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Randall
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123 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/07/2003 : 22:59:47

Howdy gang,

I got my transfer from Atlanta back to Ft. Sam in San Antonio, and was home by Thanksgiving!

I used my 4 X 4 Dodge Ram 1500 Quadcab to do the haulin' and it handled it well, at least until the final push into the Texas Hill Country NW of San Antonio. I never used overdrive, and was able to use cruise control most of the way without causing the transmission to "hunt" excessively. I stayed on the interstate & held my speed to 60-65.

My biggest adventure came 150 miles into the trip. I had spent days rebuilding the trailer to ensure there would be no problems. After all, I'm an Army Safety Officer, so I have to set the standards, right? Well, I replaced the tires, brakes, hubs, hydraulic lines, & hydraulic surge brake actuator. I was still concerned about clearance between the disk brake calipers and the wheels, so I bought 4 new rims. On the morning I departed, I stopped at a tire shop and had the tires remounted & balanced, then started down the road. Fifty miles east of Montgomery I glanced in my sideview mirror and noticed to my horror that I was being passed on the left by a semi and......one of my wheels!! The guy at the tire shop hadn't tightened the lugs on one wheel, and it had chewed off all five wheel studs.

We had just started down a lo-o-o-n-g grade, so the tire just kept going & going & going for so long that it seemed surreal. The semi driver & I stayed behind it and blocked both lanes to keep anyone from coming up from behind and hitting it. The wheel finally slowed to a wobble & veered into a wide, brushy portion of center median and stopped.

I jumped out and retrieved it, then drove on three wheels to the next exit & went to work. Fortunately, the West Marine in Montgomery was still open and had a disk brake set in stock. Four hours and $150.00 later, I was back on the road. The rest of the trip was uneventful, but I stopped every hour thereafter and kicked, poked and prodded everything that could ever conceiveably come loose!

"Kite" is now in her berth at the Air Force Marina at Lake Amistad. December 29th was my birthday, and I was able to make my 9th annual birthday sail. The weather was wonderful-- high sixties, 15 mph winds. I was finishing a 10 mile sail when three other boats hove into view from the civilian marina. There are only about 30 sailboats on the entire lake, so that constituted a regatta! Naturally, we stayed out and played. We weren't racing, of course, but I beat a Starwind 19 (natch), stayed ahead of a Beneteau 265, and would have beaten a J-22 if it hadn't somehow sneaked a half mile ahead of me when I wasn't looking. Next time.......

Don't let nobody fool you: a Cat 25 tall-rig ain't no trailer-sailer. It sure is great to have her in the water, though, ready & waiting to go. Flying my "Kite" last week brought my blood-pressure back to normal after the stresses of moving. More than made it all worth while.

Randall
79 Cat TR/SK #1459

Edited by - on

Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3323 Posts

Response Posted - 01/08/2003 : 00:50:59

Randall - welcome home! However, I'm curious...why would you slip at a lake 160 miles away when there's a prettier one (with military marinas) only 30 miles away??? Besides - if you come to Canyon Lake we would have enough active C-25's for a fleet (we'd even let the C-250's join us <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>)
Derek

Edited by - on

Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 01/08/2003 : 14:45:32

Hi Randall,

Thanks for sharing your story of adventures in trailering. I'll be sure to check my lugs.

What size engine does your Ram have?

I'll be in Houston on the 18'th to look at an 89WK, If I buy it, it will be a long drive back to Tennessee.
Frank

Frank

Edited by - on

SALTY SAILOR
Deckhand

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7 Posts

Response Posted - 01/08/2003 : 21:20:31

RANDALL,
I AM ALSO INTERESTED IN THE ENGINE SIZE IN YOUR DODGE. I JUST PURCHASED A 2000 DODGE RAM QUAD CAB WITH A 5.9 LITER BECAUSE I AM PLANNING SEVERAL ROAD TRIPS THIS SUMMER WITH MY C25.

Edited by - on

Randall
Navigator

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123 Posts

Response Posted - 01/09/2003 : 15:31:59

My Dodge has the 5.9, which I believe equates to 360 cubes. It did very well over flat or rolling terrain. It was capable of towing at 70 with cruise control on, but that was faster than I cared to go. I usually kept it at 60 so I could stop safely (I thought). Going up steep hills I had to downshift to second. I got pretty good at "roller-coastering" the hills the way semi drivers do it-- building up momentum going down to help carry me up the next hill.

There is one thing I will do differently next time: I'll have brakes on both axles. I had disks on one axle only, and that almost cost me the game going through Houston. An elderly gent in front of me suddenly jammed on his brakes to allow a pickup on an on-ramp to merge in front of him. It was meant as a nice gesture, I suppose, but totally unnecessary since the truck had already matched speed to safely merge between the older man and me. That forced me to lock up all six wheels. I came to a stop 3-4 feet from his bumper and generated a cloud of dark smoke like an oil well on fire. I had been maintaining what I believed was a safe following speed/distance, and it was just barely enough. The problem was, if I dropped back any further, it encouraged speeders to make "jackrabbit" lane changes in front of me, and then brake to exit the highway. Next time, I'll have brakes on both axles, and a big honkin' grille guard on the truck!

Why do we sail at Amistad instead of Canyon? For the peace and quiet. It costs us $35 a month to keep our boat at the Air Force marina in Del Rio, and at night we can lock the gate to the docks and be all alone. Our eight year old daughter can fish and safely wander the docks, and we can watch stars, listen to wind, water, and birds and just plain relax. The only man-made sounds are an occasional train or semi on the high bridges nearby.

For those of you unfamiliar with Lake Amistad, it is a reservoir created for flood control and irrigation. Water is provided by the Rio Grande, Devil's and Pecos Rivers and a large artesian spring. When the lake is full it is 64,000 acres and you can travel 70 miles on it. The National Park Service oversees the lake, and they make no bones about the fact that boating & fishing are just pleasant side benefits. If water is needed in south Texas for irrigation, they open the gates and send it. As a result of drought and irrigation needs, the lake is down 50 feet, but that still leaves 27,000 acres of water. There are only two marinas on the lake, and a total of maybe thirty sailboats. Six sailboats are the most I've ever seen out at one time, and that was an organized event. The few bass-boaters on the lake generally give you a wide berth, and jet-skis are banned altogether. The Park Service owns the surrounding land, so there are no houses built on the lake's rugged rocky shores. There are plenty of canyons and coves to anchor in and not see or hear anyone else.

The drive from Kerrville to Amistad takes two and a half hours, with a stop in Rocksprings. We usually see only a handful of cars along the way. As long as you travel by day (to avoid the deer), it is a safe, relaxed trip. The trip from Kerrville to Canyon is ninety minutes on winding, narrow roads. It is much more scenic than the Amistad trip, and fun to do in my Mustang, but it just feels more dangerous to us.

We began sailing 9 years ago at Lake Travis on a Spirit 6.5. We found the lake too narrow and overcrowded, and the canyon winds too fluky. We could sail two miles in one direction and be on all points of sail-- beating one minute, reaching the next, running five minutes later. It was all too labor intensive for us neophyte sailors, so we moved the boat to Amistad and immediately fell in love with it.

We decided to try Canyon Lake a few years ago, and moved to a $70 slip at the Army marina. It is a very nice place for families, with a horseshoe shaped beach and swimming area, 2 playgrounds, and cabins and three bedroom trailers for rent. On most nights, we were the only people staying aboard & had the docks to ourselves. We just didn't enjoy all the boating traffic on the lake. My wife complained that during the summer we didn't need a boat to cross the lake, we could just walk from boat to boat to boat. We also preferred to look at the craggy rock formations of Amistad than the rich people's houses that clutter the banks of Canyon Lake. We are around people, houses & buildings all week. On the weekends we don't wanna see NOBODY, we want a wilderness experience, and prefer to hike, camp, canoe or sail. The best time we've had in recent years was when we spent six days canoeing and fishing our way down the Pecos River without seeing another soul.

Our need for privacy has come at a cost, though. When we go to the 'Stad, we sail the same way over and over again. As a result, my sailing skills haven't really improved. I've basically sailed for one year, nine times. I've never raced, or crewed out on other boats, or even sailed against similar boats so I could copy what they were doing and learn from them. Heck, I don't even really know the rules of the road, because I never have to give way to anyone. I would also love for my daughter to start racing Optimists or Lasers, something she could do at Canyon, but not at Amistad.

In November, when I found I was going to be transferred back to San Antonio, we went to Canyon to try to get a slip at the military marinas. We found there is a two year waiting list to get one. We went to the civilian marina, where we have friends, but decided we just weren't ready for the festive, partying atmosphere there. We are just too curmudgeonly. I then went back to the Army marina and seriously considered buying a Hunter 25 there. The price seemed right, it had a trailer, roller-furling, and central A/C, and we could buy our way into a slip that way. In the end I decided I didn't have enough free time to justify two boats, and besides, the Army could still send me "over yonder" tomorrow if it wishes.

Our Cat 25 TR is the fastest boat we've ever had, and I would love to learn how to tweak it for speed, and learn how to race. But for now we'll have to stick with our once-a-month mini-vacations at Amistad.

Randall

Edited by - on

Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3323 Posts

Response Posted - 01/09/2003 : 17:54:47

Thanks for the explanation, Randall. I've never sailed on Amistad but I spent a week there on a houseboat. It is indeed a wilderness experience<img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle> It has dropped another 10 feet since I was there! I must confess that I do prefer Canyon with it's different beauty - yes, the powerboaters are a pain, but from Labor Day on the lake is peaceful again (until Easter<img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>)
If you would like some tips on running a C25, come out with me on "This Side Up" one weekend, I'd be glad to help.
Derek

Edited by - on

Randall
Navigator

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123 Posts

Response Posted - 01/09/2003 : 20:24:14

Thanks for the offer, Derek, I'll take you up on it. We've seen your boat many times when we went shopping for super-duper boat deals, or visited Jerry & Caroline Dechert who have a Columbia 27 there. I guess they've become fixtures at your marina since they retired from teaching in Kerrville and moved down to be near Canyon Lake. They absolutely love it there.

I probably would have put my boat on Canyon if a cheap slip had been available at either of the military marinas. Both AF and Army marinas claim they plan to build new slips, but it ain't happenin' yet. Canyon really is a nice compromise for my family. I have privacy on the docks at night, my girls can stay in a trailer, and my daughter can bring friends along to play and swim. There is a playground at Amistad, but no beach. Another big advantage to Canyon is that I could work on the boat in the evenings. My 79 Cat is a project boat that I will never finish when I only have a weekend a month to work on it.

Edited by - on

Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2003 : 07:27:10

Thanks for sharing your braking horror story.

As you can see from other discussions I brought up the 2 vs 4 wheel brake issue. Your story settled it. I'm going with 4.

Frank

Frank

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2003 : 11:41:55

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
I got pretty good at "roller-coastering" the hills the way semi drivers do it-- building up momentum going down to help carry me up the next hill.

Randall
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

Around the hilly terrain of Pittsburgh you get up to speed to climb a long hill only to get sandwiched behind someone going below the speed limit at about the 1/3 mark <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle> !

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2003 : 11:52:12

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
......one of my wheels!! The guy at the tire shop hadn't tightened the lugs on one wheel, and it had chewed off all five wheel studs.

I stopped every hour thereafter and kicked, poked and prodded everything that could ever conceiveably come loose!

Randall
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard about a trailer wheel coming off after being serviced. I keep a spare tire wrench on the floor to remind myself to check the lugs at every pitt stop.

Edited by - on

markolito
1st Mate

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Italy
95 Posts

Response Posted - 01/15/2003 : 19:53:28

Hey randal.. quite an odessey you went through..

We share the same birthday.. while you were out sailing, i was on a beach living it up in thailand! my baby boat was a bit too much luggage to bring.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

take care
-m

Edited by - on

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