The move home

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It's 900 miles from Lake Degray to Minneapolis, and the 5000 lbs, 9 foot wide First 260 was going to prove to be quite the pull. I borrowed a friend's V8 Toyota, and headed down, spending the night in southern Iowa. With me were 4 new tires for the trailer, and a mast lowering system based on one I created for my old First 235. There is no boat moving facilities at Degray, so we were going to be doing ALL the work. And LOTS of things were going to have to line up.

Getting the boat on the trailer took much lover than expected. The PO had moved the pads, so I had crawl in the water to look at the pads with a swim mask on to see if they needed adjustment. It took an extra day. But by 5PM we were on the road, heading north. At a gas station in Fort Smith AR, I took this picture. Deep in the Ozarks. People looked at us very strangely.


I ended up making it to Jopin MO that night. Not bad at all based on the late start, and driving the boat through the Ozarks at night. It's the same town I stopped in when I was coming back with Jackdaw from Houston a few years before, so I knew next day's drive. At 6AM we were back on the road. It's funny but when you are on the road like this, every hour just sitting around is an hour longer it will take until you are home. As we drove at 55 MPH, EVERY car and truck on the road passed us. It was painful but safe, and good for the small trailer wheels. 12 hours later, we pulled into Hooper's Yachts for a much needed bottom job.


After a topsides wax and some new Interlux, BlueJ is starting to look the the boat she was when first sailed in the UK.


Last thing cosmetically was to repaint the transom, I never liked the script, and as the boat is documented, she has to have her hailing port on as well. With that job done, she finally heads to Wayzata Yacht Club, to begin her new life as the queen of the PHRF I fleet.


Because there is a 10 ton crane and a mast pole at WYC, getting her back in the water was much easier than getting her out at Degray. 1 hour later, she is sitting in her slip.









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