On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 21:36:59 -0400, Gene Kearns
wrote:

....when I check the newsgroup messages and it says, downloading up to
1,246,321 messages...... and I end up with NO messages.

I guess that is what is left after all of the republicans suck,
democrats suck, OT-, liberals suck, conservatives suck, unions rock,
unions suck, threads and newsgroup vandals are filtered out.

Now, I know it is getting colder, but isn't anybody still boating or
interested in boating?
=======================================

Just got back from a major road and boat trip.

Towed my 24 ft cuddy I/O from NY to the new house in Cape Coral, FL
last weekend, and did some boating on the Caloosahatchie River
and on out to Sanibel Island and Ft Myers Beach.

The trailer trip down I-95 was a long 2 days but went well thanks to
all the shakedown work to get everything sorted out. After initial
trailer stability issues over 55 mph (reported here), the dealer moved
the axles back and the boat forward, yielding a LOT more tongue
weight. Too much in fact. It towed well but the truck was decidely
down by the stern and steering felt light at highway speed. Back to
the drawing board, moved boat back 9 inches and all was well. Tongue
weight ended up at a hair over 10% as measured by a Sherline scale,
and the boat towed very nicely at 70 mph plus.

Our next challenge was hurricane Isabel. We left on Saturday morning
barely a day after the storm struck in North Carolina and Virginia.
Lots of trees down along I95, about a 100 mile stretch in southern VA
with no power, no gas stations, and some major home flooding visible
from the highway. We got through that OK, arrived in Cape Coral on
Sunday night and launched the boat on Monday morning. It was amazing
how much better the boat looked tied up at the dock in front of the
house :-). Boating in SW FL involves a lot of thin water and some
interesting channel marking but we sorted that out and negotiated our
way through the slow speed Manatee zones. On the way out to Sanibel a
school of porpoises played tag with us and several other boats. If
only the Manatees were half as bright, none would ever be hit.

Back on the road this Saturday, we once again headed north, this time
taking the western route through Columbia, SC, past Lake Norman, and
on into Virginia. Today we took a 115 mile loop along Skyline Drive
before rejoining I-81 and the scenery was spectacular. We had the
drive almost to ourselves for over 100 miles, with 20 mile views in
both directions.

Grand total for 9 days was 3,000 miles of driving and 100 miles of
boating. Not a great ratio but at least we are now set for the winter
with a boat in the right place.

Anybody interested in buying a Bertram 33 in nice condition?