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!
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