This was the start of a great vacation. I trailered Mel-O 1,600 miles from Michigan to Sunshine Key in the beautiful Florida Keys. Before the trip I replaced all bearings and races and put on new tires. Towed it behind my motorhome with no problems. Spent two weeks around Christmas sailing in perfect weather. My dad even found the Hood Drifter he bought new for his C22 30 years ago, he kept it when he moved up in boats. The sail still looked and felt brand new!
Reality set in and we had to head back to Michigan(we all aren't as lucky as Keysskipper). I was driving just north of the Florida/Georgia border on I-75 and my wife said "did you hear that?" then came a louder boom. It was just getting dark I looked in the rearview mirrror and saw a 20 foot roostertail of sparks. I pulled on to the shoulder and went out to look at what I didn't want to see. Luckly the boat looked fine but the wheel was gone on the trailer.
A flatbed tow truck came and loaded up the mess. The guy's shop was only three miles up the road. He said it would take a couple of days to get the parts. I ended up leaving it with him and continuing home so my wife could get back for work and the boys for school. The axle was ruined. It turns out dragging an axle on concrete at 65 miles per hour for about a half mile isn't good for the axle. Now I have a brand new axle on my trailer.
Remember if you are trailering for any distance - tie your boat down to the trailer! I actually bought my outboard from a guy that had a C22 and lost a wheel like I did. He didn't have his tied down and when the wheel came off the boat did too. It rolled over once and landed on the shoulder.
