Trailering a boat to the Keys can be stressful. The stress emanates from several areas concerning the trip. First and foremost, in my opinion, is the simple fact that towing a 4500 pound chunk of metal and plastic behind one’s vehicle is not sane. Then there is the constant concern that much of the keys is shallow and many places near shore have sand or mud visible at low tide (a problem easily avoided, if you don’t have a sailboat). Finally, throw in a new human being and one can see how something as simple as going on a “boat ride” can stress.
The trip down was fairly uneventful. Once again the most difficult part of the trip was encountered in the hills of South Carolina. But the trailer, with boat, performed well, especially after I made sure all the tires had similar pressure in them. We chose to go down I-95 and made good time. For me its a two day trip. I have long since given up on trying to drive around the clock. Ft. Pierce makes a fine stopping point, whether outside in the Atlantic, traversing the ICW or deciding to trailer sail; so we stopped there. The next day we completed the trip down to Marathon.
On the way, the weather was colder than usual. We saw quite a few iguanas that did not seem happy; some were probably dead. I guess many of the invasive species in Southern Florida don’t think much of global warming, er I mean climate change. A few more cold snaps may not be great for orange growers, but it ought to do wonders for reducing the numbers of iguanas and pythons.
Fortunately, our recent addition did not make too much of a fuss traveling. He stayed tucked into his seat and out of any cool weather. We did stop a bit more frequently than we normally would have, just to make sure we got him out to cool off and just stretch some (and that feeding thing he does). I know that this will likely be the last time when he is exceptionally easy to travel with, since he still sleeps frequently.
After about 17 hours of travel time we arrived at the house. The view we were greeted with was outstanding; although you may want to apply your own judgment…