Roll Baby Roll!!

We thought we might be ready by May 1st.  But then Cody went to Brooklyn for two weeks.  Then we thought maybe we could do it in mid June, but then we travelled, and time slipped away.  We just made it before August.

Cody finally finished the fairing process- a huge relief- and painted on a few coats of epoxy to seal and protect the hull.  He then built two large, square wheels that went around the boat, and attached caster wheels (think big shopping-cart wheels) to the base of the square wheels.  Cody and I rolled it so that the stern was poking out the garage door,  and waited for our friends to arrive.



When the man-power arrived, we rolled the boat out of the shop.  We attached long nylon tow-straps to the square wheels, and hooked those to the trailer hitch of a truck, which would act as an anchor once the rolling began.  The guys got into position and lifted the edge of the boat.  The square wheels tipped easily, and soon the weight of the boat was on the truck.  I backed the truck slowly, and the boat tipped until it was laying on it's side.  We readjusted the tow-straps and moved the caster wheels, and repeated the process once more.  Then the boat was upright, and ready to roll back into the shop.

We're working on the video...  It should be up soon.

It's so fun to have an upright boat.  Cody has been working on the V-Berth, and we're deciding on things like where to put shelves, and what kind of water tanks to install, and what paint colors to use on the interior.   It's a nice change from fairing and sanding.  

  

We also took a little trip up to the...

Grand Teton!

We joined our friends Pj and Sarah Mannion, also Maddie and Tyler McQueen for a single day climb of the Grand.  

We got a good alpine start, and were leaving the parking lot at the base around 3:45 am.  

It's mostly a hike to the top of the Teton.  In the seven miles to the upper saddle, the trail gains about 7000 feet of elevation. 

We had lovely weather for the day, sunny and warm.  

We made good time on the approach, and were at the upper saddle by 11:00am or so.  

Our selected route, the classic Owen Spalding, was totally packed when we arrived.  It's the easiest route to the top, and while it would be the fastest route for our large party, it also attracts the most inexperienced climbers.  

We deliberated in the cold of the wind and shade of the upper Saddle, and ended up with a split decision.  Cody and Tyler opted to climb an alternate route, a 5.6.  PJ, Sarah, Maddie and I decided to summit the Enclosure, a peak just on the other side of the saddle.  The Enclosure is shorter than the Grand by a few hundred feet, and was a great sunny spot to watch Tyler and Cody climb, and admire the view.  

The Summit of the Enclosure.

This is the view of the very top of the Grand Teton, as seen from the Enclosure.  If you click on the photo, it should get larger, and if you look closely, you might be able to see climbers.  We counted at least twenty.  

The Teton Range is a beautiful place.  We were all pretty tired for the hike out, but were loving the scenery.