Road trip with a pot of gold at the end...

[Tin Diesel]

I have an 8000 lb 30-foot Airstream that is very aerodynamic and sits low behind my truck to where its almost invisible from in front of the truck. I get about 12 mpg when towing it with my F250 Diesel on relatively flat roads (most of TX).

I towed my son's 3800 lb ultra-light 23 ft. trailer that is VERY square, especially in front, and sits very high behind the truck... I didn't get a good read on MPG, but the mileage seemed worse at highway speeds when wind resistance mounts exponentially. So, I don't think weight matters as much as resistance at highway speeds.

The front of the boat with the shrink wrap over the front bimini is a giant air brake, and the faster you go, the worse it gets. It'll get a lot better when you don't have the shrink wrap.

Cool thread! I'm enjoying watching it! In my youth, long since past, I was a speeding-ticket magnet. That started to change when I got my first boat (an 18-foot Hobie Magnum catamaran) and I was forced to go slower. Now, the older I get, the slower I go!

 

[Bork]

I agree (now) the aerodynamics are more of an issue then the weight. I just had it in my mind the weight would be the bigger difference.

So I’m in KY now and side note the Ohio river was as high and wide as I have ever seen it at Paducah. I’m not watching the news but I have to imagine that lots of places are and will continue to flood downriver all the way to New Orleans.

Stopping every 2 hours is already getting old. But we are maintaining about 7mpg now.

A bit over 13 hours of driving left. So that’s at least 6 but probably 7 more stops for gas. I thought the 5yo would slow me down but it’s really the 2yo truck that’s thirsty all the time.

 

[Bork]

So we called it a day early today. Simon had enough of the driving and his booster seat. Can’t blame him after 2.5 days in the truck. We stopped in an embassy suites in Murfreesboro, Tn so he can swim. Plan is to hit the road super early (like 3am) so he sleeps while I drive. It will be early bedtime for us both.

On the bot everything is traveling well except one spot on the port side log in the back. We used a strap to tie it down and covered the metal part with cardboard and tape. Even with that it was vibrating and made some wear marks on the log. Not big but the aharkhide looks to be rubbed off. I saw I can buy a quart but I don’t think I can get it on the boat before it goes in the water on Sunday. Is there anything else I can do? Maybe an apoxy or something to temporarily seal it and do the sharkhide later?

 

[mattb]

Dings, dents, scratches, it's all gonna happen. Remember, you won't see it when you're in the boat. The day I brought mine home I was pushing it into the barn and jammed the motor against a shelf bracket and took a nice divot out of the cover. Safe travels.

 

[Michiman]

Making memories! Enjoy...

 

[Bork]

On the road again...

 

[SEMPERFI8387]

I wouldn’t put anything other than Sharkhide on Sharkhide. If it starts to oxidize you might be able to polish it lightly to try to match finish, then hit it with Sharkhide. It blends into itself.
I’ve seen new toons come in with some blending done. I’m sure no one else would ever see it, but I’m super observant and see things like that.

 

[Bork]

Thanks guys. I’m just going to let the scratch go. Will Deal with it after...I’m not worried about a blemish as much as rust.

We made it to Punta Gorda (30 min to marina from here). It was a long day but we made it safe.

The car 2 ahead of us on I-75 had a bad wreck though. Tire blew at 70+ mpg and they over steered all the way right then left them off the road and flipped. We stopped to render help ( totally forgot I was hauling a boat when I instinctively pulled over on the left side of the road...in retrospect it could have caused more problems then it helped.) but they were miraculously ok. Husband and wife in their late 50s. To use the words of James Bond...shaken not stirred. I literally thought I was going to be pulling limp bodies out. Modern safety equipment and engineering on cars is something else.

Hardest and most stressful part of the entire trip for me has been the care, planning, and quite frankly luck that goes into refueling and eating with a 50’+ rig that I’m rather inexperienced with. It went pretty smoothly but we stopped 8+ times for gas and getting in and out of car sized gas stations is stressful. Eating with a 5yo is also a bit more difficult as drive throughs are out of the question.

I thought truck stops were the answer but the big rigs drink deisel (and block line of site if there is a random unleaded pump in the back) and the unleaded pumps up front are crowded and most were at ackward angles with either approach or exit lacking room to turn.

My best bet was taking up both outside pumps at standard gas stations and often waiting to get both free. More than once I was committed (because of traffic or bad line of sight) before being completely sure I had a good exit.

Tomorrow morning we load out the boat and launch. Really looking forward to both of those.

 

[TomS]

Wow, what a day!

If you're using the Punta Rassa ramp it's really nice, but has been VERY busy this week. We're hoping to go up to Cabbage Key for lunch tomorrow, beautiful weather today, calm seas. Best of luck to you.

 

[Bork]

I’m using the Pineland Marina ramp. Holding I can get a temp slip there for the day as I have to pick some people up from Ft. Myers at 2.

Will be hitting cabbage key (or Phil’s) on Monday for lunch. Let me know if your out over the next few weeks.

 

[Tin Diesel]

Fueling up big rigs is tough. We haven't towed our boat much yet, having just gotten it last Nov.

But with our Airstream we try to fill up when disconnected. The F250 (astonishingly) came with a 20 gallon tank! 6.7 liters of turbo charged diesel designed for towing big rigs and a tank big enough to get to the end of the driveway!

I bought an after market 51 gallon tank. It caused some major fuel system problems (a whole other story) but functionally it's been great. We drive TX to CO a lot, so it reduces fill-up anxiety.

 

[Bork]

Yeah my GMC takes 24 gallons but a heavy duty diesel should have way more. I wasn’t even pissed about the money as much as having to stop every 2 hours.

I was thinking that behind me is a 50+gallon tank on the boat. There has to be a way to make something to use it.

 

[Tin Diesel]

Glad you made it safely. You'll talk about this trip for a long time, I imagine

 

[mattb]

Glad to hear. Enjoy the boat.

 

[Rick from Rocky Mount]

Glad to hear. Enjoy the boat.

Now the fun REALLY starts, once you get that pretty boat in the water! Congrats and good luck!

 

[lakeliving]

Let’s see some photos of it in the water!

 

[Bork]

That’s all I have for now...

 

[adkboater]

It’s great hear the trip is going well!! The pics looks great!

 

[cwag911]

I see you got the black PTM edge mirror.

 

[Macon_a_Splash]

That’s all I have for now...

Sounds like you are making some memories, for sure! That is a beautiful boat!