double trailer heading to NACs

[K.C. Walker]

So, Mike Gillum finished retrofitting his double kept Thistle trailer for DaySailers and they're loaded up and on their way to Texas! He sent me some photos and I thought you all might enjoy them.

From Mike:

KC,
Craig Lee and I spent several hours Tuesday morning and early afternoon loading his #316 (top on dolly) and my #2772 (bottom on trailer) onto my modified Thistle double-deck trailer as well as building the Mast Rack (Black Ballenger is mine and the silver proctor is Craig’s) on the fly.
I waved good bye around 2:00 pm and then immediately jumped into our Installation Truck to go help my business partners install twenty Brackets for a HVAC Screen on a very warm 2nd floor outdoor patio for the soon to be new Mercedes of Sacramento Showroom. Talk about a really long day!
Craig called later that night leaving a message that he wasn’t comfortable with the centerline support of the dolly and wanted to stop back by on his way east to Texas to adjust it.
So he and his wife Mary stopped by my shop early Wednesday morning to figure out what could be done to provide more support for the hull.
What I missed in my haste Tuesday was that we could remove a pair of SS Nuts to disconnect and raise the centerline of the dolly by sliding a short section of pressure-treated 2x6 between the dolly and centerline support.
Problem solved with Craig and Mary back on the road by 9:30.
Haven’t heard from them since they left so either its smooth sailing on their trek east or they’re dead! I’m assuming it’s smooth sailing with lots of barren land between here and Texas.
Start making plans for 2012 DS NAC’s at Huntington Lake in thirteen months.
One of the very best places in the world to race sailboats! Mike

[algonquin]

Nicely modified trailer setup. I am sure it will get more than a few looks from motorists as he goes down the highway. Brad

[Bob Hunkins]

They got her just fine, guys! Hoping the winds will moderate a bit, 15-25 right now.

[Mike Gillum]

The double-deck trailer carrying #2772 and #316 arrived safe and sound back in the Sacramento area from DS NAC's this past Tuesday afternoon in an unseasonable downpour.
Happy to see Juneuary done with and summer finally here!
Craig Lee and his wife Mary Niederberger-Lee came over to my shop Thursday afternoon to breakdown the double-deck trailer using our forklift.
Ninety minutes later they were heading off to the gym while I was heading off to the Port of Sacramento for Thursday Night Laser Races.
Late Friday afternoon I spent two hours by myself using the forklift to pick #2772 off of the double-deck trailer onto the aluminum dolly vacated a day earlier by #316, exchange the new aft DS Bunk with the existing Thistle Bunk, move the Bow Winch 4" forward to it's original location, pick Thistle #1014 off of #2772's trailer that it's been squatting on for nearly a month and put it back on it's trailer, and pick #2772 off of the dolly putting it back on it's trailer.
#2772, the dolly, and forklift went back into the welding shop for the long 4th of July weekend while #1014 went home with me so we could race it yesterday.
The double-deck trailer traveled a little over five thousand miles roundtrip to Seabrook and back. Craig and Mary took nearly three thousand miles to get to Seabrook as they stopped to hike, sightsee and visit friends and family.
The only problem Craig mentioned was that the bearings on the driver side of the trailer started to get rather warm on the trip home through Arizona and that he slowed down from 70mph he was driving as a precaution.
I asked if that side was in the afternoon sun and he said it was which meant it was getting cooked by the sun more than anything else.
I'll experience a 30-50 degree difference in bearing temperature from the sunny side to the side in the shade during our hot summers.
The only precautions taken for the recent trip to Seabrook were an extra spare from my other Thistle trailer and a large Zip-Lock bag containing a complete set of bearings, can of axle grease, latex gloves, and rags.
None of which were needed or expected to be used.
A week of using #2772 on the wider and lower Thistle trailer back in Seabrook really spoiled me as far as getting in and out so easily of #2772 and now I'm thinking that a new wider and lower DS trailer that I can readily convert into a double-decker to avoid playing "Musical Trailers" is in my near future!

[Bob Hunkins]

Mike you sound so proud of yourself!!! Well, I guess you are entitled, being the top dawg!
Fair winds, mate!

[Mike Gillum]

Double-decking is a means to save time and money as well as encourage more DS owners to travel.
My double-deck trailer in the past three seasons has gone to 2009 & 2010 Thistle Midwinters West in San Diego, California, 2009 Thistle Nationals in Westport, Connecticut, 2010 Thistle Midwinters East in St. Pete, Florida, and now Seabrook, Texas.
A little over 20k miles behind Mardi's Suburban, a Thistle friend's Toyota Sienna Minivan, Dave Keran's Ford Van, and Craig Lee's extended Ford Van.
The Toyota Sienna Minivan on the roundtrip to Connecticut was slightly underpowered requiring NASCAR style drafting skills behind 18 wheelers but that kept you awake whenever it was required up hills or in headwinds.
Other than replacing the bearings before 2010 MWE in St. Pete as a precaution and the original set of tires that came with the trailer and delaminated on Dave Keran on the way to St. Pete, Florida it's keeps taking our boats safely anywere we travel.
Keep posting those 2011 DS NAC photographs! Looking forward to Gary's photographs of races 5 & 6 as well as Deb McCaffrey's.
Who was shooting on the water Friday? Heard it was for the local newspaper?

[jwells]

Glad everyone made it back in good order, Mike and we're sure proud of everyone that made the trip this far south. It was great to have you all and to have met all the rock stars we've read about in the Quarterly. Sure look forward to seeing everyone again. Congratulations to you and Mardi; you sure brought your A Game!
And we're still giddy with the excitement of hosting the NACs and with Lakewood Yacht Club's hospitiality. It was a super, albeit shortened, 2 days of perfect Galveston Bay sailing competition for us all. Hope to see you all within a year.

[Mike Gillum]

Jim,
Thanks again for all the hard work and hospitality exhibited all week by the Organizing Committee and your DS Fleet.
Lakewood Yacht Club and it's members were also outstanding. All week we kept getting members walking up to us, introducing themselves, asking where we were from, and telling us if we needed anything to look them up. Great people.
Your Raffle Prizes were just amazing and we were truly sorry to have not won at least one of them!
We'd be more than happy to return to Lakewood Yacht Club should you opt to host DS NAC's sometime in the future.
We're already looking forward to 2012 DS NAC's squeezed between both weekends of High Sierra. Nearly two weeks of racing in heaven await us next year!
Brooks Measure was 100% correct that reservations for camping or a condo at Huntington Lake need to be done sooner than later.