Strapped down and ready to ride

Alright.  A few measly hours behind schedule, we are headed out onto the freeway.

Oil change.  New ratchet straps.  Lots of snacks, courtesy Summer and Susan.

The boat looks and feels sturdy.  We have the stock for oars, the gunwales, plus lots of fir plywood and odds and ends.  This is going to be fantastic.  We are both looking forward to a lot of thumbs up while rolling down the highway.

First stop is Eugene, OR. We planning to stay at the lovely abode of Gen and Germ.  Apparently they have two boats in their front yard, so we'll be right at home.

Time just keeps on ticking...

So here we are. Its May of 2011 and the boat still has a ways to go. We've had some obstacles to progress over the last year or so. Drew moved down to Cali, JD has been in Olympia, but he's been leaving for far away boat jobs each summer. Its meant that boat work has been relegated to the winter, which just isn't that functional or appealing in our plastic hut of a boathouse.

The latest movement on the boat front is a plan to drive it down to California.  There are a variety of reasons this might be a good idea.  To wit,

• Drew has time on his hands, supposedly.
• Drew has access to a shop that actually has walls. 
• No rent is charged at said shop. 
• JD is leaving again for the remainder of the summer. 
• It will be fun and hilarious to drive the boat down.

As far as reasons it might be a bad idea?  There is pretty much just that one pesky one....DANGER DANGER DANGER! Okay, not really, but we will be strapping a 18 ft boat on top of JD's 14 ft pickup.  Hey, its gone 258,000 miles already, whats another 800 with a boat on top???

So, as long as we don't have any mechanical problems, encounter any massive windstorms, or blow out all our tires (knock on wood), the boat will be in CA by Wednesday of next week!

For reference, I've attached a picture of us trying on the boat for size.  Note, this is not the final loading position...