Made it to FL

[RickSE]

Well I finally made it to Florida a 2,200 mile 3 1/2 day journey from Flagstaff, outrunning the storm the whole way. Everything went good until the third day, lost the spare tire for my trailer due to rough roads on I-10 in LA and had a semi toss a tire tread right in front of me in the middle of the night; wackin the truck pretty hard. Luckilly both the spare tire and semi tread managed to miss the boat.

So if anyone finds a brand new Goodyear Marathon, aluminum wheel and a spare hub on I-10 in LA, AL or Miss, it's mine.

[yeller]

That's a long haul. Worth it I'm sure, though.
Try and get a couple pics of a finished repair if ya can. Curious as to how it looks.

[fegettes]

Yes it is, a longgggg haul in a short time.

Rick, I am another 3-4 hours south of you, in Homestead. How long are you in town? Are you leaving the boat, and then coming back for it? You know, the Miami Boat Show is in two more weeks.

I did get a 98' Sport boat in December. ..... And because of circumstances, I still have not taken it for a ride, there is some thing wrong with this picture. Maybe this weekend.

Steve

[Cuda]

Steve, that weather Rick had been dragging behind him is going to interfere with our boating this weekend unless you go tomorrow :) :)
Scott, if that's the same weather that came through here at 4am, you're in for some real foul weather. Better batten down the hatches now.

[Barry Eller]

Scott, if that's the same weather that came through here at 4am, you're in for some real foul weather. Better batten down the hatches now.

Rained ALL day long in the P'Cola area yesterday.:lightning :umbrella:

Rick, you drove past us. The I-10 bridge you crossed Escambia Bay was just opened. Hurricane Ivan took the old bridge out.

[RickSE]

Man I'm glad I got here when I did and didn't have to drive through that storm. I feel for the people who lost their lives or went through the tornado trauma that early in the morning.

I went back to Donzi this morning in the rain, to lunch at Woody's in the rain, to the 10th street (??) ramp in the rain and out to Lido beach in the rain.

I fly out tomorrow (Sat) at 1pm. I'm leaving the truck here then returning with the whole family on March 17th, driving the boat back to AZ on March 23rd. I wish I could have timed this for the Miami show but it made more sense to combine it with a business trip to New Orleans for next week.

Steve, wish I had time to come down and see you but I can't drive anymore. I drove my dad's old 71' 1-ton Chevy out here, BBC 4-speed with 4.56 gears and no overdrive, 63-MPH @ 3,500 RPM's the whole way. The only time I ever passed anyone was going up hill. The semis would pass me going down hill then I'd kick their ass going back up. I've been so busy getting ready for this trip that I haven't been able to contact you back about your boat. How's the condition of the power train in the one you got?

Again I'll be back March 17-23 if anyone is interested in going out. Kind of tough though being right in the middle of the week and I won't be able to get to the boat until Monday the 19th. I'd certainly like to go out but don't want to go out on my own not knowing the water ways very well. Maybe I can talk Mr. X into hitting the water.

Barry, I went through P'Cola Wednesday night around 9pm and ended up stopping in Lake City for the night.

I didn't get any pictures but I did eyeball the yellow Aronow that's here for the repair. Can't remember whose boat it is but I've heard about it before. I also saw the mother of all files, tucked away in the back of the glass shop, in a little grey cabinet, under a bench is a manila folder containing the 22-C lay-up schedule history dating back to Donzi's opening here in Sarasota, pretty interesting stuff. I also got to see two of the new 28' Porsche boats. Lots of stuff going on here. ZR's and fish boats everywhere, three 22-C's that I saw and no 18's or 16's going down the line.

[Mr X]

Count on it!!:wink:

[gcarter]

Yes, it's a shame you can't stay through the weekend and come over to Mt. Dora antique boat show.:yes:

[RickSE]

SOB I missed another event. :bonk:

I flew to New Orleans earlier today and am here until Thurs., Crazy, Crazy, Crazy. I didn't relize Mardi Gras started the first of Feb. A small parade this evening with some interesting characters. Feels wierd to be here after driving through here a few days ago.

[Carl C]

Good luck with your adventure. What, no phone cam spy photos for us? Oh yeah, you're probably waiting till you get your boat back. :wink:

[gcarter]

SOB I missed another event. :bonk:
Maybe not Rick. It starts the weekend after you pick up your boat. we'd love to see you make it. we have a good time. It's one of the big draws during the year here in Florida.
See; http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=47896

[22zxla]

RICK you down in the big easy huh. Mardi gras really starts up next weekend but i see their are a few parades happening today. If you need anything while your down here just let me know.

[RickSE]

RICK you down in the big easy huh. Mardi gras really starts up next weekend but i see their are a few parades happening today. If you need anything while your down here just let me know.

Yep, We're here til Thursday for a convention but we're trying to find as many distractions as we can. :jestera: There was a college formal going on last night along with the parade, now the superbowl tonight. Man we just went and drove through the 9th Ward. 1 1/2 years later and it doesn't seem like anyone is helping the folks down here, empty half collapsed homes, piles of debris, abandoned cars, trucks and boats and almost no open businesses. In some neighborhoods there's maybe one home owner trying to rebuild, the rest are all gone.

[22zxla]

YEA RICK its pretty bad down here! You need to drive in lakeview is just as bad and that neighborhoods had money and its still a ghost town. 9th ward well it was bad before the storm. hope you enjoy your stay.