The Old Truck and a Long Planter Box

Saturday was Noe's 11th Birthday, so Noe and La did some ceramic painting with friends, while I grabbed some last minute groceries and got Marlon a haircut. While we were walking in the parking lot, I saw a truck that looked like the one that got stolen from me two Aprils ago. I miss that truck... I'm pretty sure I went surfing with Marlon at White Plains (either Saturday or Sunday... no pictures unfortunately), but before that I installed a new sink in the kitchen and I finished one of La's presents - this planter box. It felt good to go surfing again. I need to do it more!

Real Salty and a Juggernaut Van

I got this salt coating for free!!! Four hours up to Jersey and four hours back down to Northern Virginia after the roads have been salted to melt the last snowfall - I got plastered with salt. It was on pretty thick - I'm going to need to wash the Taco head to toe and inside out. Lastly - this van belong to the organization stickered on the side (Teen Fly Fishing Trips) - but ISN'T IT COOL????!!!!????? I bet it has an eternal smell of french fries....

My Truck

My Truck with the racks setup for carrying our kayak.

No noticeable noise in this configuration (at least today driving to and from work). This setup is all too common back in Hawaii. The really long OC-1 canoes and Unlimited SUPs are supported really well with the large separation between bars. I also got the ball mount for the hitch so I can break out the Weta (soon). There really isn't much left that I will do to the truck - I'm happy with it the way it is - maybe a few more stickers...

Amphibious Assault Craft

After surfing and lunch, we went to pick up our new Amphibious Assault Craft. I switched the 422XT rack to the back position anticipating the longer load and it worked well to kill some of the noise (electrical tape on the 422XT Top Bar accessory mounting channels helped a bunch too). The color scheme didn't upset La too much - she did like the Lowland Camo pattern better than the Yellow Jacket we looked as earlier. The outer hull is mostly olive with some mixing of tan. The inside hull has a lot more color mixing (brown, tan and olive). I thought I'd be storing this on the back porch - for loading and unloading, this piece of gear will have to live in the garage (after I make more space...). We didn't have time to break it in today - needed to unpack the beach gear from the truck and wash all the salt and dirt off the truck. I am looking forward to getting everyone on this and having more fun on the waters up here in Northern Virginia!!! More to follow on this as we spend time getting proficient and pushing this to it's carrying and fishing limits

Embarkation

Got an early start today - had the truck packed up to have fun at the beach. We were supposed to link up with one of La's friends from Japan, surf and then pick up our new kayak. We were packed up with plenty of stuff (kite gear - just in case, body boards, the Rollee, sand toys, the ULI and 3 piece C4 paddle and water for washing up), but the best is yet to come.

More Adjusting - Taco Bed vs Thule Xsporter

Before and after shots

More modification to the Thule Xsporter in order to mount it in the Surf Taco. I looked at the clamps last time I had it setup (just after I cut the curly lip off of it) and there seemed to be some pressure on the top rail of the truck bed. I read some more of the posts on the Tacoma forums and the other folks who have 2012 Tacomas just stripped the whole rubber pad off. So tonight, as I prepared the vehicle for a trip out to the beach (Lewes - Rehoboth - Betheny) for some surfing and to pick up our new amphibious assault craft, I went ahead and did the same. The before picture was how I had the feet last time; the after is where they are stripped naked. Installed on the truck, it was real easy to get them on and the clamps are rock solid now. I'll look for the rail compression in the morning (it was dark when I placed the rack feet on).