Wolf Pup - Home Alone

My recent posts have been about getting our newly acquired Wolf Pup travel trailer ready for a cross country trip.

Wolf Pup coming home after shake down trip to FL

 But the Wolf Pup isn't the only horse in the stable and last week it was Big Duck's turn.

Big Duck is a 1972 28' trailerable houseboat. She's more accommodating than the Pup; the Duck sleeps 7 w/ generator, a/c, full galley with double sink including a 4 burner stove, decent sized fridge, large oven and microwave - even a small chest freezer on the aft deck...not that I'm fond of cooking, but the folks who often boat with us do enjoy the galley. Those folks would be my wife's brother Doug and his wife Elaine. They have a Parker 2120 called MokeeDugway and often buddy boat with us on our water adventures. They had come down from Chicago with their boat to caravan with us on the road to a FL cruise.

Day one on the road regularly involves a comfortable (late) start, so we only expected to log 250 of the 500 miles from our SC base to the Lake Monroe Florida destination. This put us in a Savannah Walmart parking lot for the night. "Wallydocking" is very convenient for us because their Supercenters are open 24 hours, the stay is free and relatively secure, not to mention the ability to shop whenever the urge arises. Also, the restroom facilities in the store can be convenient even though we have complete facilities aboard.

The trip to Savannah resulted in a first for me driving the van. As the traffic on I95 funnels into South Carolina, then on to Georgia, the 2 lane SC I95 gets plugged up at every interchange starting at about Exit 53. There were no accidents, just extremely slow traffic at each interchange all the way to the Georgia line until the GA I95 interstate goes to 3 lanes. That third lane handles the volume of traffic without clogging things up. The scenario was, for the 53 miles to the GA line at about 2 miles before each interchange, the traffic in both lanes would slow to 10  miles an hour or less, often stop and go. This is complicated by folks believing that by switching lanes they can get somewhere sooner. It was this lane switching that caused my problem.

We were going a steady 8 mph. Towing 12,000 lbs I need to leave a decent space in front of me - maybe three or four car lengths at that speed. This buffer zone also keeps me from having to stop so often. But a lady to the left couldn't resist the vacuum in front of me so she cut into my lane only to find the traffic suddenly stopped in front of me...at which point she taps the binders to see if she can regain the spot she left in her moving lane. I hit my brakes harder than I ever have in the 12 years and 150,000 mile history of my van. We only skidded a foot or so and there was no contact as I watched the lady weave her way back into the left lane. There's a penalty for leaving a gap between you and the fellow in front of you. You not only need to keep an eye on your lane, but must also consider the aholes that find the vacant spot in front of you irresistible.

The second night, after the remaining 250 road miles, was again Wallydocking at a Sanford Walmart only minutes from the ramp. It was here that we took on supplies for the 5 days we'd spend on the St Johns River.

We 'brick' a 5 gallon jug of brine in Big Duck's freezer while on shore power in the back yard. This set up keeps my beer at about 30° in the bottom part of the freezer while the frozen foods and salads keep at about 38° in the upper part. Things stay at these temperatures for over 6 days of normal use without the freezer needing power. We could have acquired all the stores and put them aboard before we left, but the travel time lets us ponder the bill of fare for the water days and it's kind of fun to shop at the end of a short day on the road.

The ramp at Lake Monroe County Park is as friendly as they get. On previous visits, they had a manned guard station where one paid $2/day to use the ramp or campers could make arrangements to camp at the facilities there. This time the the guard station was not manned, the ramp fee was "Honor System", and camp sites had to be reserved by phone. I guess though, they still close the gates at sunset which makes me feel a little better about leaving my rig there for several nights.

Splashing was considerably easier than I expected. The weather was mild with a gentle wind. Big Duck was very cooperative with Doug and Elaine tended to the lines.  Wife Suzy is disabled - it's so nice to have help. All in all, it was a breeze getting Big Duck afloat.

Big Duck on the left. The Parker (MokeeDugway) tied beam to...and well, Merlin in the middle.

When both boats were ready to go, we contacted a boating couple from Canada who trailered their 16' Hobo to Lake Monroe from across Florida at Marco Island where they live aboard for the winter months. We'd swapped email in preparation for them to join us for the cruise - they had towed their boat across the state and were staying at a marina a few miles up river. When they joined us we headed downstream (North) on the St Johns River, anticipating a short run to any convenient anchorage.

Doug is a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary so we rely on him to pick the route and determine a safe place to anchor for the night. Unlike Big Duck and the Florida Hobo (Flobo), MokeeDugway has a windlass that makes anchoring the push of a button. Because of this mechanical wonder, we both raft to MokeeDugway for meals and overnight rather than dropping our own anchors.

 

We rafted for meals and overnight.

 

Gaetan and Michelle aboard Flobo.

Big Duck's captain.

Gaetan relaxing on the front deck.

Flobo's stash of fresh goodies

Evening meals were aboard Big Duck

Flobo - Gaetan's Florida 16' Hobo (he has 5 more of them in Canada)

Suzy and Merlin elaxing aboard The Duck

Doug and Elaine fixin' salads.

Flobo rafting up to MokeeDugway.

Doug says this is where my boat got it's name - It's a Big Duck backing down into the cabin!

Gaetan filling the generator. He uses a Cpap and needs to keep his batteries up so it will run all night.

Elaine getting the spaghetti ready - Doug working on the sausage.

Merlin chillin' watching the folks below fix dinner.

Morning coffee (& Suzy w/ bed hair).

Suzy and Merlin a little later in the day

All rafted up after an easy day.

Here are a few shots at Silver Glen Springs...

 

 We got a group photo (via Capt. Nick) when we were all back on the trailers.

The crew at the ramp after the cruise - Doug, Elaine, Michelle and Gaetan w/ Suzy in the chair.

On the trip North, down river toward Lake George, Big Duck was only getting 1.5 mpg. When we got to Silver Glen Springs I unbolted the stop and tucked the outdrive in as far as it would go (we don't have power trim). We then averaged 2.5 mpg on the way back upstream.  We have experienced ~3mpg at speeds 7mph or less on inland lakes so this setting is the one we'll use for our next run - until I start experimenting with propellers again.

We put a little over 1,000 miles on the van averaging close to 9mpg. Big Duck logged 105 miles and used 52 gallons of gas. We ran about 12 gallons of gas through the generator.

Suzy asked me if I had a favorite part of the trip. I'm in heaven the minute I hook Big Duck up to the back of the van and get on the road, it's great to be with family and friends on the water, food is at it's best while afloat but there's nothing like the sound of the waves against the hull, with a gentle breeze blowing in, and watching the fluffy white clouds against the blue sky when Big Duck swings on the hook as I settle in for a nap.