IT LIVES!

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

We just sacrificed our Hobie tandem kayak for funds for TOPOSS.  So before we start spending HUGE amounts on this old piece of shit, we thought we should make sure she floats and doesn't have structural damage that would negate this entire project.  (Why DO we buy boats that we've not seen on the water????  Because they're there....).

So we took her down to the marina and slid her into the water.  Since Rick has not had time or money yet to build this trailer into a fantastic one like the O'Day's, we did the old chain extension method (no tongue extender on this trailer).  Oh, and I might add there is no tongue wheel on the trailer either.  So my ingenious husband welded a ball hitch onto a hand cart to suffice for that!!

Rick even had to get WET to launch this time.  For that, he resurrected his 1975 farmer-john wetsuit from his Hobie racing days.  They were a little sketchy in the butt.   (Ha, should've gotten a picture of THAT!)

Craig Daniel and Richard Sexton were there for the show and to assist.  I wonder if they had any wagers going on....

The Atomic 4 engine fired right up, rich and sassy with racing fuel.  So we decided to motor around the bay for awhile -- a risky proposition since we had no oars in case A4 bonked.  While out there, we encountered our resident favorite photographer, Carolyn Wilcox and husband Richard, out for a sunny afternoon on Catnap.  She got some great photos of TOPOSS' maiden cruise.  For the record, from what we can tell, the last time this boat has been on the water was 2001....

Wow!!  What a nice surprise...not only does she FLOAT just fine, but that A4 is the bomb!  It purrs!!  Supposedly 30 hp -- just dilly-dallying we almost made a wake -- can't imagine what we could do full open throttle.  Don't think we'll have any trouble fighting the winds on Yellowstone Lake with this boat.  (FYI, we struggled on the O'Day the year before last trying to get back to harbor against a 30 knot headwind, with gusts over 40, on Yellowstone.)  And, this boat turns on a dime.  Better than the O'Day.  Seems to pivot around the steering wheel.  Oh yes, and the wheel.  My first wheeled boat.  (A wheel for Wheeler???? Ok, that's dumb.)  Well, I like it.  In fact, I liked TOPOSS a great deal more after this cruise and feel pretty good about opening up that hole in the water and throwing money into it.