Sommerflysby AWOL
 

Well, I thought by now Mike would at least of had the cliff notes version of his trip to pick up their new boat in Florida! It's been pretty quiet, except for one spy photo of the boat being launched in Pompano. Perhaps they decided to stay in Florida fulltime, couldn't say as I'ld blame them :whistle:

couple teasers.......trust me, im sure Mike will be posting a detailed version of his trip soon when he gets home!

M & M are doing just fine and having a blast ,as much as they love sunny Florida the Mrs has a mob of lil ones waiting for her return .

You should see the pics of him sleeping in the rainstorm !!!!

Ask and you shall receive.....

Drunken sailer!!! Typical!

We ran them out of town!

Mike drinks BIG BEERS I see!

Looks like the new trailer fits nicely.

is that in a club on south beach? poppin bottles?? lol

We had one like that after a Margarita party Monday. He was sleeping on the concrete and praying to the lawn gods.

I don't know about you guys but I saw the boat today at 3:30 I also saw mike and michelle too . there new boat is super bad. also some good friends to have . thanks again guys , come see us at cumberland .

Good to know you guys miss me! Lol. We had an AWESOME time...well...except for the tow home...I don't want to see my truck again for a LONG time! Alas...it sits in the driveway now awaiting the trip to work :(

I'll get all the details up on my blog in the next couple of days.

Thanks AGAIN to Pat...we are SO happy with the boat!

Hey Mike, Glad to see you're loving it !!

Here's a quick recap...there will be more details later...

Well...we made it back home yesterday with our Active Thunder, after 2700 miles of driving and 6 days on the boat in south Florida. I don't want to see the inside of my truck again for a LONG time!

Spring break traffic SUCKS...next time I see a Michigan plate on a minivan I am going to run it off the road...I-75 was awful almost all the way through Georgia...probably spent 2+ hours in traffic on the way down and an hour+ on the way back.

We stayed at Sands Harbor in Pompano, and I highly recommend it. Everything is there...hotel, restaurant, pool, marina, and a 2 block walk to the beach. Went straight to the marina there on Saturday (after 16+ hours in the truck Friday), tied up, and went over to the pool and got lunch and drunk. Lol. Houston's was right across the ICW, so we walked over for an awesome dinner.

Sunday, we idled down the Intercoastal all the way down to Ft. Lauderdale, encountering the DNR along the way (no numbers on the boat as Illinois hasn't sent me my sticker yet). Almost blew into a wall while they were checking the paperwork, they let us go on our way without issue. Saw Haggin's pad on the ICW...nice joint! Got the life jackets out and the lanyard on and ran the Atlantic down to Miami Beach in 3-5s....the AT is GREAT in the rough stuff. After we slipped in, the party boy at the end of the dock with a 100-footer invited us aboard for a drink, then invited us to a party at his friend the billionaire's pad. We politely declined on the auspicies of finding ourselves in a situation similar to "The Hangover." The marina was rockin and rollin with the wind and tides, so after a cocktail (or two) at Monty's, we decided to grab a hotel room in Miami Beach. My wife Michelle found one for $85, so we jumped on our road bikes (had them strapped in behind the bolsters!) with a backpack full of a change of clothes and rum and Coke, went to the hotel and got cleaned up, then walked Lincoln Ave at night. Way cool.

Monday morning we rode back to the harbor and checked on the boat, then rode back into the Deco district for breakfast. Saw Keri Walsh (Olympic gold medalist) practicing some beach volleyball with her new partner, and spent some time on the beach. Then, it was back to the boat, where we cast off and went over to Coconut Grove. Pulled into Grove Harbor just as a huge rainstorm started, so I tied off on the gas dock, put the cover on, and went below. Nice that the AT has a big cockpit and cabin, as we hung out in there and had a couple beers for the next 2 hours while the rain fell. When it cleared, we grabbed a slip at the Municipal marina next door, ate dinner at Scotty's, and enjoyed a beautiful post-rainstorm evening.

Tuesday, we got up and biked about 20 miles on some HORRIBLE bike paths, then loaded up with the intention of running down to Gilberts. Well...the GPS on the boat didn't work (the screen backlight went out, and we couldn't read it), so, after making it to, and through, the Featherbeds and not being able to visually sight the next channel marker, we decided not to risk blindly boating around in unfamiliar waters, and turned around. Ran back up to Key Biscayne and pulled into Crandonton Park Marina, where we enjoyed meeting Mr. Manitee the next slip over, and had cocktails on the beach for the afternoon. We then rode our bikes over to Virginia Key and ate dinner overlooking the Miami skyline at the Rusty Pelican while the sun went down.

Wednesday, we biked down to the Lighthouse on Key Biscayne and checked it out, then went to Virginia Key again, and up and over the big bridge to the mainland just for the heck of it. Back at the boat, we put a little fuel in, and ran the Ocean all the way back up to Hillsboro Inlet in Pompano, ending up back at Sands Harbor. We then did a repeat of Saturday afternoon, with some cocktails in the pool. In the early evening, we jumped in the boat and idled up to Two Georges in Deerfield Beach for dinner, then back down to our slip as the sun was setting.

Pulled the boat early Thursday morning to get it over to Active Thunder and set it down on the new Manning trailer I had towed down (thanks to Pat and his gantry...I didn't even have to dip the new wheels in salt!). We had one more night in FL, so we grabbed a room at the Sands, and met up with a high school friend of ours we hadn't seen in 20 years down in Ft. Lauderdale By the Sea.

Friday morning, we were on the road heading north by 9 am, and three 7-8 hour days of driving later, we were back in Chicago...with temps in the 40s!

My wife kept saying how great it would be to do this trip again...but that rhetoric stopped about halfway through day 2 of the drive home! Lol. Maybe someday....

As of now, I'm just happty to be home, and finally have my new ride here with me!

you have serious .......deeply seeded .........issues !!!!!!

just in case no one caught that !!!!

What? Nobody else does this? Lol.

There are two in there...Michelle's bike is black and red and perfectly matches the boat. The green one is my new Trek Madone...picked it up the day before we left, so my first ride on it was in FL. 16.5 lbs of carbon goodness...

I strapped and cushioned them with a myriad of bungee cords and a couple of large moving blankets when we were underway. Didn't budge OR hurt anything in 3-5s on the ocean...but I took it pretty easy and kept the boat in the water as much as possible.

Id like to try that, but with segways....

Sounds like a great trip Mike. And the best part, no issues with anything! Truck, boat, trailer, etc. Saweet.

If that had been me, I would blew at least 2 trailer tires, smoked a bearing or two, lost a water pump on the truck, and had at least one breakdown on the water needing a tow from boat u.s. , and would have got several tickets from that DNR officer.

How could he,,,,,,darn near everything is almost new,,,,,INCLUDING THE BIKE !!!! LOL

Sorry we missed this one,,,,,looked like a great time,,,,,,worst part,,,,, Now I dont start the new job till next week,,,,,coulda made it :-(

Jealous,,,,,who me???? HELL YES !!!!!

Sounds awesome...except for the driving part which I can relate with the issue part. 2011 Florida spring break trip, broke a wheel bearing backing in my driveway. Lucky hey? Gotta go again then right. 2012....well, 1 year old trailer tire decided to give it up (Il.) and take one of my trailer lights with it. Luckily I have another light on the same side in my drive protection brace across the trailer. On they way back, just out side of Tampa, a belt started to separate on another. Just happy both tire issue happened in a decent spot. 2013 we flew and rented some POS in Marco Is. 2014 boat coming with again.

Moral of my story, Yes the 3 hour flight was nice, but not having my boat in these waters???? Taking two weeks next year.

Another example of the room you have on one of these wonderful boats. You can tie your bikes in and still room to move around.......try that with a 39 gun.:whistle:

Mike,
We passed you in Louisville south of the bridge heading home. We were in a blue CTS going like a raped ape and saw you bouncing around pretty good. The traffic just plane sucked. The boat looks awesome. Congrats.
We left Palmetto at 1:00 AM yesterday and was in Rockford Mi at 7:30 PM. It helps to be in a car running 85 the whole time.

Yeah...Louisville is where I-65 started getting ROUGH. Plus, I got stuck behind some jackhole semi doing 45 through the entire city. Traffic was so thick in the left lane I couldn't jump out, so I just had to sit in and go slow.

Sounds like you had a good trip. Sands and Scotty's are great places.

Mike, slight correction... See below.

Hi Mike,
Glad you made it back OK! I have to admit, the bike thing cracks me up, I guess I'll have to give you "side-entry" guys the thumbs up on that one! It would be pretty hard to carry the bikes on a center entry (not that I'ld want to do it) ! You sure live a charmed life, not even having to dip your new trailer in the saltwater, that's great. Sounds like you had a great time in Florida, except for the drive!
Steve

Nice blog post Mike!
http://sommerfliesby.blogspot.com/20...red-miles.html

Glad to see you are enjoying the boat. I hate to say it, but...
...I told you so!

When are you going to post the <S> picture in the cabin which $old you? :drink:

Did you blow a tire on the trip? I thought I saw something about that on FB.

No issues at all with tires. Got a pretty big rock chip right by the step on the port side, but that's an easy fix. Thanks for the compliment on the blog...its a long read, but I've been enjoying writing this stuff down and reliving it when I read it again down the road.

For those that don't wish to muddle through the ENTIRE blog post...I figure this short excerpt is the one that Pat will appreciate the most:

"I took my sweet time at the ramp, walking over to survey the ramp itself as well as the parking area, so I had my entire route planned out before execution...the smart thing to do with 40 feet of boat and trailer behind you. Also...its best to not look like an absolute idiot if you can avoid it. Well, I was successful on all counts...backed the trailer in, floated the boat, and tied it off on the wall, then went up and parked the truck and trailer (although, admittedly, it took me a while to line the rig up so I was only using one parking spot). So...I was feeling pretty good about myself when I jumped in the boat to fire it up and take off. I turned the keys and the motors roared to life, and, without hesitation, I put it in gear and we pushed off the wall. Well...task number one was to turn the boat around 180 degrees and head for the Intercoastal, so I put the port motor to forward, and the starboard motor in reverse. I was fighting a wind and a slight current, but suddenly, everything started feeling...wrong. A quick glance at the dashboard told me that the starboard motor had died. I was not prepared for this in the LEAST...especially considering the motors were fuel-injected and should NEVER die! So, I was faced with fighting a wind and current and turning a large (and unfamiliar) boat with one motor...and, no power steering (that pump is on the starboard motor, apparently). Yup. Full-on panic. Turned the wheel as hard as I could while trying to restart the motor, and it wouldn't fire. I had to reverse-lock the wheel and put the boat in reverse to get the bow to come around, and by this time, all I wanted to do was get the boat back on the wall. Michelle jumped on the bow, and managed to get on land, and I was able to get the boat close enough that she could pull me in. We tied it off, and I was immediately on the phone to Pat in a panic. Repeated attempts to start the motor would result in a sputter, but it wouldn't catch. Pat finally answered and came quickly over, and, after the quickest glance and turn of the key, proclaimed "You had me come over here for THIS?" Well...I felt relieved and stupid at the same time...and that degenerated to just feeling stupid when he pumped the throttle a couple times and the motor instantly lit. Turns out, you CAN flood an EFI engine if you do not let it warm up properly. Oops. Learn something new every day. Pat kicked us off the dock, and down the Intercoastal we went to the Sands Harbor Marina, where I successfully docked the boat. We then got some help from the locals tying off to compensate for the tides, and hit the accompanying hotel's restaurant, pool and BAR. Pina Coladas for me and Rum Runners for Michelle, replete with Bacardi 151 floaters. A walk across the street to a terrific restaurant for dinner capped an exciting day, and we went to bed EARLY."

When I rec'd my bill from him prior to departure...it was itemized as pictured. Lol.

Sweet Michael. Glad you and Michelle are enjoying the new ride.

See, some things you can't pay for. Try that from another manufacturer! :daz:

Thats hilarious!

Wow Mike sounds like mostly an awesome trip. Also an awesome boat. Congrats.
I'm sorry I missed this thread untill now. I forget to look in on the
cult every now and then.

I am certainly looking back fondly upon that week as I sit here watching it freakin' SNOW! Lol.

66 and sunny up here, sorry to here about your snow.

I hear ya. Took my daughter to Mich State today for tour and it snowed there and back. Looked at my arms losing tan and layers of skin and stated many times to her coming home this weather sucks.
Would love to move south, but retirement is a few years off.

Mike,
You came back 2 months early, no 3 months early I just noticed snow on the roof.

Sounds like a great trip and boat looks sweet. Hope you can make it up our way sometime this summer.

Rick

Finished all the blog posts, sounds like a great trip. Definitely something to shoot for down the road.