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Those long skinny boats.



At 12:27 PM -0700 7/2/03, John Hofstetter wrote:
On Wednesday, July 2, 2003, at 12:17 PM, Joel Furtek wrote:
PS I, too, use the tongue jack to do the work when loading up the bars, and, more importantly, when unloading them. One of those would take a hell of a bite out of your shin.
Because I am occasionally guilty of showing off,
John, Say It Ain't So!

sometimes when I am unloading the bars, I'll get the pry lever part way down, move my body out of the way and let the spring of the bars throw the pry across the camp, accompanied by a loud noise that sounds like a rifle shot.
Then I'll say in a startled voice, "Wow, I'm glad that one didn't get me."
Then I go limping off, knowing that strangers are assuming that one did get me.
Better than the truth.
Sounds like the saw about limping from "an old football injury." Yeah, I got hit by an old football.


Your assistant coach story was interesting, but the description of what you are hauling, boggled my mind. Especially the overhang.
It's definitely a different kind of load! Joel B has seen it, but I'll wager few folks have, or would recognize it. The boats look like missiles, which they would quickly be if straps failed. At 25-35 grand a pop, mistakes are to say the least expensive. Carbon fiber is easily enough repaired, but at great cost in weight, which is why we use the composites in the first place. The whole boat weighs just over 200# rigged, or roughly 3 1/2 pounds per foot! That would make me weigh just under 20 pounds! :-)
Anyway, the trickiest part of hauling them, aside from crosswinds and gawking folks hanging out in blindspots, is that when you turn left, the bows of the boats, normally hanging over the pickup, don't turn left for some time, so they appear to be heading right. More than a few bows have been cleaved off on telephone poles over the years. Same on the back end, only it's 75 feet from the driver, and impossible to watch. In my early days I really planned ahead, making everything easy. Now I get cocky and parallel park. Must constantly remind myself to be careful.
Here are some pictures of the trailer, with a moderate load, along with a bunch of fairly cheesy copy from when I was head coach at Carolina: <http://tarheelblue.ocsn.com/sports/w-crew/spec-rel/040102aaa.html>
Alright, I just closed on my new old house (pics on the site below), time to start moving!
Best,
Joel
--
Joel Furtek
<http://homepage.mac.com/heelsroll>
The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.



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