Overland Voyage

Raggedy Edge was on the hard in KY. The boat and trailer were squeezed amongst the trees down near the Kentucky River. Our one ton dualie couldn't make some of the sharp turns in the long winding driveway so we used an old Belarus tractor that featured a gravity starter (roll down the hill and bump start). The tractor did the deed and positioned boat and trailer where we could hook up to our Ford 350.We had no problems towing the load especially once we got the electric brakes adjusted. The video clip shows us pulling the trailer onto Camp Nelson Rd from Laughlin Way on the Kentucky River. Another shot is in the rest area in Cheyenne, WY and the final shot is at the summit of Shirley Basin between Laramie and Casper.As we passed thru Missouri towing Raggedy Edge on our SailTrailers.com trailer, just 17 miles from Fulton, MO one of the tandem axle wheels fell off. All the lug bolts sheared. The wheel's momentum carried it across I-70 where it found a gap in oncoming traffic and came to rest on the opposite bank of the interstate. We managed to keep things under control getting safely to the shoulder of the highway. As MAL retrieved the lost wheel, Tina used our Garmin GPS to locate a tire repair shop in Fulton. She called and with terrific luck we reached Frank, a mechanic who just happened to be in the shop during the Memorial holiday. So we gingerly made our way to Midwest Tire and Auto Center in Fulton.

Frank quickly got to work pulling the hub. After some difficulty he managed to press ou the eight broken wheel studs using a hydraulic press and then began the quest to locate the peculiarly sized studs. With the help of Tony of O'Reilly Auto Parts, they scrounged the countryside in search for the studs. Tony made multiple trips to and fro in attempting to match the studs. Frank finally, with sheer luck, happened to catch the manager for K&A Trailer Supply who seemed confident that he had the studs we needed. Frank drove to meet the manager half way and picked up the studs

While Frank worked on our trailer, we were entertained with the stories offered up by Harry, a Greek retired merchant marine, he regaled us with stories about working on a Greek flagged ship, meeting his brother who was the captain on the oil tanker that was the first to deliver wheat to Russia, and many other tales of adventure. Another character, Pedro AKA Monkey, gave us the run down on his deer (and dear) hunting operations. The friendly small town atmosphere extended to the charming attendant at Casey's and the cashier at the Bob Evans in Columbia.

Every where we went we were met with cries of cool boat. Passerby in cars, girls walking down the street, we even had a car pass us on the Interstate, a kid held out a whteboard "honk, I'm deaf" ignoring the irony of the request, we honked and the kid flipped the whiteboard...on the other side was "cool boat".