We were in a pinch though. Jeff's vehicle only had a Jack-All and it's use was forbidden. Quintin's J-reg Rangie was fully-loaded -- we'd never get to the needed equipment, never mind re-stow it. Quintin suggested doing the he-man thing and lifting the vehicle but we realized this might not be the most practical thing in the soft sand. Spenny suggested adding people as a counter weight at the offside front corner. Bill suggested using a lever, but substantial objects to user as levers were in short supply on the beach-- weathered driftwood isn't known for its strength. Spenny inquired of the officials if the Jack All could be used--but not as a jack. The puzzled officials pondered this proposal momentarily and then said 'OK'. Team Empire was close, but not quite there. Then Bill and Quintin were inspired with the idea of pulling the vehicle over with a tow strap, and from there

Team Empire quickly mobilized to Just Do IT!

The vehicles were positioned with Quintin's Rangie perpendicular to FINSUP. Jeff and Quintin freed up the necessary equipment and connected the tow strap. Spenny, Bill, Jake and Ben Lapa (son of Hank) went to the shovels with a vengeance--quickly digging 8 inch deep trenches for the offside wheels to fall into so FINSUP wouldn't slide across the beach. Bill pulled out the cameras and removed RoverCam, assigning Ben the videographer's gig. So Ben and Bill recorded the event, while Hank and Spenny pitched in with organization and kept an eye out for safety.

R.O.V.E.R.S. members looked on in amazement as Team Empire wrapped the tow strap on the roof roll-cage member and pulled FINSUP over to change the rear tire. Jeff and young Jake Hollick did the wrenching, while Quintin deftly maneuvered the Rangie to tug FINSUP into the air. Off came the tire (with Jake taking responsibility for the lug nuts that Jeff tossed at him. Jeff ran the tyre around the vehicle...and quickly remounted it. Reverse went the Rangie, the tow strap and lug wrench were stowed, and all was done.

Maybe we took a little longer than the teams who used a jack, but we sure got a much larger crowd, and had a lot of fun doing it-- with Series style. At this point, about 3pm, Tom and Peter declared the event to be officially "over" and we were all free to do as we pleased, but all were encouraged to meet for a group campfire at around 9pm. We decided to head back to camp. Spenny started making noises about wanting to play mini-golf. Nobody had any better ideas, but all seemed to have something a bit more sheltered in mind. The sun had never really come out, and with the wind off the ocean we were all pretty chilled.

Back to: Index Page | Friday | Saturday or Forward to Sunday

Bill Caloccia, Jeff Berg
Ocean City, MD
April 1997

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