The Cruising Adventures of Wild Blue and crew...

Congratulations Jim on this can't quite bring myself to call a job endeavor. Should be a wonderful experience for all of you. Some time lately someone stated they thought Lake Champain in New york to be the most beautiful lake in the world and all I could think was they have never cruised Moran Bay, Jackson Lake, Wyoming.

We live two hours drive south of Jackson and three hours Colter Bay, so hope to see you all again before heading to PWS, Alaska this summer.

Jay
 
JamesTXSD":2kjtyypx said:
Dave - I haven't checked to see if the captain gets to partake of the meals on Elk Island. Jim
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Jim, it would seem to me that they would certainly feed you.....after all, if the Captain of the Ship doesn't eat well, he'd most likely be unable to pilot the vessel away from the island that everyone is marooned on. :wink
 
Jay, I hope it works that we can meet up before you head north. We are scheduled to roll in at the end of May. Drop me a note as the time gets closer.

Dave - It would seem rather pathetic for me to be eating my sack lunch while watching the passengers dine on steak and trout. :wink: I'll see if that's one of the perks.

-----------------------

"So, how much are you askin' for your boat?" The question came from a neighbor down the street who was passing by.

"This boat isn't for sale," I replied.

"I've never seen anyone work that hard cleaning a boat if they weren't trying to sell it," he said.

Interesting point. Completely wrong, though.

Mother Nature cut us some slack and I got the rest of the waxing done. Polished up all the stainless... Nev-R-Dull really does a good job. It takes some rubbing, but all that brown stuff on the stainless (would that be a stain?) came off. For those who have commented on the deck caps looking "rusty," this stuff takes that brown off.

Joan was working inside, emptying the cabin of anything critters might eat or nest with. She wiped everything down and vacuumed the carpets.

I emptied the fresh water tank and drained the water heater.

The "piece de resistance": the bilge looked like a science experiment gone bad. I half expected the Creature From The Black Lagoon to pull me in when I reached down there. It was mostly slime... and some scrubbing brought it back to white again. When we picked up the boat nearly 4 years ago, I asked Scott if that area could be used for storage? His response, "Uhhhhhhh, I wouldn't." I understand why not. :wink:

Heading for service tomorrow - 100 hour oil and lower unit change. Wild Blue's spa treatment is almost done, then she gets to take it easy for a while.

How much for the boat? Might just as well asked, "How much for one of your kidneys?"

Best wishes,
Jim
 
How much for the boat? Might just as well asked, "How much for one of your kidneys?"


Heck Jim, you have two of those but only one boat! Sounds like an interesting summer, hope it's better than your last command experience! Keep us posted!

Charlie
 
Charlie, if you're referring to our cruising, you know I'm not the one in co... oh, you meant... :mrgreen: You can be sure I'll keep you posted.

Wild Blue went into her storage berth...

InStorage2e.jpg

Service went well this morning. Beside oil and lower unit lube change, I replaced two engine shrouds (below the removable cowling). I had visited with my dealer friend a couple months ago to see about buying paint to replace a small bubble in the paint. He said, "Once that starts, it really spreads. Let me call Honda to see if they'll replace that under warranty (I have the extended Honda warranty)." Yep. They paid for the parts, I had to pay for labor. The mechanic lets me help, so it probably only took twice as long as it should have. :wink: I was in and out of there in a couple hours.

Now, I have this empty dock to look at until we head out...

EmptyDockE.jpg

Sigh.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
It's been a few weeks since I've updated here. We are traveling with our 5th wheel, on our round-about way to the Tetons for the summer. We had a rather breath-taking situation today...

Coming north on Hwy 169, a semi pulled out to pass us... an idiot in a car pulled further out to pass the truck... on the far shoulder... with traffic coming at us. I moved to the right shoulder to make room for the truck; he got on his brakes to tuck back behind us, the idiot in the car swerved back to our lane (well, the lane that we had just vacated in favor of the shoulder) about a nano-second before the on-coming traffic passed us! :shock: Here's an example of where you may be doing everything right, but circumstances (and the idiocy of others) can make things take an ugly turn. Had we not been watching this unfold in our mirror, the outcome may have been seriously ugly. By the way, Hwy 169 is a TWO LANE highway in that area.

I said to myself, "Self, that truck isn't going to make it around you before that on-coming car gets here. Oh, Self, look again - the dumas in the car is coming around the truck that is coming around you! Self, this has the makings of a bad Drivers' Ed film!" Things got kinda busy kinda quick after that, so I didn't have time to answer myself. If I had slammed on the brakes, the truck would have most certainly rear-ended us. If I had stayed in the lane, the passing car would have hit us from the side. As it was, the look on the driver's face coming at us probably mirrored mine as he went for the shoulder on his side of the road. Pretty sure we were harmonizing on expletives.

Fortunately, I have plenty of experience driving in deep south Texas, where they not only drive on the shoulder, they pass on the shoulder... or the sidewalk... whichever is available. In over 300,000 miles of RVing, this is only the second really close call. The other was driving a 40' motorcoach on a snowy Interstate in Utah, when the car in front of us spun out. I wrote a thank you letter to the chassis manufacturer after that one. The ABS brakes on the coach likely saved the life of the woman in that car. Today was more of a "you're kidding me?!?" moment, followed by a "oh, come on!?!" moment. In the words of the philosopher Forrest Gump, "Stupid is as stupid does."

We were fortunate that all that stupid didn't rain down all over us today.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
DAMN ! That's why I choose not to have a weapon that reaches more than 3 feet when I drive.

One question though - what['s a "dumas" ? I know an exciting town in the Texas Panhandle with that name buttt ??

Glad you are all OK - just TRY to stay out of folks way with that damn RV !
 
Thanks, Dave S, for handling the question (I was writing a rant on the factory thread). Yes, it is my hope to not offend the tender eyes of any readers by calling someone a dumb ass. In fact, calling this guy a dumas is an insult to dumb asses everywhere. I did find out later the name of the guy in the car. Mr. Pidass, first name: Stu. I sincerely hope he and the whole Stu Pidass family will be more careful in the future. If he didn't learn from this incident today and continues to drive that way, it will likely be a moot point. Hopefully he won't take other innocent people out with him in the process.
 
Glad you survived that one, Jim! We had one of those moments in Florida last winter. 4-way intersection, cross traffic had a stop sign, we had a yellow blinking light. I don't know how someone could not see a GMC crew cab with a 14' tall Tom Cat behind coming, but this idiot pulled out right in front of us. I can now tell you my brakes and my trailer brakes work very well. I started slowing way down for those intersections after that!

Warren
 
Thanks for taking the time to write, Warren. I guess you have some free time on your hands for the next 3 or 4 weeks. :roll: If you think the guy who caused your situation couldn't see, imagine what Stu Pidass must have for vision - he was passing a 65 foot tractor trailer which was trying to pass a 65' pickup/5th wheel/cargo trailer combination! :shock: It is possible he had excrement in his eyes from having his head stuck so far up his a...... well, you know.

Take care, my friend.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
Doryman":bofapxb2 said:
I don't know how someone could not see a GMC crew cab with a 14' tall Tom Cat behind Warren
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Unfortunately Warren, there are a multitude of folks out there driving that pay absolutely no attention to what is going on around them! For the past 33 years I've logged countless hours driving a vehicle with red lights, sirens and airhorns and while everyone on the road is pulling off to the side of the road to get out of my way, there is traditionally one or two folks that continue down the road unable to figure out why everyone but them is pulling over and stopping. Years ago, I followed one car for three miles down congested I-5 with lights and siren before they yielded to me.
 
Another brief land-traveling update - we are in the beautiful Black Hills in western South Dakota (our former home). You know it's springtime in the Black Hills: mid-May and the trees here are just past the budding out stage. We're just below the 4,000' elevation here; an opportunity to acclimate from sea level before we head west. And to visit old friends. Spend some time at our all-time favorite RV resort (Hart Ranch).

I appreciate the posts on the forum about the gatherings and boating adventures; it's been a month now since we put Wild Blue in storage and I'm missing the water.

HRSiteE.jpg

Izzy update: what a great little traveler. No issue moving from the boat to the house to the RV. We took one of the leather recliners out to make room for her tower - nice views from her "high ground" and one very contented kitty.

IzSleepE.jpg

We're getting in time for sight-seeing, motorcycling, visiting, and kicking back. It's not the same as boat cruising, but it's another nice way to travel.

Take care C-Brat friends, and keep the boat stuff coming.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Hi to the 3 of you,

Izzy sure is a contented cat. I guess Izzy is almost as spoiled as our Mr. Grey. He loves to travel. We even take him rides in our Miata Sports Car. He travels in his case strapped down on the folded soft top. When we get the case out he gets excited and wants in the case right away.

This week we leave for a short trip up to Vermont to visit some friends from our canoe dealer days. Then down to the Conn. coast to visit some marine museums ect.

Mr Grey guards the Roadtrek while we visit and tour.

Safe Travels--Fred, Pat and Mr. Grey
 
Dave - I get one corner of the couch. Izzy has her tower, her house, her "blankie", one of the dining chairs, the window seat in the bedroom, the rest of the couch, and her favorite place: Joan's lap. Of course, I can always go sit out in the cargo trailer. :roll:

Fred - It's good to have a furry family member who likes to travel when it's a part of your lifestyle. Your Mr. Grey sounds like a fun cat. We started Izzy with traveling in the boat and truck when we first brought her home, so she goes right to her carrier when we put it out. We sold our last convertible when we retired, so Izzy hasn't had the chance to try that out... hmmm, maybe the motorcycle? :mrgreen:

Brent - We haven't been by Crazy Horse for a couple years (Hwy 385 is a great motorcycle road, btw, so I may work that in before we leave here). Last I saw it, they had the hole under his arm open and the horse's head drawn on the rock. There were a lot of SD residents who thought Crazy Horse was a scam while Ziolkowski was still alive... he would set off some dynamite once or twice a year, and charge for each car-load of tourists who visited. After he died, his kids made some definite progress on the carving. I've heard that some geologists have said that the arm will not likely stay in place when the opening is enlarged to the scale of the model. Whatever one's opinion of it might be, it has been quite a tourist draw for decades... and certainly not without controversies (including opposition from some Lakota and other Native Americans).

We lived in the Black Hills for almost 30 years - it was a great place to raise our daughter and build our business... Mid-West values and friendliness with "West River" spirit of individualism. And still a great place to visit.

There are a few lakes in the Hills, but better suited to small sailboats and runabouts. We belonged to an active sailing club here; had a two hour drive from our home to the lake, and spent most summer weekends on the different boats. While probably not a destination trip for most C-Dory owners, there was one family who trailered their Corsair trimaran to the Hills after reading an article I wrote on South Dakota Sailing (who knew?)... they spent almost a month here, dividing their time between sailing and touring around the Hills.

Knowing that there are some motorcycle enthusiasts on this forum, the Black Hills generally rates very high on most riders' list of "Best Motorcycling Roads." Probably doesn't hurt that a half million folks (+/-) come to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally every August (think: Mardi Gras on motorcycles!).

And let's not forget a couple of my favorite Mt. Rushmore tourist questions:
* "When did they discover this?"
* "What do they do with it in the winter?"

If anyone thinks they have seen something no one else has regarding the "backside" of the 4 Presidents on t-shirts... I thought that one was pretty funny, too... when I was 12. Locals have a name for the folks who actually buy that shirt - tourons. Now, that's funny! :mrgreen:

South Dakota - Great Faces, Great Places (just like it says on the license plates).

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
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