Our friend Bill Jamieson had the new mast supports welded up in a few minutes and Rigging Products of Portland got all the rigging hardware we needed in just 2 days! The car seemed to be a problem but our landlord quickly came up with a buyer. We tried to sell the furniture within our building but eventually put "free" on everything and stuck it out in the hallway; the pile quickly dwindled.
The morning of our departure we loaded the truck and hooked up the boat in pouring rain. Everything was wet! We looked like a couple of drowned rats. The first few hours of the trip was also in constant rain which became really heavy at times.
Our first stop was Central Point OR. The rain had stopped and the mountain passes ahead were forecast to be clear in the morning so we got a good night's sleep. The next day was uneventful and we made good headway stopping the night in Madera CA.
Most mornings we departed early to avoid traffic
Something we were unable to get done in Washington due to low temperatures and rain was the bottom paint. We had called a boatyard in Florida thinking we could get it done there but they wanted way too much money and would not let us do the job ourselves. So day three of the trip took us to Quartzsite AZ and the desert boonies to do the bottom paint. This worked great; free camping, hot and dry weather, and nobody to tell us we could not do it. We did this over three days and enjoyed the peace and quiet, and the beautiful clear skies between coats of paint.
Our camp in the desert
Back on the road we camped where possible to save money and spent the night in a motel if we did a long day. We drove through New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and finally into Florida. We arrived 2 days ahead of our target date and decided to take a day off in a motel to regroup before starting the final stage of the trip, the assembly and launch of Homerun.
The Boot Key Harbor Mooring Field, our new home
Next: The assembly and launch
