T&T: ICW in winter

[Steve Sipe]

R. A. McCall wrote:
> <snip>
> I bought a 14' Sunbird (Seadoo type) boat for a dingy on the 39' Carver; it
> was flipped and damaged losing the windshield
> and steering wheel, doesn't have a trailer and needs some repair.  I'm
> checking on the cheapest means to have it delivered
> to Dallas so that I can have necessary repairs done in time for doing the
>   
<snip>

Don't do it!!

We towed a 14ft back & forth across the bay when our kids were boating 
with us, it was the water toy at the time, but it did double duty as a 
dink.  Waaayyy overkill. There's no way I'd ever try towing something 
like that on the ICW. You'll leave it behind half way or trade it on 
something more manageable, I'd bet on it. You do not want to tow a 14 ft 
boat behind you on the ICW. For your 1st trip, there are enough other 
details to demand your attention without the distraction of worrying 
about a 14 footer dragging behind. You can encounter sloppy conditions 
that can develop once you're committed to a passage over some open areas 
where towing that size boat could be downright dangerous.

We had a 355 Carver for 5 years, we had the SeaDoo for a couple of 
years, but when the kids stopped going, we never took the SeaDoo. We got 
an 8-8 Achilles w/air floor and a 4 hp outboard. We stowed it on the aft 
deck, motor next to the stairs. It was a bit of a PITA to launch but it 
served us well, and we could fold it up & get it out of the way when it 
got sloppy. We still have it in the basement, but don't use it on our 
current boat. We now stow our RIB on the deck when we're underway.

Steve Sipe
Solo 4303 "Maerin"
Lying St. Augustine another couple of days...