lines in cross fashion...and then went forward and secured the bow ....
I really enjoying my first ever solo voyage on a sailboat...the 6 years i have been getting this boat ready to use was well worth the wait
Spent the rest of that week and up until wednesday of this week on the boat making sure everything was going to be ok before i left to come back to covington so i can start selling off my woodworking shop...and on the way home about a 100 miles from Atlanta i got to thinking i really don't want to mess with liquidation why don't i just turn around and go back south ....but that would only prolong the out come so here i am
...i will go back down and spend Thanksgiving on the boat that week ........."until that time Maxwell until that time" (Jackie Gleason in the movie Sholder in The Rain)Attachments
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