MY LITTLE DINGHY

Well our little dinghy was in need of some TLC and we needed to replace the motor on one of our pontoons at home, so Christmas Day, CJM and I headed out on a road trip to bring her home. Nothing is ever simple for us, so after picking up the boat, we then proceeded to bar hop our way from Islamorada to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl. We stopped at Bert's Bar in Matlacha, Florida to see Jim Morris.

Next stop the Florabama, the bar Jimmy Buffett sings about in Bama Breeze. Then on to Lulu's, Jimmy's sisters place in Gulf Shores.

And finally, we stumbled into the new Margaritaville Resort and Casino in Shreveport, Louisiana. Must be the best kept secret in Shreveport. The Cotton Bowl, of course, was one of the highlights of the trip as Mizzou proceeded to beat the Oklahoma State Cowboys 41 to 31:-)

We made it home and this is the first picture I got to take of TT FF III in Missouri.

I pulled the old engine, controls, steering cable, fuel lines and battery. We then flipped the boat over and proceeded to wax her bottom.

With a fresh bottom job, she had to be put back together. With Dave Schlicht's help, we got the new engine on and ready to go.

After packing the car with more than the legal limit of beer, and apple pie, and rat poison and figuring out how to bring a bicycle along, I was ready to head out.

I was making really good time until on the Florida turnpike as I was running along about 75 mph and talking to CJM on the phone, some people pulled along side and were waving their arms and pointing at the trailer. I looked in the mirror and the bike was gone. I yelled, "Oh s**t!", hung up on CJM and pulled over. The bike was still attached to the saddle it rides on, but the whole bracket had slipped off the rack and was laying on the tongue of the trailer. Thank goodness for all the bungees and cable locks or I might have caused a major traffic jam. Only thing damaged was the rear tire must have been dragging for a while as it was worn down and had a hole in the side. Other than sitting on the edge of my seat and stopping every hundred miles or so to check, the trip was uneventful the rest of the way.

After some clean up and a couple more bugs worked out I tried her out.

Happy Hour at Hog Heaven..... :)

Once CJM arrived we ran to Loralei for Happy Hour....about half as far as Hog Heaven.  Unfortunately we failed to notice that the wind had shifted and that everyone else in their dinghys were long gone.  I had to keep assuring CJM on the long wet ride home that "I might not have the biggest boat in the marina, but I've got a Whaler for a dinghy!".......she'll NEVER sink!

CTM