Been awhile, but we've been busy.

So I left you with a picture of an outboard motor in a box.  Well there is quite a bit more to the story.  Obviously you don't buy a motor without some kind of boat.  Jan and I have run the gamut, through two different canoes, two kayaks, and have been disappointed each time, too heavy, too much work, hassle factor too high, etc.  So we are now on our "last" choice, an inflatable boat that is big enough for 2, and occasionally 4, easy to set up, rolls up small enough, and has the hassle factor at a manageable level.  Our goal was to make this as easy as possible so we would enjoy setting it up and using it.  And we think we have accomplished our goals.  First the dinghy, it's an Achilles, 9.5' long with an inflatable floor, made of Hypalon, an incredibly stout fabric, that rolls up to a package about 4' x 2' x 1', and only weighs 75 pounds.

Our new yacht

We wanted this endeavor to be as easy as we could make it, and we had to figure out how to store it in the bed of the truck, one goal, and two, we needed to be able to get it in and out of the water with the motor as easily as possible.  We think we accomplished that.

First, now that we had the motor box built, we needed to figure out how to carry it and the dinghy folded up in the truck.  We installed a shelf that the motor slides under and the dinghy sits on top of.  

The motor in its box slid under the shelf

The dinghy sitting on the shelf.
It is difficult to see in this photo, but the tonneau cover
goes right over the dinghy

This was really the easy part.  The challenge was access to the water with the engine, gas tank, etc.  So I did extensive research on the internet to find wheels to fit on the dinghy's transom.  They needed to be strong enough for uneven terrain, large enough to carry the weight and go over soft sand, retractable, and could not impact the integrity of the dinghy, and they had to be removable to allow us to roll up the boat for storage in the truck.  Well, as I looked I kept coming back to a set of wheels made in New Zealand of all places.  All the reviews were glowing, no complaints at all, unlike every other wheel I could find, and it looked as if it met all of our requirements, but New Zealand????  We could just imagine the 2-3 weeks for shipping.  So Jan and I discussed it and said the only way this whole endeavor would be successful would be for us to make it as easy as possible, so even if we had to wait weeks for the wheels it would be worth it.  Well, did we ever get a surprise!  We ended up ordering the wheels on a Monday afternoon, and they were delivered on Thursday at 1pm!?!?!?!  Unbelievable!  Heads up UPS and FedEx.  And they were all we were hoping for, quality made, easy to install, completely removable in about 30 seconds, folded up out of the way, and strong with wide air filled tires to go through the softest sand and over uneven terrain.  Our friend Harold came over and helped me get the holes drilled, yeah in the new dinghy, and get them all mounted.

Harold and I fastening the mounting studs

Wheels all mounted

This shows one off and you can see the clips that
fasten them on

Then for the initial test.

Rolls right along!!

So all that was left then was the maiden voyage.  Harold and Debbie biked down to the boat launch we decided to use and were able to take a several pics of the big day.

Loading up

Launching

You can see that we were able to mount the motor, hook up the gas, put whatever we needed in the dinghy and easily roll it right down to the water.

Then of course the piéce de resistance, off we go.

Bye bye

Jan and I rode around for an hour or so up and down the intercostal waterway.  It was an absolute success.  We got back and rolled the dinghy over to the truck, loaded everything up and headed back to get all the salt water off.  From here on out we are anticipating fresh water only, and hope to explore a lot of lakes and maybe catch some fish.

We've also been busy with friends, dinners, lunches, and farewells til next year as April 1st is the end of the season for many.  We were able to finally see and catch up with two old friends that we hadn't seen in quite awhile, Dick and Ann.  It was great seeing and visiting with them.

Also we had a great group together and had to say good bye to several at our tiki bar night.

We will still be here for about a month, we have already moved up our departure by a week, so who knows?

Summer plans and what, a new endeavor?

We've been working on our summer travel plans and have pretty much firmed things up.  We kicked around another New England trip, but in the end decided to concentrate on fly fishing and the West with a few detours along the way.  I reread a favorite book and Jan read it for the first time, "On the Spine of Time" by Harry Middleton who had a marvelous way of describing the Smokey Mountains and fly fishing for trout in a  vivid and very alluring way.  Which got the juices flowing to do a bit of fishing and hiking in the Smokies as soon as we leave the Atlanta area on our way north, you thought I said West, right?  Well our first detour will be all the way up to Elkhart, IN to hopefully finally get our electrical problem with our rear running lights fixed.  There is an ex-Monaco electrical guru there who is confident he can fix our problem.  After that we will be westbound, and basically our circle this year will take us out to Lubbock, grandkids you know, then Albuquerque, up through Taos to Pagosa Springs, and then farther north through CO to include Colorado Springs over the 4th of July, then up through WY and into Montana, west into Idaho, and back down through WY again eventually to Durango, CO for 5 weeks in the fall, and then work our way back here to Florida for the winter.  We hope to do lots of fly fishing along the way and enjoy our new endeavor??

Jan and I have been talking about it for some time and the best way to do it, and also to make it somewhat convenient so we wouldn't get tired of it, so we came up with what we think is a way to do it.

And half of the puzzle has been accomplished.  We have been working on that half much of this week, and we had a very pleasant interruption from dear friends, John and Diane, who flew down to visit for a few days in their own plane.  We were able to show them the area we love for the winter and enjoy some good food, wine, and some bourbon, and of course, visit and enjoy their company.  The weather cooperated so they had a very enjoyable flight down and back.

John and Diane

John checking the fuel while Diane and I look on

So our little endeavor took us to St Petersburg, and while there we discovered an absolutely delicious place to eat, Casita Taqueria.  It is a little Mexican place with fresh bright food that was so, so good.

My shrimp, carne asada, and chicken tacos

Jan's spicy Beef Barbacoa torta

We picked up half of our project which came in a box, which I wanted to make into a more permanent box that the item could live in, in the bed of the truck.  Well, enjoyably it turned into quite the project which enlisted the help of neighbor Harold and fiberglass.  Harold has a beautiful wooden boat and has done lots of fiberglassing, so was able to help me along. It was fun and I learned that fiberglassing is probably not going to be a career choice for me :-)

Beginnings of the box

Adding the sides

Coming together

Glassing the bottom

Cutting the foam

Getting it to fit

Complete!

For what you ask?  

Hmmmmm