its been 1 yr plus since mx547 and my moto injury nightmare race. we have been buds for awhile and it has been a bummer that he cant ride.....yet. conforming to my nature as a jack of all trades and master of none i invited jay down to texas to go on a little camping trip. figuring that nothing could happen on a camping trip, he accepted.
location was lake texoma on the texas/oklahoma border. its a big, big body of water for these parts. dam to the end is 40+miles. oh yeah, we are going to cruise on a hobie cat sailboat and carry all of our gear on the boat. maybe jay will post some photos of the boat and gear. the plan was to start near the dam on sat morning and sail around all day, camp out sat night and head home on sunday.
jay came down friday night and met me at a private resort so we could get an early start on saturday. fri night was pleasant as we sat out on the picnic tables and drank our respective beverages until midnight. sat came with the sunrise and i towed the boat to the ramp and got everything set up while jay ran back to the store for a fishing license and a camera. we were off by 9:30 and on our way. we cruised out about 5 miles to the "islands". these islands are in the middle of the lake and are spread out over 2-3 miles. they all have nice sandy beaches and lots of trees. it was about 11:00 or so and i realized we hadnt had breakfast so we pulled up and ate. it was getting hot so i swam a bit too. i also broke out the fishing stuff and we tried our luck. jay landed a sandie but that was it for this stop. we shoved off and headed west. as i said texoma is a large lake and there are some equally large ship-like boats on this thing. lots o bling bling. they like to anchor off the islands and do the party thing. there were 8-10 50to100footers anchored up like battleship row. we cruised by to check em out. it was 1:30 when we landed on the last island to eat lunch. it clouded up for a bit and actually sprinkled for awhile. off we went again and i pointed the boat west. couple of hours later we are 10 miles from the islands and just cruising along. we are coming up on a bridge over the lake. im just staring at the sky as we go under the bridge when i realize in horror how tall that mast really is. the mast on this boat is 24 ft tall. we miss the bridge by less than a foot according the accurate eye of mx547. it would of been a disaster if i would of hit the bridge at the speed we were carrying. by dumb luck we clear the bridge and make our way to a nice sandy beach 1/2 mile away. we get out and stretch our legs and wade back into the water with our rods. we both catch a few fish. by now its 4:00 and my plan was to spend saturday night camping on one of the islands. to make this happen we needed to head back east.
being that we were on a sailboat, we were dependent on wind pushing on our sails to move us.........naturally, the wind dies. i really hate it when that happens. in the late afternoon it is not uncommon for it to happen. the problem is sometimes its for 30 min. and sometimes its for 3 hours. we lay on the tramp of the boat and wait it out. i do put on some swim fins and kick us a 1/4 mile before relenting to the waiting game. i could see it coming across the water :yeehaw: ......yes it was the wind. we get moving after a 45 min delay and make the western most island by 6:30. we land and pull all of the gear off. jay fetches wood and i start a fire. i open up a package of steak and cut it into cubes for shish ka bob. we manage to get the meat on the skewers but damn, that fire is hot. after a few engineering attempts and dropping the meat in the coals once or twice, we finally get it right and rig something to hold the meat above the coals. i whip up some cajun rice and beans to go with it. dinner is ready and i grab another cold beer. we sit and watch some of the other boaters load up and go home. its been a long day and both of us are tired. he sets up a tent and i decide to risk mosquitos and sleep on the tramp of the boat. wow, stars with no city lights to dim them. i lie there watching satellites and shooting stars.........while drinking a few more cold ones. :thumb:
sunday morning is overcast and we are 9 miles from the ramp. my plan was to be at the ramp by 12:00 since jay had a 4 hour drive home. the wind was blowing pretty good........and from the wrong direction for us to make a straight line to the ramp. i loaded the boat and off we went. it wasnt to long before we were in 4ft swells. the boat could handle it but it didnt make for very fast or dry sailing. because we had to angle off to the wind, progress was slow. hey jay look at that to the north........it doesnt look good. what i was talking about is a black line under the cloud cover. i have sank a boat in bad weather(thats "drama in real life" story for another time)and was getting an uneasy feeling. we pressed on. pretty soon it was apparent that we were racing the weather. that black line was getting closer, bigger and darker.
we almost made it. we were about a 1/2 mile from the shoreline when it hit. the wind slammed us but good. it was a definite luitennant dan moment from the movie forrest gump. remember lt. dan in the crows nest on the shrimp boat. yeah, it was like that. my hobie is only 16 ft but has 240 sq feet of sail area. its bascially a kite for humans. i was freaking because flipping a sailboat without lightning bolts is a major pain. i was also freaking because it takes two people to right the damn thing if it blows over. jay is still a bit gimpy and knew it would be hard for him to help. i estimated the wind at 50+. the boat started over at least twice. the first time half the boat was under as the wind was trying to pick the boat with wind under the tramp. we weighted it back down. it happened again and jay knew the drill. we leaned way back out on the side of the boat to hold the hulls to the water so wind couldnt get under the boat. my adrenaline was flowing pretty good. finally, we made the beach and then i got the post adrenaline shakes. the temp fell from the low 90s to mid 70s in a matter of a few min. we jumped in the water to stay warm. eventhough we made the shore, we were still 1/4 mile away from the boat ramp. to get there i would have to go back into the main lake to get a better angle. i decided i would rather walk along the bank(which was very steep)and pull the boat by hand than going back out with that 24 ft lightining rod. finally, we make it to the ramp and we get the boat torn down and gear off of it. final tally according to the gps was 42.5 miles covered.
location was lake texoma on the texas/oklahoma border. its a big, big body of water for these parts. dam to the end is 40+miles. oh yeah, we are going to cruise on a hobie cat sailboat and carry all of our gear on the boat. maybe jay will post some photos of the boat and gear. the plan was to start near the dam on sat morning and sail around all day, camp out sat night and head home on sunday.
jay came down friday night and met me at a private resort so we could get an early start on saturday. fri night was pleasant as we sat out on the picnic tables and drank our respective beverages until midnight. sat came with the sunrise and i towed the boat to the ramp and got everything set up while jay ran back to the store for a fishing license and a camera. we were off by 9:30 and on our way. we cruised out about 5 miles to the "islands". these islands are in the middle of the lake and are spread out over 2-3 miles. they all have nice sandy beaches and lots of trees. it was about 11:00 or so and i realized we hadnt had breakfast so we pulled up and ate. it was getting hot so i swam a bit too. i also broke out the fishing stuff and we tried our luck. jay landed a sandie but that was it for this stop. we shoved off and headed west. as i said texoma is a large lake and there are some equally large ship-like boats on this thing. lots o bling bling. they like to anchor off the islands and do the party thing. there were 8-10 50to100footers anchored up like battleship row. we cruised by to check em out. it was 1:30 when we landed on the last island to eat lunch. it clouded up for a bit and actually sprinkled for awhile. off we went again and i pointed the boat west. couple of hours later we are 10 miles from the islands and just cruising along. we are coming up on a bridge over the lake. im just staring at the sky as we go under the bridge when i realize in horror how tall that mast really is. the mast on this boat is 24 ft tall. we miss the bridge by less than a foot according the accurate eye of mx547. it would of been a disaster if i would of hit the bridge at the speed we were carrying. by dumb luck we clear the bridge and make our way to a nice sandy beach 1/2 mile away. we get out and stretch our legs and wade back into the water with our rods. we both catch a few fish. by now its 4:00 and my plan was to spend saturday night camping on one of the islands. to make this happen we needed to head back east.
being that we were on a sailboat, we were dependent on wind pushing on our sails to move us.........naturally, the wind dies. i really hate it when that happens. in the late afternoon it is not uncommon for it to happen. the problem is sometimes its for 30 min. and sometimes its for 3 hours. we lay on the tramp of the boat and wait it out. i do put on some swim fins and kick us a 1/4 mile before relenting to the waiting game. i could see it coming across the water :yeehaw: ......yes it was the wind. we get moving after a 45 min delay and make the western most island by 6:30. we land and pull all of the gear off. jay fetches wood and i start a fire. i open up a package of steak and cut it into cubes for shish ka bob. we manage to get the meat on the skewers but damn, that fire is hot. after a few engineering attempts and dropping the meat in the coals once or twice, we finally get it right and rig something to hold the meat above the coals. i whip up some cajun rice and beans to go with it. dinner is ready and i grab another cold beer. we sit and watch some of the other boaters load up and go home. its been a long day and both of us are tired. he sets up a tent and i decide to risk mosquitos and sleep on the tramp of the boat. wow, stars with no city lights to dim them. i lie there watching satellites and shooting stars.........while drinking a few more cold ones. :thumb:
sunday morning is overcast and we are 9 miles from the ramp. my plan was to be at the ramp by 12:00 since jay had a 4 hour drive home. the wind was blowing pretty good........and from the wrong direction for us to make a straight line to the ramp. i loaded the boat and off we went. it wasnt to long before we were in 4ft swells. the boat could handle it but it didnt make for very fast or dry sailing. because we had to angle off to the wind, progress was slow. hey jay look at that to the north........it doesnt look good. what i was talking about is a black line under the cloud cover. i have sank a boat in bad weather(thats "drama in real life" story for another time)and was getting an uneasy feeling. we pressed on. pretty soon it was apparent that we were racing the weather. that black line was getting closer, bigger and darker.
we almost made it. we were about a 1/2 mile from the shoreline when it hit. the wind slammed us but good. it was a definite luitennant dan moment from the movie forrest gump. remember lt. dan in the crows nest on the shrimp boat. yeah, it was like that. my hobie is only 16 ft but has 240 sq feet of sail area. its bascially a kite for humans. i was freaking because flipping a sailboat without lightning bolts is a major pain. i was also freaking because it takes two people to right the damn thing if it blows over. jay is still a bit gimpy and knew it would be hard for him to help. i estimated the wind at 50+. the boat started over at least twice. the first time half the boat was under as the wind was trying to pick the boat with wind under the tramp. we weighted it back down. it happened again and jay knew the drill. we leaned way back out on the side of the boat to hold the hulls to the water so wind couldnt get under the boat. my adrenaline was flowing pretty good. finally, we made the beach and then i got the post adrenaline shakes. the temp fell from the low 90s to mid 70s in a matter of a few min. we jumped in the water to stay warm. eventhough we made the shore, we were still 1/4 mile away from the boat ramp. to get there i would have to go back into the main lake to get a better angle. i decided i would rather walk along the bank(which was very steep)and pull the boat by hand than going back out with that 24 ft lightining rod. finally, we make it to the ramp and we get the boat torn down and gear off of it. final tally according to the gps was 42.5 miles covered.
