Stuff Happened

Thursday morning when we pulled out of the campground south of Colorado Springs, we did our usual “walk-around” the trailer to make sure everything was ready to go: electricity and water un-hooked and stored, stairs stowed, roof vents closed, spare tire and kayak looking secure on the roof, stabilizer jacks and front support legs retracted, etc.  And we were off!

Winds and gusts were very high on the drive to Boulder, but we made good time and arrived seemingly without incident.  Yesterday morning Bob climbed the ladder at the rear of the trailer to the roof, to install a new vent cap to replace one that came off a couple weeks ago, and noticed . . . . umm . . . . something missing . . . . like a kayak???? 

That’s right, our two-person Hobie kayak was no longer on top of the trailer!  It was very windy last night in Boulder, so we looked around the campground hoping to see that the kayak had blown off and landed on the ground.  Nope.  Cathryn went to the campground office and asked the woman there whether she recalled seeing our kayak on the roof when we arrived yesterday. She had no recollection either way.

On closer examination, Bob found that two of the eye-bolts  embedded in the trailer’s roof and to which the webbing straps secured the kayak to the roof, were missing. Either the wind gusts alone, or perhaps the gusts combined with gradual losing of the eyebolts over 20,000 miles of driving, caused the system to fail. We now have a new item for our pre-departure check list (assuming we replace the boat)!

Bob called the Colorado State Patrol and the Department of Transportation to report the loss. We were worried we might have caused an accident, or even injured or killed someone if the kayak fell off in the high winds! Bob reported the hours during which we were driving, the highways we took, and a description of the kayak. Both people he talked to seemed more concerned about whether they might find and return our kayak to us than whether we might have caused any accidents or injuries. 

Now, a day later later, we’ve heard nothing back from either the State Patrol or Dept of Transportation. Heavy sigh.