deciding whether or not to rack into a carboy

So I've got my first two batches of beer in primary fermentation. The first batch which was started on Aug. 5, has slowed down to about 1 or 2 bubbles a minute. According to Palmer's "how to brew" this is the time to rack into a carboy if i decide to go that route. The brew in question is an All grain English Special Bitter, although I canged things around a bit using what ingrediants I had on hand(actual recipe is below). The OG was 1.062 which is a bit high for this style. I collected almost 8 gal. of wort and had to boil it down to 6 gal.
Since this is my first batch I'm very eager to try it, so whatever I do on this first batch, I'm leaner towards the shorter times. I'm looking for a little advice as to how to proceed: My goal being able to open the first bottles at noon, Sept. 5, for kickoff.
1) whether or not, to rack into carboy if I'm not planning on aging past 3 weeks anyway.
2) when to bottle and have correct carbonation & conditioning by Sept. 5.
Below is the recipe, and some notes taken.
Thanks, Aaron

US Pale Ale Malt 12lb 2oz 90.6 % 8.1 In Mash/Steeped
US Flaked Corn/Maize 12.15 oz 5.7 % 0.1 In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 120L Malt 8.10 oz 3.8 % 11.5 In Mash/Steeped
Hops
UK Fuggle 4.2 % 28 g 15.1 Loose Whole Hops 90 Min From End
UK Golding 5.5 % 28 g 14.2 Loose Whole Hops 30 Min From End
UK Golding 5.5 % 28 g 9.2 Loose Whole Hops 15 Min From End

WLP001 California Ale Yeast

7:30-mashin @ 160 F.
8:00-temp. steady @ 159 F.
9:10-Collected 8 Gal. of wort @ 1.048 corrected gravity
9:50-wort boil began
10:22-add froggle hops
12:20 add 1 oz. uk golding hops
12:35 add 1 oz. uk golding hops
12:56 finished boil with 5.5 gal. @ 1.062 corrected gravity

29.5 points per gallon.
48 points x 8 gal = 384/13 pounds of malt
room temp of fermentation is 72F

It is not unrealistic to have them ready by sept 5th if you really wanted them to be, would going a little longer be benificial, sure. The best way to aproach this is to work backward, if you want the beer to be ready by Sept 5th, you need to give it at least 7-10 days in the bottle, bare minimum, for Carbonation (IMO), Plus you are going to want at least one day for them to chill before drinking. So to be on the safe side I would say have them in the bottle by the 22nd or 23rd, and that should allow enough time, and still give you a week in the secondary.

Of course that is all dependant on whether the beer has finished fermenting at this point. What does your hydrometer say, trust it, not your airlock. I would take a reading today and see if it is near your target FG. If not give it a couple of more days in the primary. Don't rack it just cause the bubbles slowed down.

Yeah, you can check it with your hydrometer. If it is still bubbling, something is going on in there. How long has it been bubbling? I know you started it on Aug. 5th. but when did it start checking. I would let it finish checking and then try the hydrometer. If it's close to your FG, bottle it. I won't go to secondary if I'm not going to leave it at least a month. But hey, that's just me. Good Luck - Dwain

Thanks WOP & Dwain, I took a reading as suggested and it's not even close to finish. It read 1.033, which sounds pretty high after 7 days. I'd like it to get in the 1.013-1.018 range. I'm guessing it will take another 2 to 5 days to reach that level. Does that sound right? If that's the case, and it reaches 1.015 range on the Aug. 15 to 18, should I just leave it in the primary until the 23 of Aug? Another thought is if this is not enough time to adequately condition before bottling can I drain maybe 1/2 of primary into a bottling bucket though the spicket without taking the lid off. Bottle half and leave the rest in the primary for another week to 10 days to adequately condition. If I drain 1/2 without opening the top of primary would the remaining 2.5+ gallons be ok? I'm guessing it would still have that blanket of CO2 over it. I don't have a carboy smaller than 5 gal.
Thanks and I appreciate your help. I know I should just do it right, but I really wanted to break out my brew for the first football games.

Reading the recipe again, you mashed pretty warm. A mash at 159 is going to produce a lot of unfermentable sugars, so that could account for your high FG, but 33 is a bit high.

If you are really wanting to rush this through to the bottle, I would just leave it in the primary until you are ready to bottle it on the 22/23rd. Be careful with the priming sugar on that one though. I would hate to see you have gushers, or worse bottle bombs on your first batch.

I would stay away from trying to mess with just half and all that on your first batch, just keep it simple.

I definitely agree with Wop31:

[If you are really wanting to rush this through to the bottle, I would just leave it in the primary until you are ready to bottle it on the 22/23rd. Be careful with the priming sugar on that one though.

Leave it in the primary, careful with the priming sugar, and don't try to 1/2 & 1/2 it. One more thing, when I say careful with the priming sugar, if the FG doesn't drop to at least 20, I would use between 1/3 & 1/2 of a cup of priming sugar. I'm sure there is a scientific way to calculate the correct amount, but I don't know what it is. Luck - Dwain

I'm getting ready to bottle. since we last spoke I added a package of dry ale yeast last sunday to see if it would jump start the fermenting again. however after a week it's still at 1.030. So with this much unfermentable sugar how should i proceed with bottling? How much corn sugar to add to 5 gal?
anything i should worry about with this much un-fermentables? i seemed to taste like beer, well flat warm beer that is. lol If i figured the abv correct, it should be 4.3% (1.062-1.030)

aaron4osu said:

....anything i should worry about with this much un-fermentables? i seemed to taste like beer, well flat warm beer that is. lol If i figured the abv correct, it should be 4.3% (1.062-1.030)

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I would be worried about bottle bombs, 1.030 is rather high.

so what should i do?