When much time, money and effort is spent restoring a 1969 boat a reward is in order. A reason for all the work has a clear set goal. Any reason to miss even just a sliver of a long Colorado winter aint bad either ! January and February of 2002 was spent in the garage with a propane heater that barely got the temperature up enough to kick off the epoxy and paint. But during most evenings you'd find me, first scraping, then sanding, then laying down epoxy reinforcements to the bilges and finally painting the entire interior a crisp glossy white. The Petiti "boat interior" paint sold by West. During all this time I also installed stainless bow chocks in anticipation of the slip to come and a depth sounder, Raymarine 40. I also did as much work on installing a Harken jiffy reefing system as I could without being able to rig the sail. The rest of that would have to wait till we were there. In March, I began to pack the boat the way one would for sailing season and even took the old outboard to the shop to have them bless it one more time for safe passage in the sea.

Wahoo's San Carlos Adventure Log

3/16-3/29/02

Included in my refit of this craft was a fairly complete trailer overhaul. In late Summer I replaced the axle with a larger one as well as new sealed hubs with built in bearing buddies, and three tires 13" iinstrad of original 12" on galvanized rims - all from Champion trailers. The trailer had no fenders, So I got two from Northern Tool and had them welded on by a friend. you can stand on them ! I also got the tire balanced at my local Big O.

For the trip, I laid the halyards and wire rigging flat on the mast and using some left over sleeping bag mats from interior cushions, created padding strips that separated the lines and wire from the mast using mini-bungees. This worked great. I used two tie-down ratchet type straps instead of just one in the cockpit. The boat was really attached to the trailer. the entire trip, the trailer performed flawlessly. the wheels never got hot and wore very true. I easily drove 75 mph where that speed was allowed without any sway or bounce whatsoever. The Toyota Tundra V8 averaged 15 miles per gallon consistently.

Depating from Carbondale, Colorado - San Carlos 1100 miles away

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