[Rhodes22-list] Seattle or Bust

John Tonjes johntonjes@earthlink.net
Sun, 23 Mar 2003 13:42:21 -0500


Rik,
Dammit man, we need pictures.

Rummy


> [Original Message]
> From: Rik Sandberg <sanderico@earthlink.net>
> To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
> Date: 3/23/2003 12:55:56 PM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Seattle or Bust
>
> Wally,
>
> No, our first "in person" visit with her was on last Sunday afernoon. The 
> closest we had been up to that point was through the pictures that the 
> surveyor took and sent to us. I don't know, maybe I'm just lucky, but 
> everything about the boat was "as advertised" and she seems to be in 
> beautiful shape. This might say something about the integrity of the lady 
> that was selling her, I think. I hope she knows how much I appreciate it.
>
> I am hoping to get a pic or two today of her sitting on the trailer. It's 
> amazing how big she looks up there. I climbed up last night to put in
some 
> antifreeze and needed an 8 foot ladder to get even with the gunnels. She 
> just seems a lot bigger than her 20 foot size suggests. With the R22 I
can 
> step on the tail light bracket and swing my leg over the gunnel to get
in. 
> With this boat, stepping on the tail light bracket would barely get you
to 
> the water line.
>
> Rik
>
> On Sun, 23 Mar 2003 12:36:09 -0500, Wally Buck <tnrhodey@hotmail.com> 
> wrote:
>
> > Rik,
> >
> > Glad it all worked out. I am curious; had you acutally seen the boat 
> > prior to this? I hope she met or exceeded all of your expectations!!
> >
> > Wally
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >> From: Rik Sandberg <sanderico@earthlink.net>
> >> Reply-To: sanderico@earthlink.net,The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22- 
> >> list@rhodes22.org>
> >> To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
> >> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Seattle or Bust
> >> Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 11:44:20 -0600
> >>
> >> Hello All,
> >>
> >> Well, the official sensus of the sailboat population in Long Prairie,
MN 
> >> shows that it has doubled, as recently as yesterday. No, there aren't 
> >> any more sailors than there were 2 days ago, but there are twice as
many 
> >> boats. :-)
> >>
> >> Sandy and I left a week ago Friday, bound for Seattle to pick up our
new 
> >> (old) Pacific Seacraft, Flicka. Arrived in Seattle about noon (Seattle 
> >> time) on Sunday. The weather on the trip out was mostly beautiful and 
> >> the scenery, once you get about 3/4 of the way across North Dakota,
was 
> >> mostly awe inspiring. Sandy's eyes were like saucers for most of the 
> >> trip as she tried to take it all in. She'd never been further west
than 
> >> Butte, Montana before and was pretty much spellbound by the beauty and 
> >> just plain hugeness (new word here?) of it all. For those who have
never 
> >> been there, I would certainly recommend a road trip through the upper 
> >> Northwest. You will get a whole new perspective on your size versus
the 
> >> size of the world around you. It's true, they don't call Montana "Big 
> >> Sky Country" for nothing. This pretty much fits Idaho and Washington
as 
> >> well.
> >>
> >> Anyway, We saw the folks at Seacraft Yacht Sales on Sunday afternoon
and 
> >> got the keys for the boat. They were very nice and told us to make our 
> >> self at home and use their facilities for as long as it took to make
the 
> >> arrangement for our haulout and to get ready for the trip back to 
> >> Minnesota. They made us the loan of an electric heater and offered the 
> >> use of shorepower so that we could stay aboard during our stay there.
We 
> >> were very pleased to accept this hospitality, since we were to learn 
> >> that, while the food and especially the coffee are excellent and 
> >> plentiful in Seattle and the choices of national origins are almost 
> >> limitless, inexpensive is not a word that seems to be part of their 
> >> vocabulary. Having to pay for motel rooms as well would have rubbed
this 
> >> old cheapskate, quite harshly, the wrong way. :-) Besides, there are
not 
> >> really many places to stay right along the waterfront in that area and 
> >> commuting back and forth would have been a real PITA. You can't
believe 
> >> the traffic out there. Makes Chicago seem quite tame.
> >>
> >> We hiked down, a couple miles around the point, to CSR Yacht Services
on 
> >> Monday morning to make arrangement with them for taking down our mast 
> >> and lifting our new child onto her newly built (built it mysef) 
> >> cradle/trailer. We found that it would be Thusday morning before this 
> >> would happen. We didn't mind, as neither of us had ever been to
Seattle 
> >> before and we sorta wanted to take a couple days to look around a 
> >> little. So, on Tuesday we made arrangements to take a bus tour of the 
> >> city. We had an excellent time on this tour and saw Seattle from
almost 
> >> every angle and height. We also saw that we will not be able to afford 
> >> to live there soon, if ever. :-) But the tour guide was very nice and 
> >> very knowledgable and he showed us some things we could do and even 
> >> explained how we could get around quite easily on the city buses. 
> >> Believe me, you don't want to drive your car there if you don't have
to. 
> >> The traffic is just crazy and the parking is even worse. And, with all 
> >> the hills and water, nothing is layed out straight, so it's kinda hard 
> >> to get a feel for the "lay of the land". The tour got done about 1 pm
so 
> >> we spent the afternoon walking around a thing called Pike's Place
Market 
> >> which is just chock full of restaurants, an open fish market and 
> >> different artsy and craftsy type places. Had lunch there in a tiny 
> >> little bistro named Matt's. Matt is a pretty good chef, by the way. He 
> >> was able to turn a turkey sandwich into a culinary event. Then we 
> >> wandered around a little more and bought an extra blanket (it was cold 
> >> at night), then used our new found knowledge to ride the bus back to
our 
> >> marina on the other side of town. Then, on Wednesday, it rained, and 
> >> rained and just about the time the sky would lighten and we thought it 
> >> might stop. You guessed it, it rained some more. It wasn't a hard
rain, 
> >> just that kind of rain that is enough to keep you soaked and
shivering, 
> >> if you're out in it. So we just pretty much stayed in the boat and 
> >> listened to a "book on tape". We did go out to a restaurant in the 
> >> evening called Chinook's. This is located next to the commercial
fishing 
> >> wharfs and while you are eating you can sit and look over the hundreds 
> >> of fishing vessels that are docked there. We both had Dungeness Crab. 
> >> Sandy had a whole crab, and I had crab cakes. Lord, it was good, not 
> >> inexpensive, but way good. I would recommend a visit to this place if 
> >> you are ever in Seattle.
> >>
> >> So, to get to the end of this thing. We drove the pickup and trailer 
> >> over to CSR on Thursday morning and walked back to the marina to get
the 
> >> boat. We then drove the boat over to CSR and were just a tick early
for 
> >> our 10 am appointment. The guys at CSR were quite efficient and had
the 
> >> boat ready to pull, lifted by crane and set on the trailer in about an 
> >> hour. Then we spent another couple hours tying her down and trussing
her 
> >> up for the 1600 mile jaunt back to Minnesota. By 3 pm (Seattle time)
we 
> >> were ready to go, just in time to beat rush hour.
> >>
> >> The trip back went very well and I am happy to report no shortage of 
> >> tongue weight, so the trailer towed amazingly well at any speed I
chose 
> >> to tow (up to 80 mph a couple of times when I wasn't watching close 
> >> enough). I was a little nervous about the snowstorms that had hit 
> >> Colorado so hard, but it seemed to have all stayed to the south of our 
> >> route and all the passes were clear and ice free. The only weather we 
> >> encountered in the high country was a little bit of rain and fog as we 
> >> went up the west side of Snoqualmie Pass. Again, we ooo'd and aaahhh'd 
> >> as we rolled though this breathtaking terrain. It is truly hard to 
> >> describe the beauty and ruggedness of this area. It inspired a much 
> >> greater respect for the bravery and tenacity of the folks who first 
> >> settled these areas with nothing but a horse and wagon. It is just
hard 
> >> to imagine how they ever did it. Tough people, to put it mildly.
> >>
> >> Drove pretty much straight through until I got to Jametown, North
Dakota 
> >> and decided I wanted a nice hot shower and a good nights sleep. Got up 
> >> on Saturday morning, partook of the "continental" breakfast (I think
we 
> >> are becoming fans of Holiday Inn Express) and ran the last couple 
> >> hundred miles in to the house. Got home about 12:30 pm. It was a
really 
> >> fun trip, but it's good to be back home again. The round trip was 3217 
> >> miles.
> >>
> >> Rik
> >>
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