After a great few weeks cruising and learning about Elvin Ray, the trip was marred by a flat tire caused by inattention, a near disaster on the interstate caused by the incompetence of the SeaTow contractor who changed the tire, and the exhaustion caused by it all.
SeaTow was now on our bad side. We had SeaTow for more than 15 years, just in case we needed a tow on the water or had an issue towing back and forth to the coast. They were friendly enough on the first call, but the tire changer they sent to the gas station where we had the initial flat tire changed, almost cost us a brand new boat. I'm not as upset about that as I am by their reaction to the event. The lack of customer care was shocking. I no longer recommend SeaTow to anyone.
We awoke the next morning in Jacksonville and made the decision to head for home. Our original plan to drive to the Charleston area and spend some time on the East coast with Elvin Ray was deflated by the trailer issues. Heading home seemed like the right thing to do. We would be home for Thanksgiving and it would give us time to do some initial maintenance to the boat and figure out a plan for our next adventure. We headed up I-95 on the six hour trip. We made stops for gas and food along the way and got more comfortable towing the new boat/trailer. A notable stop was at the Black Rifle Coffee Company.
We got home before sunset and got Elvin Ray situated in the driveway for what we thought would be a temporary stay for her since I had made reservations back in August to have an indoor storage space at the U-haul Storage facility on Hwy 70 in Hickory. Indoor, climate controlled storage meant that we would not have to winterize her after every winter trip and that she would be out of the winter elements. It was worth the cost and the first month would be free because I had rented a trailer there a few months earlier. The only downside was that maintenance would require a trip across town to get to her.
I decided to go check out the space in person, before towing the boat to the facility, so I could plan the maneuvers required to get her parked in her space. I arrived at the facility, waited in line, and got to the counter after a few minutes wait. I told them I wanted to see the spot I had reserved, and what happened next was exactly like you see in this Seinfeld clip, except that the discussion was over a storage space instead of a car.
Seriously, it went like that. There were no spaces available and since the reservation was done online, the manager blamed "corporate". Calls to U-haul Customer Service yielded some apologies, and searching the western North Carolina area for an indoor spot that could hold a 35 foot boat trailer was to no avail. So, Elvin Ray was staying with us. There is no crying in boating - you have to roll with the punches. We had definitely taken a couple of punches, but we were ready to start planning an East Coast cruise that would get us back in the groove. At least we hoped it would...
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