NASHVILLE-HOME VIA U-HAUL TRUCK

NASHVILLE-HOME VIA U-HAUL TRUCK

Day 47, End of Trip

We are home safe and sound tonight! We brought the U-Haul one-way box truck back here with all the truck stuff that had to be emptied for the USAA inspection of the truck. It is very likely a total loss. The boat and (non road-worthy) trailer will be inspected by a Progressive adjuster on Wed and then towed on a low-boy flatbed to PNS so we can use our local trusted shops to do the repair work on the boat and trailer. The boat came through all this trauma with the least amount of damage, despite it mowing down ALL the bow barriers and supporting framework structures to smash into the truck tailgate. When we had our surveyor inspecting Cat O’ Mine pre-purchase, he looked up at us and said, “ You know, this boat will be around a lot longer than you two.”

On the same day in Nashville, there were four deaths on that section of I-65 in two crashes…so we feel lucky.

The MFD shows our total water miles now at 7,035 on Our Loop and 234 locks to date! The AGLCA site is not friendly to what the medical professionals now refer to us folks over 70 as ‘the Elderly’. However, as far as I can discern, we may be the first CD-TC255 to complete the loop if we do…we only have the top of the C&D Canal to Albany (under 400 miles total) to go’.

This NEBOLINK log for July shows our strategy of ‘hugging the coast’ for trailer boats cruising the Great Lakes while minimizing fetch. It doesn’t include Lake Erie, but we hugged the southern coast during southern winds. We like the Windy Blue app for wind prediction, which leads to wind wave predictions.

file:///C:/Users/HP/Downloads/Cat%20O'%20Mine%20Jul%202025%20(1).pdf

We appreciate your good wishes and prayers. We are so blessed that our next adventure is on an American Cruise Line small ship exploration of the Down East Loop. If it’s calm enough to explore in a Tom Cat, we’ll come back on our own boat!

In the meantime, Safe Travels and Calm Seas everyone!

JohnRead more