This is the story of my friend George Rosenwinkel's trip down to the Gulf on his boat Tookey. I was the neighborhood kid down the block when George started building his boat. I watched him build it, and ultimately was there on cementing day (yes, that's right a cement boat). It's an interesting story, typewritten of about 9 pages. I was given a copy. I have a few photos of the launching. George was a member of the CPS for sometime. I hope that along the way, if others have some other tidbits that they will add them as we go along.
TOOKEY'S RUN TO THE SOUTH
Well, now comes the report time! The voyage down the inland waterways to Mobile Bay.
They Say any good report gets its story in the first paragraph. How in the world do they do that? It was 90% boredom and 10% sheer terror -- and that's the truth!
Tookey was put in the water on Sept. 9, 1990 at Larsen's Marina in Waukegan, IL. Happily it floated right on the lines. The next day we had a 2 hour sea trial during which an over heating stuffing box became apparent. This was overcome by loosening the packing nut to allow seawater to flow through the packing to cool it; which temporarily corrected the problem. The boat handled well, and we got it in and out with no problems. Didn't destroy any docks.
Sept. 10 was a Monday and we departed Waukegan for the run down to Chicago. Proceeded through the locks at 1700 and tied up on the west wall of the turning basin. Not the best job of docking in the whole world! Had an engineering discussion with Jay Brule, Larry Bartoszed and Peter Collins regarding what to do about the over heating stuffing box, as it gave trouble all the way down. The consensus was that it would be best to take the boat up to Grebe's Boat Yard on the North Branch of the Chicago River and have it looked into before starting on the big trip. We stayed the night tied up and took it up to Grebe's in the morning. The crew was Camilla Ross and her son Carl. The boat stayed there a week during which time the drive line was dismantled, the yard mechanic reamed out the stuffing box to give about .01" clearance around the prop shaft which as it turned out, was not enough. This became apparent as time went by. On Monday, Sept. 17th I fell in the river while trying to unfasten a shackle from the bow eye of the boat. As a result of this, I broke my ankle during the fall. Dummy!
However, inasmuch as we were scheduled to depart the following morning (as Camilla and her son had scheduled their vacations for this time) there was nothing for it but to talk myself into thinking it was just a bad sprain.
Sept. 10 was a Monday and we departed Waukegan for the run down to Chicago. Proceeded through the locks at 1700 and tied up on the west wall of the turning basin. Not the best job of docking in the whole world! Had an engineering discussion with Jay Brule, Larry Bartoszed and Peter Collins regarding what to do about the over heating stuffing box, as it gave trouble all the way down. The consensus was that it would be best to take the boat up to Grebe's Boat Yard on the North Branch of the Chicago River and have it looked into before starting on the big trip. We stayed the night tied up and took it up to Grebe's in the morning. The crew was Camilla Ross and her son Carl. The boat stayed there a week during which time the drive line was dismantled, the yard mechanic reamed out the stuffing box to give about .01" clearance around the prop shaft which as it turned out, was not enough. This became apparent as time went by. On Monday, Sept. 17th I fell in the river while trying to unfasten a shackle from the bow eye of the boat. As a result of this, I broke my ankle during the fall. Dummy!
However, inasmuch as we were scheduled to depart the following morning (as Camilla and her son had scheduled their vacations for this time) there was nothing for it but to talk myself into thinking it was just a bad sprain.
Tookey with Masts ready to be loaded on to transport. 6Sept90
Cranes getting into position.
Lifting boat and Jacks being put into place.
Getting those cranes back there was a really tight fit.
Lowboy trailer carefully rolled underneath suspended boat and cradle.
Tookey loaded onto trailer and ready for transport with escort up to Waukegan.
Note: Additional photos found on www.facebook.com
Getting those cranes back there was a really tight fit.
Lowboy trailer carefully rolled underneath suspended boat and cradle.
Tookey loaded onto trailer and ready for transport with escort up to Waukegan.
Note: Additional photos found on www.facebook.com
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