[samael9]

OK, old man.... Yup, those Erikson's are fine ladies. If I had my druthers, it would be a J-44, but anything from Sparkman and Stevens would do. Probably a Swan is out of the question on account of the $$$s. Oh well. The boat needs to be ocean-worthy, no matter what.

The idea is to buy in Tortola. Better prices and free from US taxes. At the same time, I will be looking into banking off shore as well. I want to spend a long time in the Caribbean chain before heading south to Brazil. Then, cross the Atlantic to Africa, up through the channel, into the Mediterranean and ultimately down to the South Pacific.

I think people fear death and dying mostly due to regrets, perhaps second to having to face the unknown. I fear neither. And through further emancipation from things "thought to be best for me" by others, I stead-fastly believe that if I died in my sleep tonight, I would pass with no regrets or feelings of having short-changed my time here on this planet.

Mortality, if I read you correctly, is painting a more coherent picture of your intended horizons. Fuc*in' don't hesitate man! Make it work as your Will sees fit. Get the things you want done, done. Then go to the place you want to be.

Redd Foxx once did a hilarious routine about not wanting to have to work to remember his last piece of pu$$y when faced with his final moment. I wish I could recall more of what he said. And whether it's that last shag or the final broad reach off the coast of wherever, I consign my Self in *movement* towards it. Hence, Enteclechia and Telos meld into the ultimate *action/actuality*. His comedy was more than just funny; it was a message which impressed me many years ago. Yet, the gist of it still fuels my flames to date.

And speaking of "best laid plans"..... I went to visit Betty in the clinic today at 1030. Sure enough, her new windshield had been installed. The axle seals had yet to be attended to, so I got her all washed and pretty. At 1430, someone guided us into the work bay, where she sat, virtually ignored. Oh, honey..... ops:

By the time 1730 (EST) rolled around, she magically shed her first drive wheels and little more. Tuesday. OK. Call my DM, gave him the update and get cleared for my 3rd night at Motel 6. I can feel myself gaining weight as I ready my blood sugar meter for another trip into C'est Bon and Waffle House. The first nights were of my own choosing, but this one's on them. So be it.

It's a day plus a little into Oklahoma City and I'll be back in the loop again. Nice thing is, none of these days are chargeable as days off. So, I am building a nice stock-pile of time out of mind.

Crossin' my fingers on the night shift in the shop.

And as we speak, Tootie and Bo are ridin' high in their new T-600. Gotta love 'em 8)

'Til next.

[geomon]

Yep Clint...you're talkin a blue water boat....no Hunter need apply. Lots of solid bluewater designs available.
You might like this link....
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zXuzy0k9m...elated&search=

Great plan by the way....Funny how the wind that I loved as a sailor I now hate as a cyclist...there's a metaphor lurking in there somewhere, I'm just too tired to dig it out... 8)

And you are close on the mortality thing...perhaps the horizon has always been there but I have never noticed it beofe. It's been a full life as well but I have always looked at the future as open ended....I can't look at it that way any more.

It's great that you do not fear death and dying ....you are part of a small minority my friend. I think it causes people to come face to face with their own personal mortality and then...(gulp)....what "lies beyond"....and frankly, people don't want to think about that as it will probably not jive with how they are living their lives.
I'm glad that I have challenged my views and values....it has led me to faith and closer to a point of no fear as well....a good thing. Hey...what ever we believe in, whatever world view....if all roads lead to Rome. then jump on one and start travellin down it!!

[tootie04]

OK, What is wrong with a Hunter?? We want a 45ft Hunter.....sooner is better!!

tootie

[geomon]

Hi Tootie....come join the sailing hijack I have going here.... 8)

I actually like Hunters (42' mid cockpit). They would work for what I would want which would be coastal / carribean cruising and living aboard...however for the blue water world cruising that Clint is gunning for; I would probably want a full keel heavier boat. Don't know if I would want to find myself in the conditions from that youtube link in anything but a heavy draft boat. (that said, all those boats in that video were ultra-light flyers)

Following is comment from a sailing and crusiing board....

Hunters are fine boats... what they are not is a world cruising boat... not to say you couldnt go around the globe on one, you can... but you will be alot more comfortable doing it on a heavier boat... if all you are after is cruising the coast of the US, its a fine boat and should last a decade without any major problems... the bum rap they get is the production nature of all things... to keep costs down and the boat affordable, some items are not as beefy as other, albeit more expensive, boats... This does not make them a bad boat. My own personal use, and abuse, I dont like the standing rigging... I dont like the in mast furling for the main... two big issues I have with them... If you like and want the main furling system and dont mind the lack of an adjustable backstay and the downwind effects on your main trim, they are a fine boat...

[samael9]

Originally Posted by tootie04

OK, What is wrong with a Hunter?? We want a 45ft Hunter.....sooner is better!!

tootie

We used to call 'em Clorox bottles. Sort of the same meticulous attention to detail in the fit-and-finish department as with my nemisis, the FL Co-Lumpia.

Geo has a good point though. It's a good boat for a casual <ahem> hack sailor. You can see lots of them out on the water with ill-trimmed sails, junk hanging off the railings, etc.. Gee; am I a snob or what?????

I'd recommend going the extra dough and getting a Benneteau First 40.5. A little less waterline, but you will immediately see when the money went once you take your first step aboard. An older Morgan 41' center cockpit is also a nice way to go. You can buy those out of some of the charter fleets, well-maintained, for a good price.

Now if you really want to get "charm", look for a nice clean Hinckley Bermuda 40 Mk II. Ooooweee, baby. I'll keep her all polished *for* you..... (drool) You guys are well on your way to becoming the Ari/Jackie Onasis of the trucking world very soon anyway, so $$$$ won't be much of an issue, no matter how cheap your husband thinks he is :shock: :shock: :shock: :P

[samael9]

Originally Posted by geomon

Yep Clint...you're talkin a blue water boat....no Hunter need apply. Lots of solid bluewater designs available.

OMG! I was breaking out in HIVES! Those videos.... inspired.

We delivered a Freedom 45' stayless sloop from West Palm up to Greenwich, CT once. The captain hated the intra-coastal, so out to sea we went. Between 30-50 miles off shore.

Started out beautifully. Nice fat 10-15 knots over the port rail, a couple of reefs in the main.... All our intial way points logged in the AutoHelm plotter.... Couldn't get any yummier. We were holding 7-8 knots over the ground. Oh, bliss. What a rocket she was. Self tacking jib, dodger, power everything, winches included. Even picked a few bunches of "apple bananas" right off the tree by the owner's private dock.

Until a Nor'Easter came lashing down upon us off Cape May. We were tacking to stay far away from the water spouts which were starting to happen. If anyone hasn't seen one, they are quite a thing of nature. As if some thirsty giant, hiding amidst the clouds decided it was time for a drink. Like tornadoes, the swirl begins. Then, against gravity and reason, large columns of water rise up out of the ocean and head into the obscurity of the clouds. Like the clouds are hydrating themselves with extra ammunition for the looming storm which lay ahead.

We spent 18 hours in that storm, going no where but sideways. Night fell, and with the darkness, the swell was growing to 10 footers, sometimes more. Dark, howling wind, steep waves. East/west, east/west.

I was at the helm round about midnight when the jib halyard decided to give way to the wind. Another member of the crew went up to the foredeck to try secure the halyard before it went up the pole.

Because the keel on that boat was so narrow, it was increadibly difficult to keep her on course. She would twist at the crest of each wave, and there was no telling which was she would fall into the troughs. I did my best to guide her, but I accidentally jibed the boat a couple of times while he was still up on the foredeck.

After the second jibe, the captain finally came up topside and relieved me of my watch. Fine by me, I said to my self.

Wouldn't ya know it. Within minutes of taking command, he jibed the boat a few more times. Keep your mouth shut, Clint. Just be quiet...

Meanwhile, our lovely bananas were flying across the galley; like watching a Chinese ping-pong tournament. Everything was goin' everywhere.

What a ride; what a night.

The storm finally subsided in the morning. Below deck was absolute chaos. I resigned my self to cleaning up in the galley, and that is when it hit me. Oooffff. Sea sickness. I was green for two days.

By the time we came around Riker's and into Long Island Sound, things were pretty much back to normal. Typical LI Sound chop though. It ran in all directions by Execution Rocks. No matter how you steered the boat, the chop would beat the wind right out of the rigging. In the end, we ended up powering most of the way into Indian Point.

Greenwich, CT is home to an incredible American Bistro name the Boxing Cat Grill. I petitoned our weather-worn captain and crew to go have our "Hero's Dinner" there. Mmmm, I can still taste that finely roasted rack of lamb and spicy Red Zin like it was last night's fare.
__________________________________________

Now, back to you, Betty.

Dear sweet Betty got her due today. New axle seals, new brake shoes and a thorough cleaning of her brake backing plates, s-cam shafts and even the inner sidewalls of her affected drive tires. The technician who worked on her was indeed a man after my own heart.

We spoke about the peculiarity of *both* sides leaking at the same time. I asked if he checked the axle housing vent for obstructions, thinking that it was blocked. Knowing all to well that the out-gassing from the gear oil would pressurize the axle housing and literally pump the oil out the seals.

Much to my pleasure, he said "I'm way ahead of you, man!" In fact, he cleared both axle vents. Gotta love it. Like minds....

So with her new windsheild and the love-honey issue resolved (she doesn't leak oil, BTW. She oozes class) we happily headed out of Atlanta just ahead of the evening rush. I-20, 30 miles west of Atlanta, is a mess of one-lane construction, FYI. Avoid if possible. It runs all the way to the 'Bama line.

T'was a beautiful ride up 78 to Memphis. We made West Memphis, scored a prime space at the TA, exit 260 on I-40 and parked it for the night.

Great weather, nice miles, Oky City just a scant 400-ish miles away. Nice morning/early afternoon ride. Oh yes; another twelve hundred and something got loaded to my Com Data account this morning. Ohh, Swift... how sweet it is.

We'll come back to mortality, Geo. But I must say, I like your style

[samael9]

Been out of wireless coverage the past few.....

Made my Sprinter van drops in Oklahoma City and down in Ada, OK. Nice run. Can barely remember the mileage any more...

Geo; your boating stuff has served as fuel to keep me going. I am running really hard, and the thoughts of boats make it a bit easier to manage. Nice stuff to occupy the mind with

Had a very solid night's sleep in Paul's Valley, OK. It started out at the Love's on I-35 until I found out that they didn't have showers there. Ok. (no pun intended) So I moved over to Vallero. Got all cleaned up and it was immediately off to slumber-ville.

I awoke the next morning, did my check-in call and waited. There was small CB shop across from where I was parked, so I walked in and introduced myself. I asked about what could be done to my Cobra Nightwatch radio. The guy said he could "tune and peak" it for $25.00. Sounded good, so I had him do it. I also asked about antennas. He suggested a pair which was only $30.00, which seemed fair as well.

Back out to Ms. Betty to install the whips and hook up my radio again, and along comes the DOT for a little surprise visit. I pretended not to notice as they wrote up a few tickets. I gathered up my goods and thought it best to do some shopping at the nearby WalMart. Outta there.

I came back out to the truck again to lay down; still nothing on the Quaaly. And then, a few minutes later, 4 beeps. Kewel! Lo and behold: A 560 mile deadhead to John Deere in Ottumwa, IA, then off to Spokane with a final in Yakima, WA. Dang......

I was asked to run into the OK City terminal to switch out my skate for a step deck. No problem, as I needed fuel anyway.

So I roll into the OKC yard and there was only one step deck sitting in the whole place. OK. I hook up, check my lights, then go to release the brakes and air up the bags. Hmm. Nothing happening. Crawl underneath and check the trailer tank for pressure. Yup, good. I loosened a couple of air lines at the distribution valve to see if anything was getting out of the tank and into the system. Nope. Better go see if the trailer technician will come out and help.

Sure, he said. It was like old times, messing with air valves, leveling valves, fittings, etc. We had a good time trying to make sense of it all. While he was working on freeing up the slack adjusters and checking the brake chambers, I was trying to find the issue with the bags. By the time he got the chambers checked and the slack adjusters slackened, I came to the conclusion that the leveling valve was blocked. So I disconnected the lever and moved the actuating arm, and Viola! Up she went.

While we were rolling around in the dirt, I was telling him about the older Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3 liter sedans from the early 70's. They too had air suspension, 3 leveling valves, adjustable ride hight, and were very similar to the systems on the trailer. He thought it was pretty cool that I jumped in to help solve the problems. He said that he couldn't recall the last time that a driver took an interest in his work. Oh well. I was having fun.

Turns out that the brake shoes were rusted solid to the drums and that it would take a lot more effort to get them free than either of us wanted to expend. So we bagged it, and I just took another skate up to John Deere. Cool person. Glad to have met him.

My trailer was pre-loaded up at JD. Spent an hour or so securing all the stuff and off we go. Running west on US 92, heading for Des Moines and onto I-80, one of my trailer tires blew up. Oddly, I was approaching two grain haulers heading east which were parked on the opposite shoulder. And in seeing them, I thought "I wonder if they need help". And no sooner did I think it, then BAM. My tire blew.

I pulled over to look for damage, then I walked over to see if the other guys were OK. They had just popped a drive and heard my trailer tire blow just as they were getting out to look at theirs. We had a good laugh over the coincedence and then moved on. I nursed ol' Betty to the Bosselman's just outside of Des Moines, where they promptly went to work on the now-shredded tire. In and out in an hour or so.

I kept in touch with my DM for this trip and she was very cool about it. We changed the ETA's for my two drops in WA without any stress what so ever.

As CB JR said to me over the phone this evening, "this whole thing reads like a fairy tale". It just doesn't seem like the average newbie experience, it doesn't seem like the average big company jerk-fest, and the miles, hence pay is amazing. I am earning every cent, but the supply of opportunities to *make* just keep showing up. Fantastic. I like it like that.

[geomon]

Yep....the sound of water under the rail, the boat answering to your commands...sailing is quite a thrill tho it's been a while for me. Latitudes & Attitudes or Blue Water Sailing is a good mag to pick up on occasion to whet the appetite.
What size would you be looking at Clint? Every now and then I entertain the idea of a cat...never sailed one but the pitch poling actiion and lack of heeling keeps pushing me away. Just doesn't seem right!!

Anyway back on topic...happy trails to the NW. Shoot me a pm if you end up going south on I5 thru Sac-town....lunch or din-din will be on me.

[tootie04]

Hey Clint....

Nice to see you today.....even if it was from opposite sides of the interstate. 8) Nice looking load ya had there.

One day we WILL get to meet :wink:

tootie

[samael9]

Originally Posted by geomon

Yep....the sound of water under the rail, the boat answering to your commands...sailing is quite a thrill tho it's been a while for me. Latitudes & Attitudes or Blue Water Sailing is a good mag to pick up on occasion to whet the appetite.
What size would you be looking at Clint? Every now and then I entertain the idea of a cat...never sailed one but the pitch poling actiion and lack of heeling keeps pushing me away. Just doesn't seem right!!

This is what I want:
http://www.jboats.com/j44/

Black hull, red waterline, all the toys. That's it. Furling headsail, auto pilot, dodger/bimini. Before I die, it will happen. Hopefully, I can get one for less than $225,000 which is, and always has been market value on a used one.

It's gotta be 40' or better. Whatever it is.

Cats are amazing. Super fast, like 12-14 knots under the right hand and with good wind. Very slow to come about before the wind though. You are almost better off jibing the thing, unless you have good crew who can back-wind the jib. Traditionally, the tacking angles on cats are a bit wide too, which makes beating to windward a bit of a chore. You wind up hoping for lots of lifts because headers will toss you way off course on an upwind leg.

Then there is the room issue. On a cat, there is more room than you ever thought possible. Much more so than in a monohull.
See: http://www.endeavourcats.com/

Still, it's that friggin' style thing I have. I couldn't do it. There is something about a sloop that just does it for me.

I'm looking at a bareboat charter for next February, Geo. Wanna hop in on the plans? 7-10 days in the BVI's might be fun, eh? Split costs and it gets within reason pretty quickly. Especially after new year's....

Originally Posted by geoman

Anyway back on topic...happy trails to the NW. Shoot me a pm if you end up going south on I5 thru Sac-town....lunch or din-din will be on me.

Yup, I will. There's no telling where they will send me after my drops in Spokane and Yakima. Couln't even guess. This is my first trip west with Swift and also the longest single run to date. And thank you very much for your kind offer of food. Not one to ever pass up a good meal.....

I wound up crashing in a F/J to the west of Council Bluffs, IA last night. I was cooked from the load/flat tire combo. Plus, I ran like a mad-man to get to my pick-up early. I musta slept 11 hours.

Sho' 'nuff, Bo called me at 0600, just like he said he would. Rather groggy, I asked him to call me back in a little.... Two hours later, he called me again, and much to my surprise, I was still in bed snoozing.

OK. I'll get up now. He and Tootie were heading east out of Grand Island, NE. I was in Gretna, NE so I figured we'd meet half way and get some coffee.

Well, as I was heading west, my transponder red-lighted me at a weigh station. So I'm sitting there, one rig back from getting on the scale, and I look across the highway to my left. Hmm. There's a green FLD with an oversize machine on it. Doesn't Bo have a ..... Ooops; my turn to weigh in.

Ring, ring, ring. "Hey Clint. Are you sitting on the scale right now?". And before I knew it, the green FLD with Tootie and Bo was gone. Dang. Well, like I said to them, at least I know they really exist. So close and yet so far away, as Carol King once sang. At least now, I'll be able to spot 'em in a parking lot.

Back on the road: It's getting cloudier and cloudier as I head towards Cheyenne. I make my fuel stop in Burns, WY at the TA. Funny; the pump initialized, but she no pump da juice. Lady comes running out and re-starts my pump for me. Emergency power, she cried. TA is having a black out and the law just closed I-80 west. Oh, fu#k. I'm getting out of here. I got 120 gallons before the pump decided to quit again.

I got my stuff together and got gone in a hurry. The place was already getting kinda jittery with nervous drivers scurrying for spaces. Fortunately, I was heading up I-25 and missed the 5 mile back-up near the I-25/I-80 exchange. See ya..... wouldn't wanna be-ya 8)

Hit some slush and snow heading up the valley, but nothing too bad. Made the truck stop in Wheatland, WY before the evening rush and got a great parking space. A&W was the cuisine for the evening. Raining steadily, your author is all warm and cozy. Put down a nice 550 on the sheet for today, and that is plenty. I have 1000 miles to go to get to Spokane and then another 200 to get to Yakima. They will have their green and yellow hay bailers on Monday.