3rd leg of 4000 mile tow.

[rfrance0718]

Yesterday we left Glacier Nat Park for Estes Park in Colirado. We did about 650 mi yesterday, leaving 350 or so for today. On Saturday we'll start the 1000 mi trek from Colorado to Ohio.

So far towing has been great. The Thistle is only 515 lbs, so probably less than a 1000 lbs with covers, gear, and added camping stuff. My hubs have run cool the whole way, even in high temps. 92 degrees right now.

I had used the torque wrench to set the bearings,then backed off and tightened to a lesser degree. (I need to look at my notes and see what I did, maybe 50 lbs to set and then 25 for final?) I also used the torque wrench on the lugs, and I have new tires, properly inflated. Instead of bearing buddies I have the caps with the 1/2 in square openings and the rubber closures. I like those as I don't do well with the grease gun.

This is so much easier than towing a cruiser! I've been towing these things for 40 years, have learned from mistakes, and also from posts on this site.

I'll probably tow the Oday to Florida next winter. Hopefully I can have same kind of results.

BTW. Out here, in a 5 state area, they have set up check points to inspect all boats for zebras. I've only been inspected once, but it was a pain. My covers are tied down at many points and they wanted to check the bilge and my floatation tanks. They also insisted on checking my anchor, which was under sails, tents, cots, and such. I told them that my anchor had never seen the water but they insisted. For the trip home I left it at an easily accessible place. The boat won't be getting wet again until it's back in Ohio, but I'm sure that we'll go through another inspection when we get to Colorado in the next hour or so.

[Timm R Oday25]

 

[Spot]

Are you safely destinated at home? Hightlights from the return trip?

[rfrance0718]

Yes, safely home. For our two days at Rocky Mountain National Park we had a fantastic camping spot. It was labeled as "Dispersed Camping". It was in a pretty area in the foothills. Our drive back to the campsite was about 3 miles on a winding road with switch backs. There were several camping areas along the way but there was ample space between them. Our area had about 30 sites, but I would say that each one was at least a half an acre. We could only see one of our neighbors from our spot, and they were at least a hundred yards away. The sites were pleasant with pines, rock formations, wild flowers, and grasses. They were nicely leveled with a picnic table, fire ring, and bear box. There were no hookups, which is fine for us. All of the campers had tents, small pull behinds, or truck campers with 4wd. No big RVs as they aren't designed for rugged roads. I could have just hung out there all day but we did tour the park, which is spectacular. I was amused at the campgrounds that I saw in Estes Park. Some were just parking lots with huge RVs packed in like sardines.

Our drive to Columbus was actually 1325 miles and the whole circuit waas well over 4500.. All went well. The boat followed along dutifully, without incident. I find that I start to worry less about gas milage and checking on the tow as a trip closes. We were usually cruising at 79 mph and with our 450 mile range I probably didn't check the rig as often as I should have. By that time I had secured everything really well, and I felt like the bearings and tires were just fine. We drove about 800 miles on Saturday, slept in a rest stop, and finished up with 500 plus on Sunday.

The Thistle was a joy to tow. It has a very sturdy low riding Wesco trailer with 14 inch wheels. It doesn't sway or bounce, and you hardly know that it's there. I've learned from enough mistakes over the years to have those minimized.

As I've said many times, towing and launching the Oday 240 is a bit much. I'm thinking about making Tami's Daysailer more of a mini coastal cruiser. It's certainly a boat that can be beached and it can carry plenty of supplies. I would  beef up its floatation, add a mast float, and reefing capability. It would be more like a cross between kayaking at cruising, and I'm thinking that there are lots of destinations for that. Just more dreams.