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Well, we finally got the big boat in Texas! My wife and I went up to Wisconsin this week, started last Sunday and got back to Houston LMC Marine for the repowering and new electronics installation on Friday afternoon. We had a great trip, saw a lot of beautiful countryside, and learned all about state DOT beauracracies between Wisconsin and Texas!

It only took 2 days driving to get to Delafield WI, a picturesque small town about 15 miles from Pewaukee, where we were picking up the boat. I spent all day Tuesday getting the oversize load permits and routing set up. Since I smoke cigars and WI state law prohibits smoking indoors at hotels, I used the spacious cab on our F-350 as an office, and the hotel fax machine for paper transfers. The WI and IL permits were fairly easy to get and I got them by fax on Tuesday. The MO permit was the next one needed, and it was not so easy. MO DOT requires 1million liability to set up the required account with the state in order to actually get a permit. Had to get proof of insurance and fill out a form from MO DOT and then fax all this stuff to them just to get the account set up. I chose a company in CA called, appropriately, "The Permit Co", to actually deal with routing on the permits, but I had to deal with MO and TX DOT offices myself to establish accounts for the permit service to use in my name. Every state has different regulations for the oversize permits requiring specific information about the tow vehicle and load. Texas requires an account that is established with a $10000 surety bond as well. I started working on permitting the trip through WI, IL, MO, AR, and TX at about 0800 on Tuesday, and by 1630 had done all I could do for the day. I managed to have in hand WI and IL permits and routing, but still needed the rest for the entire trip.

Wednesday we drove over to Pewaukee to pick up the boat after mailing the physical copy of the bond required for the TX permit. While we were there getting the boat secured for transport, tying down all the moving parts, getting all the oversize load signs and flags placed on the truck and boat, picking up all the miscellaneous stuff like fenders, manuals, and storm canvas, the MO permit was faxed to us at the previous owner's home. We now were legal to travel in WI, IL and MO on the route specified on the permits.

After hooking the trailer to the F-350 we were finally ready to start our adventure! I was hoping that the F-350 4X4 we have would be adequate for moving this boat, and I was not disappointed! With all the tongue weight of the trailer on the hitch, the rear of the 14500# rated truck only dropped about 2", making the rig level, not weighted down to the point of having the front end pointed up as in the pictures of the last owner's setup. I am no longer considering a gooseneck trailer to prevent this as a result. The trailer we bought with the boat is a 1992 Karavan with hydraulic surge brakes and will definitely be replaced soon. This trailer is in good shape, but I am concerned with the roller side guides, (they leave black marks), and the hydraulic surge braking system. This was the first time I have ever experienced this type of braking system, and it will be the last! All that thunking at stop/starts was disconcerting, to say the least! The trailer does have a set of keel rollers that are supporting all the weight, but I prefer bunks to having any rollers on a trailer for a Boston Whaler. We will be making a trip to Magnum Trailers here in central TX very soon after the repower to get a new custom trailer built. I phoned in the required axle-to-axle measurements required for the AR permit to the permit service.

After the obligatory "tip of the cap and hearty wave" specified in the owner's manual for the boat, we took off for Texas. (Actually, we didn't do that, I only found that in the Owner' Manual after we stopped for the night in IL, but it makes a good story:) Anyway...

The 2013 Ford F-350 is truly amazing as a tow vehicle. I was astounded at how easy it was to pull this huge boat. The new 6.7 L 400HP / 800 ft lb torque engine didn't seem to realize that it had a load back there! I commented to my wife when asked how it was pulling that it felt like the Outrage 18 behind the F-150! Actually, this rig did not downshift as much as that one does! I kept the speed at 65 MPH and below on most of the trip to avoid tearing anything up on the boat, but this truck would pull at any speed, never dropping more than 2mph in cruise control with this 11000 lb load. I posted a picture of our rig just before we left WI on my personal page.

We stopped in Rochelle IL for the night, and I got my permits for AR and TX faxed to me from the permit service to our hotel. For the first time, I knew we could definitely legally transport the boat all the way to LMC Marine!

We left about 0630 on Thursday and drove all day to some Podunk town in AR that I honestly cannot remember the name of, stayed the night and left again for TX. We ran into the only rain we went through the whole trip in Texarkana AR at the AR/TX state line. It was intense but only lasted for about 30 minutes and did not seem to get the boat or the truck too dirty. We got to LMC Marine about 1430.

We dropped the boat at LMC for repower and discussed with the service manager what we needed to do. My sales rep at LMC thinks we may need to remove the 50HP trolling motor in order to make the dry-stacking at Surfside Marina possible, but I am insisting we get the 300's on the boat and take measurements before deciding to do this. I really want to keep this trolling motor in place, this is a custom mount on a Whaler Drive, and a lot of trouble has been gone to in order to have this feature, and I LIKE it. My sales rep at LMC has a direct line of communication with the owners of the Marina, and she actually keeps at least one boat there herself, so she will keep me informed as to requirements. I am taking all the new electronics down to LMC on Monday for the refit, and I have to get pictures of all the ID/Serial numbers in order to tart the process of registering the boat and motors in TX with the TPWD. I am concerned that the Hull ID number on the transom does not have the "BWC" legible, the printing has long since faded, and this is what started all the trouble I had with TPWD when I got the Outrage 18 registered with them a couple of years ago. If anyone knows where the other hidden hull ID number is located on a Whaler 27 FC, it sure would be appreciated. If I don't know before Monday, I will have to hunt it down, and this boat has a LOT of hiding places! (For those interested in what can happen if you try to register your Whaler WITHOUT the BWC prefix showing on the Hull ID tag, see my post here "TPWD seizes my boat!" )

After the dropping at LMC, my wife and I went to Goode's Seafood Co downtown for some of the best seafood in the world, and then, finally, we got home last night. All in all, we had a good trip, but most of all, the Big addition to our fleet here in TX is finally home!