Sand is flying everywhere. Our Hummer H2 SUT rocks and rolls, careening as if on ice before the four-wheel drive catches and powers the mighty truck through sugary powder and onward down the beach. There's only one word to describe the sensation of blasting through terrain where normal cars go to die-YEE-HAAW!
What else would you scream in Texas while racing along the Padre Island National Seashore, a 60-mile stretch of wild beach that you can only access with a four-by-four? Yep, we're at it again, on a mission to show you the endless possibilities available to boaters. In this case, we're out to prove that you can take a boat anywhere you want, without resorting to that certain activity that most boaters would rather not do. To hell with the ball hitch!
Of course, a trailer wouldn't last two minutes here in the loose sand beyond the tide line. That's where the Hummer comes in. My fellow rambler-let's call him Cowboy Dave-and I are hoping to access boating territory unavailable to mere rear-wheelers and take advantage of a large run of speckled trout chasing mullet through the surf.
Our boat? It's just fine, thank you, tucked safely under a locked cover in this sport utility truck's (SUT) small 35"-by-47" pickup-style bed. In it we've packed a Zodiac Futura Mark 2C FR and a 9.8-hp Tohatsu outboard. When we reach the ideal spot to launch, we'll back the Hummer to the waterline, pull out our boat-in-a-bag, inflate it, put the Tohatsu on the transom, and head out to sea. No shorted-out brake lights, no rusty leaf springs, no tricky turns, no worries. We're heading out on the highway, looking for adventure, with nothing behind us.
