Bear Belly Adventures

During a storm last fall, a section of a tree fell while my canoe was on saw horses. It crushed the bow of my boat.  The canoe is made of Kevlar. It is very lightweight and durable to normal wear and tear. Still, I suppose being t-boned by a tree is a stretch for consideration of normal wear.  

Mother Nature can be a fickle bitch some days but what can you do? Probably out of spite, I left the busted up boat out all winter. It made sense in my head at the time. Instead of storing it in the garage, the boat was left exposed to the elements. This spring another storm came through. This time, Mother Nature only issued a warning shot. She reminded me I shouldn’t be lazy. I should have cleaned it up last fall. A large branch from the same damn tree fell during that storm. This time It missed the stern of the canoe by mere inches!

I contacted Hornbeck Boats. Based on the pictures, they said the boat is repairable. This proves to be more cost effective than trying to make an insurance claim or buying a new boat. 

Next week on the 18th of June I leave for for Olmstedville, New York to finally get it fixed. I can’t toss a boat with a floppy bow up on the Jeep and travel down the highway. I decided to wrap the bow with cellophane to keep it all together for the road trip.  Initially, I was going to place the bow off the back of the Jeep. However, the wrap job created a pocket. I was concerned the air would get trapped in there while driving. It will blow the end off like an oversize party popper.  With that image firmly planted in my mind, I moved the bow to the front instead. This way, I can see it from the driver’s seat. Hopefully, I can stop in time if cling wrap isn’t the answer and things start to unravel. 

I went out for a drive around town with speeds up to 40 mph and everything looked great.  I will take it out on the bypass before leaving and take it up to 65 mph to see how it handles at speed.  Let’s be honest, 65 mph is probably as fast as the Jeep will go while towing the trailer with canoe and cargo box on top.

Regarding the trailer:  I have gotten tongue and trailer weights in the past. However, my tongue scale is made for heavier trailers. The trailer is on the low end of where the scale reads. Because of that I have always questioned the accuracy of the weights.   Before leaving, I will take the rig to a trailer service shop. I want to measure a precise tongue weight since the trailer is packed differently for full-time travel / living. Then, I will hit the CAT Scales to get axle and rig weights. I am fairly certain I am pushing the limits of my poor Jeep. We will see just how close I am to those limits.  

For my next post, I should be on the road. I will give more details on weights. I’ll also share the start of the trip.

Just trying to live each day as if it’s the best fucking day ever.