04-02-2006, 06:13 PM
The SE fleet's spring messabout has come and gone now. There were some highs and lows over the weekend but what do you expect from an April fools gathering. Scott Wiedmier and I met up somewhere along the way on the road while I stopped for lunch. He had some walkie talkies and we convoyed the rest of the way to the campground. We were the first to arrive and not long later Benny, Buds friend, came driving up. He and Bud got seperated at a light and lost touch. Cell reception wasn't that good in the area we were traveling in. We waited for Bud to arrive, but something had slowed him down. Benny decided to drive out and see if he could spot him and came back without any luck. We tried again to call him and Scott got through to a broken up cell phone all he got was broken down- 30 -golfcourse. I checked my gps and just 12 miles from us was a golfcourse. We took my truck down there, by this time it was after dark. There he was on the side of the road. We tried to fix the truck by changing the fuel filter but we had no luck. It was getting late so we hooked up his boat and loaded all his stuff into my truck and headed for camp. Next morning we headed back out to the truck with plans to tow it to the camp. In one last attemp to start it up I found a bleeder valve and purged the air from the fuel. She started right up. What a relief. Later that afternoon Scott and I took his boat out into St Joe Bay. We had an exciting time sailing his 12 footer in the swells. Angie arrived Friday eavning and we enjoyed Kabobs for dinner. I brought along my telescope for nightime entertainment and we looked up at the heavens for a while till the dew settled on my lens.
Saturday was a fine day. Truck problems were gone and the winds were right for sailing. Scott and I took my Vacationer to St. Joe Bay and sailed all that day. Our top speed was 5.3 knots and we sailed approx 14 knotical miles. We had a great time. Scott discovered a new use for double shrouds, and thats all I have to say about that. The bay has a very large area almost void of other boats that day. The water was clear enough to see the shallows which we avoided. The shallow areas were turquise blue and the deeper waters dark blue. We found most of the area to be 25-30 feet deep. The snow white sandy beaches made me think about you guys in the cold climates still slipping in the snow....at least I was thinking of you!
Angie and Bud lauched his PC Magnolia later that day and she looked great out there. She was moving along very well in the best winds of the day. Bud has done a lot of work on her since the Nickajack messabout. She has cherry combings and a fine looking cap rail, his companionway is set up. She's looking really nice.
The sun was dropping fast on us and we had to be out of the park by sundown so we dropped sail and motored towards the ramp. We had to give Bud a tow after his engine stopped and the start cord wouldn't recoil for him. We all made it to the ramp and pullled the boats out. I had mine out first and started packing it up. Bud pulled his out dropped the mast and was on his way 20 minutes before I was ready. Scott recalled how quickly a PC packs up. We finally packed it all in and when we got to the gate of the park it had red lights flashing on it. We just made it out before they closed us in.
It was a great day, we got back to the camp and Benny had dinner ready for us to eat. We had smoked pork with bread and corn on the cob, a variety of drinks and fine company. Unfourtunatly Craig couldn't make it but through his planning several of us SE fleeters had one fine weekend, Thanks Craig
Although we had a few problems along the way, I can qoute the guy who yelled to Bud as we were towing his boat to the dock. "It still beats working!"
I'll get some pics up soon
Keith
Saturday was a fine day. Truck problems were gone and the winds were right for sailing. Scott and I took my Vacationer to St. Joe Bay and sailed all that day. Our top speed was 5.3 knots and we sailed approx 14 knotical miles. We had a great time. Scott discovered a new use for double shrouds, and thats all I have to say about that. The bay has a very large area almost void of other boats that day. The water was clear enough to see the shallows which we avoided. The shallow areas were turquise blue and the deeper waters dark blue. We found most of the area to be 25-30 feet deep. The snow white sandy beaches made me think about you guys in the cold climates still slipping in the snow....at least I was thinking of you!
Angie and Bud lauched his PC Magnolia later that day and she looked great out there. She was moving along very well in the best winds of the day. Bud has done a lot of work on her since the Nickajack messabout. She has cherry combings and a fine looking cap rail, his companionway is set up. She's looking really nice.
The sun was dropping fast on us and we had to be out of the park by sundown so we dropped sail and motored towards the ramp. We had to give Bud a tow after his engine stopped and the start cord wouldn't recoil for him. We all made it to the ramp and pullled the boats out. I had mine out first and started packing it up. Bud pulled his out dropped the mast and was on his way 20 minutes before I was ready. Scott recalled how quickly a PC packs up. We finally packed it all in and when we got to the gate of the park it had red lights flashing on it. We just made it out before they closed us in.
It was a great day, we got back to the camp and Benny had dinner ready for us to eat. We had smoked pork with bread and corn on the cob, a variety of drinks and fine company. Unfourtunatly Craig couldn't make it but through his planning several of us SE fleeters had one fine weekend, Thanks Craig
Although we had a few problems along the way, I can qoute the guy who yelled to Bud as we were towing his boat to the dock. "It still beats working!"
I'll get some pics up soon
Keith
hock: ![[Image: normal_ip17.jpg]](http://byyb.org/cpg143/albums/userpics/10003/normal_ip17.jpg)
![[Image: normal_ip1.jpg]](http://byyb.org/cpg143/albums/userpics/10003/normal_ip1.jpg)