I'm baaaack!

[hetek]

Details to follow.

Wait for it... Wait for it...

[hetek]

It has 850 miles to travel first. Should arrive at 2 am, tonight (actually, tomorrow morning). The transporter likes to travel at night.

If I paid for it and got the title and bill of sale, does that mean I own it now?

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[RobS]

I thought you sold Bunkie because it was too sloooow and the family would not go out with you? Did you come to the conclusion that their company wasn't so important after all?

[hetek]

Ah, Rob... Great memory! You are correct!

True, Bunkie was slow as molasses at her 6 knots cruise, but it WAS relaxing. No doubt about it.

To answer my family's desire for speed and excitement, I bought my wife a 15' Boston Whaler with a 70 Johnson and we keep it on a mooring at the end of our street. She drags the kids around New Suffolk Harbor tubing all day long with that thing.

I've had a couple faster boats since Bunkie but I felt it was time to get my slow, relaxing boat again. This time it had to have a trailer so I can take it safely home the next time a "superstorm" comes my way. I figured the 25 was the way to go.

As my old dock landlord once told me: "Sooner or later, you reach that time in your life where you want to go slow enough that you can hear the blender run."

[hetek]

It arrived at 2 am this morning!

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Some assembly required...

[DesertAlbin736]

Looks nice! Quite a bit of unsupported overhang with that shorty trailer though? Would that stress the hull? Wish I had a nice "hangar" like that to store my boat indoors and out of the blistering Arizona sun.

[hetek]

I was concerned about the trailer overhang at first but in person it doesn't look all that bad.

I plan to do some fine-tuning though. If I raise the bunks the thickness of a 2x4, I can pull the boat forward another foot or two. The trailer rear crossmember is the limiting factor at the moment. Or maybe swap it out for a drop crossmember.

I gotta take a page from the DesertAlbin736 playbook on traveling with a 25! Seriously, I always wanted to do the NY Canals system. Maybe now I will.

[DesertAlbin736]

Here's our trailer situation, from photos taken for insurance coverage. Of course the dinghy shown hanging on snap davits is no more, but that's another story. We had to drive 850 miles each way to pick up our boat from the previous owner in Idaho when we purchased it in 2014. Since that time we've logged over 1,000 nautical miles on the water cruising both coasts.

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The Erie Canal was a memorable experience in 2015, and we only did a small portion West from the Finger Lakes to Fairport short of Rochester. Had we had more time & not been committed to being in Rhode Island by June 14th & delayed from leaving home due to a grandson's HS graduation in May we might have gone all the way to Buffalo & Lake Erie. As it was we wanted to continue South after Rhode Island and cruise the Chesapeake, which we did. You on the other hand, if you had the time, could trailer up to say Albany or Schecectady, put in somewhere & run the canal system all the way to Buffalo. Canal pass fees are $25 for 10 days or $50 for a season pass, and that's about the only expense involved. Most overnight tie-ups in towns along the canal are free, and many if not most provide shore power and some have pump outs.

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Here's another one from this year's Canadian cruise, using our dinghy to rig our stern tie line in Smuggler's Cove on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast. This was before we lost this dinghy when a wave tore it off the snap davits in rough seas in Malaspina Strait, between Pender Harbour & Jervis Inlet.

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[DougSea]

Welcome back!!

I'll be looking forward to the "assembly" stories.

[hetek]

Now that is one proper trailer, DesertAlbin736! Mine has cypress timbers bolted down to the aluminum I-beams as bunks, covered with carpeting. I swear that the timbers are bigger than anything in my house! If I space it up with just one 2x4 on the flat I should be good - or at least a lot better.

Still have some work to go before the NY Canal gig but I am planning on it. A slow Albin should do nicely!

And thanks for the welcome back DougSea! If all goes well I'll splash next season. I plan to test fire the engine next weekend. It has only 500 hours on the clock. Finger's crossed. Will definitely post my progress. It will help motivate me.

I also plan on an Essex Island trip across the Sound too!

Nice and sloowww...

[DesertAlbin736]

Now that is one proper trailer, DesertAlbin736!

And we paid dearly for it & the boat too! I could just about buy a brand new trailer for what I've spent for repairs on this one, welding cracked cross members & replacing tires and disc brakes. Rust is the least of my worries with this trailer.

I also plan on an Essex Island trip across the Sound too!

Here's a view of the USS Nautilus museum from the Thames River when we did a day trip from Westerly, RD down the Pawcatuck River & over to New London in 2015. That's our Lake Pleasant (AZ) Sailing Club burgee flying on our bow pulpit.

We may go back there again next September, but won't take our boat, just a road trip with the car & hang out at our friend's beach house. Lots of cousins & family to visit in various parts around the country, so driving will be worth while.

[hetek]

For those that want to follow along at home, I've started a "Rebuild" thread over in the "A25/A27 - True Classics" section.

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Wish me luck!