May 28, 2004
Henderson, NV
Today, while trying to find the motivation to get the boat in order, the phone rang – motivation calling me. The hauler we contracted with, A-1 Boat Transport, is sending a truck for a Tuesday, June 1st, 2004 pickup. Early. Great news. Sooner than I had expected, but at the same time not soon enough. I am ready to go. Too bad the boat isn’t. We still have a few days to go. I’m motivated out of necessity now.
That phone call put a whole lot of things in motion. First, we are “on the hard” at a private residence and there are no lifting facilities. At a marina, they have special gear, but where we are, we are out of luck. We have certain logistical issues to deal with when loading a ten ton boat onto a tractor-trailor. I put in a call to Jake’s Crane of Las Vegas. Tuesday they will send an 80 ton crane with equipment and lift Nereus onto the truck. I’d like to say I’m not nervous, but the idea of lifting my home from it’s solid base of the Nevada desert by crane is causing me some concern. It is an awful lot boat hanging in the air. But, where’s the excitement with out a little danger.
Then, our truck driver, Lowell, will drive Nereus to Crowley’s Yacht Yard on the Chicago River, where it will go straight into the water (with proper heavy boat lifting equipment, of course). No crane issue, but there are different concerns, like as the boat goes down into the water, will it keep going down under the water? I doubt it. I have far too much time and effort into this to have something stupid like that happen. After launch (hopefully on Friday) we will have the weekend to sort out the mess Nereus inherited with the overflow of moving out of the house. Then, step the mast on Monday the 7th and head for the open water of Lake Michigan the following Wednesday, anchoring with a view of the Chicago skyline. Cruisers at last!
Until then, I will feverishly finish up a few lingering projects. I am in the middle of rewiring the mast electrical. I have some gear to remove topsides and stow. Tomorrow and Sunday will decide how far I get. Monday is reserved for securely stowing gear and getting ready to go.
I’ll let you know how it all works out.
-Steve