All along, my plan has been to finish the boat near Lake Superior and start our sailing adventures on the waters where I grew up. I’ve had the hulls inside my uncle’s shop for a few years while I got them this far, and while it’s been a great situation, the very short building season along with the four hour drive while maintaining a full time job and a family has been taxing.
My solution? Head south (well at least a little farther south)
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| From fall 2011 – hull move |
to a marina on the Mississippi about four miles from my house. It may not seem much farther south, but the spring comes earlier and the winter starts later just a couple hundred miles south. So with the amazing skills of uncle John, we packed up the hulls:
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| From fall 2011 – hull move |
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| From fall 2011 – hull move |
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| From fall 2011 – hull move |
And I hit the road
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| From fall 2011 – hull move |
Both hulls are now snug and secure 100 yards from the Mississippi river.
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| From fall 2011 – hull move |
The big question has to be: a sail boat on the Mississippi?!? Well, yes, it is odd, but it’s for the purposes of finishing the build. I figure if huge barges can make it up from the gulf, I can find a way to take a river trip to get the boat to bigger water. Either to the Great lakes via the Mississippi/Illinois River, or directly to the Gulf will work. I’m really more focused on finishing the building right now to think much about it. I know it has been done plenty of times before by sailboats with masts on the deck to avoid low bridges, so I’ll be able to figure it out when the time comes. In fact, there’s a 40′ Jim Brown trimaran a couple spaces down from me. I believe it came in by the river from Lake Superior.
October 4, 2011 at 2:33 pm |
Awe. Some.
It’s fun to see the photos of it backing out of John’s shop. You need one more pic of both hulls and the cuddy in their new home, though.
October 4, 2011 at 2:44 pm |
once I get the hulls lined up I’ll back the cuddy in place and take a picture. It’s all askew down there right now.
October 6, 2011 at 1:57 am |
Uncle John’s skills notwithstanding, there must have been some tense moments loading up das boat onto the trailer!
October 8, 2011 at 3:59 am |
getting on the trailer wasn’t that tense. It felt very solid and smooth moving the whole time. Driving down the shore and then 35 to the cities had its moments though.