[Rhodes22-list] Can't wait

Tue Feb 1 11:22:57 EST 2011

Geoff,
Nice story and a beautiful boat.  I still remember that feeling when I first drove off with my Rhodes in tow.  I still get that feeling.

I created my own mast raising and lowering checklist that gets refined every now and then that you might find helpful.  It is a collection from Stan's original instructions that has been supplemented with tips that I have picked up from this list...mixed in with some things that have worked for me.  Everyone has their own technique, but maybe this can get you started.  Hopefully, the attachment works.

Bahama Bill 
s/v Fina Lee 

-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Geoff Farrell
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2011 1:40 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Can't wait

We got back to Gulf Shores on Thursday PM. Total trip was about 18 hours. I
never drove over about 60 and was totally freaked after first leaving
Stan's. Here I am driving on the highway with all these other vehicles and I
have this beautiful boat behind me that anyone on the road could smash into
if they happen to receive a text message that they just can't resist reading
while I'm slowing down for traffic. Whew! And, there do seem to be many
people on the highway staring down at their lap smiling. My assumption has
always been that they are reading a text message; although; it's entirely
possible that they're staring at something else in their lap and that's
what's producing the smiles (at least the men). Not that there's anything
wrong with that, but, certainly not while driving.

Every time I glanced at my rear view mirror I said to myself, "holy crap,
I've actually finally done this thing that I've been dreaming about for ages
(actually, my first reaction was always "who is that a$$hole tailgating me
so closely? Oh wait, that's not a tailgater, that's my boat."). It's
amazing, though, that after a few hours of driving I finally settled down
and actually spent more time looking through my front windshield than my
rear view mirror. The F150 handled the towing fine. The extra weight I
carried by towing the boat was offset by the lightness of my wallet after
paying Stan.

Stan's crew did a great job prepping the boat for trailering. Everything was
locked down. During one rest area I tightened down one strap about 1/2 inch
and that was it! Wow.

While at Stan's the weather was miserable. Rain and cold. When I arrived the
boat was sitting in his yard fully rigged. We launched the boat just to go
through the trailering procedure but we couldn't sail. Very cold and a thick
fog. Once back on land his crew took me through the derigging procedure one
step at a time. I participated somewhat, but my hands were so cold I
couldn't even take the rings off the pins. While the derigging was going on
my wife Joyce was standing by with an umbrella, a pencil, and a soggy piece
of paper writing down all the steps as I yelled each one to her over the
sounds of wind and rain. You know, things like "remove the pin from the aft
lower shroud and connect the turnbuckle to the.....". You get the idea. Over
dinner that night we tried to decipher the soggy, smudged list she had
written and the above item came out something like "remove the pin after the
low shods and turn the buckles." We had some good laughs. Maybe it was just
the martinis I was drinking. I so wish I would have had a video cam to
record the whole thing.

We spent the night at the Captain's Quarters B&B in downtown Edenton (what a
beautiful town Edenton is). The next day we added some straps to the rig and
were on our way. We stopped at a rest stop before Atlanta and slept for a
few hours in the truck and then proceeded. No way was I going to leave the
rig in a hotel parking lot. I wouldn't have slept well worrying all night
about the boat while suffering separation anxiety. I did sleep relatively
well at the rest stop knowing the boat was attached to me via a steel
umbilical cord of sorts.

The first day's drive was windy, cold, and rainy. The second day was
beautiful. We were soooo happy to be out of the cold wet weather.

The boat is sitting in our boat yard here at the condo where I just stand
there and stare at it lovingly. For the next few days I'll be sorting
through things, getting some supplies, prepping and starting the engine,
reading Stan's literature, etc. while I wait for our ramp work to be
completed so I can rig and launch (Rummy.... still interested?).

This boat is freaking gorgeous. What a beautiful product they build. It was
great to finally meet Stan and Rose; they look well. Mark and the crew were
also wonderful.

 Thanks to all of you who have supported me and advised me thus far in this
adventure.

Some initial pictures are at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/geoffreylfarrell/Rhodes22?authkey=Gv1sRgCKL8sbTOlv-LPg&feat=directlink

 Geoff

On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 1:26 AM, Sling <daysails at aol.com> wrote:

>
> Hey Geoff I think you got this right.  Order in winter so you can launch in
> the Spring.  Brace yourself for a rush of pride in ownership when you see
> it.  Joe
>
> BigM wrote:
> >
> > I'm here at the Captain's Quarters in Edenton getting ready to go to
> > Stan's
> > to see my boat. I can't wait. Drive down (or up, actually) was perfect.
> > It's
> > cold here though. Geoff
> > __________________________________________________
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> >
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