Trailering a sailboat from Florida to Montana Part 2

Part 2 : Change in plans
Alan and shawnae got back with the truck and trailer, tired after 22 hours on the road, but fine.

We got the mast pulled and laid on deck for transport.

Loading on the trailer didn't go so hot. Turns out that it didn't fit! No way to test fit it ahead of time since boat was in FL and trailer was in MT. The boat lift couldn't lift the boat high enough to put it on the trailer. So they grabbed a fork lift, lifted the tongue of the trailer to tilt it to get the keel over the height of the trailer. Now the pads won't work against the hull, too long. No problem, after a few (more) hours in this Florida sun and a session with an angle grinder /cut off wheel and it all fits!

It's now almost dark, and our Florida oversize permit states "no travel after dark". We really want to get a FEW miles under our belts, so lets go - see how far we can get.

WRONG. First, thing we discovered after merging onto the interstate into 7 PM Tampa Bay traffic was that at speeds over 31 MPH, the 14,000lb boat starts to fishtail violently behind the truck.

Yikes, this is a real hazard. People are honking at us and giving us the Hawaiian good luck sign.
Then I look down and see that the engine is overheating - it's red lined.
Shawnae hopped on Google and found us a hotel at next exit. 5 miles done...3,230 to go. After a quick dip in the pool, shower and margarita (not necessarily in that order), we started thinking (rationally) about the issues.

We noticed that the required "oversize load" banner was obscuring part if the grille/ radiator. So we moved the banner.


After conferring with our son Alex by phone, we kinda figured that the load must be a little too far back, making the tongue light.

Alan and I went to WalMart and bought a come along. Alan figures we could put a strap around the damaged keel and kind of slide the boat forward some.

That actually kinda worked until we bent the handle on the come along.

This morning found us at the local Harbor Freight tools store and we bought the biggest (8 ton) come along they had. Using that, we were able to move it almost a foot. Lots more weight on the tongue now.



BUT, it's 11am on Saturday and the gosh danged permit says "no travel after noon on sat and Sunday". we decided to leave anyway and get a few miles.

No more overheating, well kinda anyway.

Speed is better; we can go 43 before the fishtailing starts. We ducked into the first rest area we came across at 1pm. Phew, no problems with the timeframe.

We've been sitting here now for 8 hours(waiting for sunrise tomorrow). We should be able to drive for 6 hours tomorrow. We moved the boat forward a little more so perhaps we can get a few more mph!

If life is kind of a learning process, we are all learning TONS about patience and problem solving! I am really impressed with how well Mark and Alan worked together to make things work. There were really stressful moments when I thought we would unhook the trailer with Firefly and leave it on the side of the road. But these two men are smart and worked it through. I am very proud.

The plan is just take it slow and easy and safely - and get home EVENTUALLY!

Trailering a sailboat from Florida to Montana

Part 1. CHANGE IN PLANs
So why would anyone sit in 95* weather in Florida at a rest area from noon until 6am?

On Tuesday, after a spectacular two day run across open ocean (211 miles), we were coming inshore to take on fuel. The next stretch is 300+ miles across open ocean to Pensacola and we wanted a full fuel tank.

Coming through the "cut" at John's Pass in Treasure Island to get inside it was quite rough and we got bounced out of the channel. We went aground HARD on the rocks. It stopped us dead in the water. After bouncing a while, eventually we got off the reef, but things were badly damaged.
The keel is gouged up, but mostly cosmetic, no leaks and everything still floating. But, it bent the rudder shaft badly. I can "sort of" steer, but clearly we are not able to continue our crossing. Repair is two weeks - pretty major.
 
So Shawnae and Alan hopped in a rental car, Enterprise $7.92 (crazy) headed for New Orleans to pick up our truck and trailer. They'll bring it back here (to St Petersburg) and we will start the driving process here. The sailing part is abruptly done.

We're all feeling very blue and disappointed. But everyone IS safe. The damage is pretty bad, but IS repairable.

All of those hundreds and hundreds (thousands actually) that we've sailed her my only to have this happen! 😢 grrrrrr

Mark made about 75 phone calls the next morning and found a marina to pull the mast in the following morning. Nae and Alan got back with truck and trailer - after driving 22 hours about 3pm to load on trailer.

Continued in Part 2

Oversized banners and flags in place.

In the Elite Marine boat yard rafted up after the mast was lowered. Waiting for them to haul us out

All loaded up and ready for the road

A night in the cockpit at the rest area

Rest area 40 miles out of St. Petersburg, FL



 

Permits for trailering our boat from Florida to Montana

After trailering back our boat Firefly from Florida and having to buy permits for being an Oversized Load, one of our followers asked about the permit process. Here is what Mark wrote in response in case any of you also would like to know.

Hello! Regarding the permits, we used a permit service called Mercury Permits - they are affiliated (in some fashion) with Boat US. Their cost isn't bad. If I remember correctly, they charge something like $15 per state. They have the... contacts and know what the rules are for the various states. There are a LOT of differences between states.

I would definitely use a permitting company again - well worth the cost.

All of the states have their own rules (e.g., daylight hours only or not, weekday travel only, sat/sun no travel, or sat/sun only until noon, no travel when raining or foggy, no travel on holidays, or no travel on the entire holiday weekend, etc.). It's really a pain the butt . . . but indeed "do-able". With all of the states "special rules" you'll find that adds considerable expense to the permit.
  
In most all states, there is construction projects and/or road width limits. So, in most cases, your route will NOT be straight through on the interstate. Some were . . . but most were NOT. In some cases (like going around Dallas, for example, it was a horrible long and winding detour route. Also going around Mobile, AL. Too bad . . . you MUST follow the exact route that they give you.

Plan to take along an extra batch of patience and a fully charged cell phone! Also, you'll need (at least) 6 red flags, two Oversize Banners (front and rear), and two revolving amber caution lights. I would suggest a couple of extras on all these because if you lose something, they'll make you pull over in the weigh stations and fix the problem before they let you on the road - - - obtaining replacement would be expensive/time consuming in the middle of nowhere (for example, on the Texas/Oklahoma border). Also, lots of duct tape and zip ties.

Again, the hardest part is that all of the states have their own rules. Count on it being a bit frustrating.