Lake Champlain to the Chesapeake

We arrived back in Plattsburgh last night--boy, has it been an interesting ten days. In a nutshell, after stopping along the way to visit the boys in Princeton and Philadelphia, and Rich's Mom in Fairfax, we got back to Satellite Beach on the 30th of September and started immediately looking within the Melbourne-Orlando area for a used but suitable pickup truck. Ever dealer seemed to be looking to make their monthly commission off the one truck they wanted to sell us. So, after a bit of quick research, we found four(!) 2008 commercial off-lease Ford F250 diesel long bed crew cab pickups for sale at Texas Direct Auto in Houston. Yes, Houston. Saturday, October 3rd, I flew out to Houston Hobby (TDA folks run shuttles every 30 minutes to this airport, and hourly to IAH), bought one (with 43,000 miles), and drove home arriving Sunday night.


I didn't keep a copy of the auction showing our particular pickup, but the picture above show a similar, but gasoline-powered, truck on TDA's ebay site. Their pricing is thousands less than anywhere else I checked; I guess they make up for low margins by selling heaps of vehicles. My sales person told me they sell about 70 or so cars and trucks a day. They market themselves as the ebay's largest auto reseller.

So, after a fluid change and lubrication at the local Melbourne ford dealer on Monday, Oct. 5th, we left Satellite Beach on Wednesday, Oct 7th, towing the empty trailer north. I think that was something over 3,500 miles driving in 10 days!
Now back to Pecan.


First part of the journey is the short trip from Plattsburg down the Lake to the Valcour area for the haul out of Pecan.


And then the overland route towing Pecan south.


Peru state docks boat ramp.
Our first choice on where to haul Pecan out of the water was suppose to be the boat ramp 1 mile north of the Plattsburgh Boat Basin marina on Cumberland Ave. This morning we drove the truck over to check out the site; ramp had too shallow an angle and, even if the slope would have been OK, there's a ledge drop-off just where the trailer wheels would reach. So, no go here.
After checking with the folks at Plattsburgh Boat Basin (even asked them about travel-lifting Pecan out and placing her on the trailer but they were busy with their scheduled hauling of boats out for the winter) they suggested to try Peru state docks. So over to Peru state docks for a look-see, and we were presently surprised. Excellent twin lane concrete launch ramps with floating docks on either side. Plus perfect slope to get the rear of the trailer in deep water.
At 10am, then, we hauled Pecan out. Peru state docks are just opposite from Valcour Island, as you can see in the photo above. Tamara drove the truck and empty trailer the 7-8 miles south from Plattsburgh Boat Basin marina while I motored Pecan down.


We've just pulled Pecan from the water for our first time and all went well--even the boat looks to be centered on the trailer. Now to secure straps around the stern and bow and stow gear for the road ahead.


A view off I-87 in the Adirondacks--the trees are at peak color change.


"Bio break" at rest stop along interstate 87 in the Adirondacks. Great fall colors!


Along the way, we saw these CAT Scales at the truck diesel plazas and thought if we could use the service it'd be good to know what the gross weight of the Rossie and the trailer are. So we did. Each time cost $9.00.



As you can see above, we have print-outs from getting weighed on two separate occasions. In Pennsylvannia, with an empty trailer--just the truck and Shor'landr trailer (no Pecan):

Steer axle of truck: 5,020 lbs
Drive axle of truck: 3,780 lbs
Trailer axles: 1,580 lbs
Total: 10,380 lbs

After leaving Plattsburgh, here's the data at a CAT Scale, this time with Pecan on the trailer (as in the photo above):

Steer axle of truck: 4,720 lbs
Drive axle of truck: 4,960 lbs
Trailer axles: 8,680 lbs
Total: 18,360 lbs

At the time of both weigh-ins, our 2008 Ford F250 4x4 diesel long bed crew cab truck is full of diesel; Pecan has 80% full of gas and full of diesel (15 gallons for stove/generator) and 50% or so full of water. No dinghy and minimal clothes and gear in boat or truck.

St. Paul D'Iles aux Noix to Plattsburgh, New York

We pulled Pecan up to U.S. border station floating dock on Lake Champlain at 9:04am today. Quickly checked in and left as we received high wind warnings for Lake Champlain with the approach of a frontal system lifting from the south. We piloted south with the destination of Plattsburgh.


Pecan powering along at 10 knots into 20+ knot southerly in northern Lake Champlain.


U.S. Border Customs dock.


The border agents didn't have this 'announcement board' turned on today. They didn't expect to see anyone entering the US today, although a couple of weekends ago they've had 100+ boats entering the US.


Customs and Immigration operate out of this travel trailer sitting on this spit of land. This trailer, and the floating docks, are pulled out within the next 30 days for the season. If you enter the US after they're gone you'll have to visit them at the offices in Plattsburgh.



Rounded Cumberland Head and made our way to Plattsburgh; we had a lot of rolling with the beam seas for the few miles we were heading west, but the Rosborough handled them nicely albeit with a tad slower speed to make it more comfortable. With Pecan now secured in a slip, we'll be renting a car within the 2 hours. Seeing that our superb fall weather has come dramatically to a close--there's no need to bash south in Lake Champlain and the Hudson river for 300+ miles in inclement weather. And that's just to get to NYC--we'll still have 1,000 miles to go to get to Florida). So, we'll head home and return in about a week with a tow vehicle to truck Pecan south. We don't own a truck...so it'll be an interesting week ahead.

Why the rush? Plattsburgh Boat Basin will be closing for the season on the 15th of October. So we have an extra week as a buffer if we hit a snag finding a truck and returning up here.