gulfcoast john
New member
Greetings from Annapolis, aboard the NSA Navy Lodge.
We left home June 1. Thanks to all who posted very helpful comments and suggestions and recommendations…all appreciated and all right on, especially re how we were too ambitious in our initial plans.
We replaced the Chinese trailer tires mfg in 2014 with Goodyear Endurance (the only radial ST trailer tire you can buy that is made in the USA , DOT date March 2018). The only trailer tire with an N (87 MPH) speed rating, although I don’t advise towing a TomCat over 85 MPH (just kidding, mine likes 60-65 MPH). No ‘bucking’ at certain speeds. The last time we felt that bucking it got so bad on the old trailer the PVC guide-on pipes both broke off on I-10, and my tire guy found that all 5 Carlisle tires were delaminating (no warranty for that of course though only 2 years from date of mfg).
We are a bit amazed at how HUGE the Chesapeake really is with all its rivers and shoreline. We trailered 1,000 miles (less than to Key West from Pensacola, surprisingly) with the worst experience being taking over 3.5 hours to get through Atlanta on I-85 during a minor thunderstorm with fender bender wrecks every mile. We launched at Sandy Point State Park as advised by the Gathering commodore, but after filing our float plan at the park the next day a ranger called and said their policy had changed due to staffing shortfalls and now a maximum of 10-14 days was allowed…but allowed us to stay (by then we were in a Rock Hall marina). For a mid-bay launch, the public ramp at Kent Narrows is adequate for a R-31 and private secured trailer parking is close by.
This was our first cruise without Moby Dick, the HD2500 support truck. We stashed over 30 days provisions in a 20 qt Igloo Marine Offshore and 25 qt RTIC (iced) and 2 Engel 30 qt dry/coolers for dry goods and a West Marine zip duffel. Brie cheese and wine is 3-6 times more expensive in the resort towns and marinas. Our best new skill is learning to cook well on the boat, to the point that we would rather do that than eat out. At Baltimore’s Inner Harbor (our last 2 nights) eating out 3 meals with tips would top $200/day. We really like the NuWave Gold induction cookplate (thanks for the tip, Bob!), Coleman propane 2 burner (not used this trip), toaster, Med Breville toaster oven and Mr Coffee with SS (no glass) carafe.
We had 1 day of Gale and 4 days of Small Craft Warnings of the 24 total. Rented Enterprise car for those and continued exploring. Coolest days were 58 degrees and windy (surprised us) and warmest 90 degrees and more humid than Pensacola. We ended up not anchoring out in the weather we had.
We settled on hi tech zip-off long pants and a marine 1500w electric heater which worked out well along with rooftop Coleman 13k AC. Dockwa.com works well, read the cancellation rules.
Honk if you see us on the road home!
John
We left home June 1. Thanks to all who posted very helpful comments and suggestions and recommendations…all appreciated and all right on, especially re how we were too ambitious in our initial plans.
We replaced the Chinese trailer tires mfg in 2014 with Goodyear Endurance (the only radial ST trailer tire you can buy that is made in the USA , DOT date March 2018). The only trailer tire with an N (87 MPH) speed rating, although I don’t advise towing a TomCat over 85 MPH (just kidding, mine likes 60-65 MPH). No ‘bucking’ at certain speeds. The last time we felt that bucking it got so bad on the old trailer the PVC guide-on pipes both broke off on I-10, and my tire guy found that all 5 Carlisle tires were delaminating (no warranty for that of course though only 2 years from date of mfg).
We are a bit amazed at how HUGE the Chesapeake really is with all its rivers and shoreline. We trailered 1,000 miles (less than to Key West from Pensacola, surprisingly) with the worst experience being taking over 3.5 hours to get through Atlanta on I-85 during a minor thunderstorm with fender bender wrecks every mile. We launched at Sandy Point State Park as advised by the Gathering commodore, but after filing our float plan at the park the next day a ranger called and said their policy had changed due to staffing shortfalls and now a maximum of 10-14 days was allowed…but allowed us to stay (by then we were in a Rock Hall marina). For a mid-bay launch, the public ramp at Kent Narrows is adequate for a R-31 and private secured trailer parking is close by.
This was our first cruise without Moby Dick, the HD2500 support truck. We stashed over 30 days provisions in a 20 qt Igloo Marine Offshore and 25 qt RTIC (iced) and 2 Engel 30 qt dry/coolers for dry goods and a West Marine zip duffel. Brie cheese and wine is 3-6 times more expensive in the resort towns and marinas. Our best new skill is learning to cook well on the boat, to the point that we would rather do that than eat out. At Baltimore’s Inner Harbor (our last 2 nights) eating out 3 meals with tips would top $200/day. We really like the NuWave Gold induction cookplate (thanks for the tip, Bob!), Coleman propane 2 burner (not used this trip), toaster, Med Breville toaster oven and Mr Coffee with SS (no glass) carafe.
We had 1 day of Gale and 4 days of Small Craft Warnings of the 24 total. Rented Enterprise car for those and continued exploring. Coolest days were 58 degrees and windy (surprised us) and warmest 90 degrees and more humid than Pensacola. We ended up not anchoring out in the weather we had.
We settled on hi tech zip-off long pants and a marine 1500w electric heater which worked out well along with rooftop Coleman 13k AC. Dockwa.com works well, read the cancellation rules.
Honk if you see us on the road home!
John