Today seems to be the day!
I’m writing the start of this before we know for sure, but Justin had said on Thursday or so he’s going to try to make it out here Sat, leaving around 1pm, which would put him out here at the marina around 4-4:30 depending on traffic. He’s got a newborn as well as being pretty slammed, and I certainly know how life gets busy, so am really just hopeful for any time this weekend. For a boat we bought back in October/November, had ‘slip drama’ for a while as well as the whole COVID situation - we are just ready to have her here, even to just go sit on for a while and relax.
Is it here YET?!?
Got confirmation we’re on for today, and he’s bringning both the newborn and his wife with him, which is fine, although I have no idea what kind of ‘fun’ he may be in for with a newborn on a long-ish drive. I had offered to bring his wife and kid, and go for a tour of the lake, although he’s got a much nicer, newer, and bigger boat of his own, of course..
Proof she’s on the way!
I got the car loaded up
with some new fenders and lines, some tools and cleaners, and the pair of Dolphin dock guards I’d picked up to help protect the swim platform…
We headed out around 3:15 or so to the marina and stopped to get gas in the car, just as I realized while I had bought some stainless self-tapping screws for the dock guards, I completely spaced on washers. I’m sure I probably have some somewhere in the garage, or reloading bench, or …well, somewhere, but meh. My wife had a great ideas as there was an auto parts store next door, so off we went. I suppose I should have known, and did indeed just ask for ‘where are your screws, nuts and bolts, but the guy literally asked me if the zinc bolts he was pointing at were stainless. No - that looks like zinc, then I read the package, and not only did it look like zinc to me - it said pretty clearly - zinc. Ok, so please - step back out of COVID range and let me look myself. I did manage to luck out and found a package of stainless washers that might just work, so off we go.
The slip seems to still be missing…something.
I wonder what it could be? Oh right, that’s it - dock guards for the swim platform, because apparently there’s traffic and Justin will be here around 5:15 or so. Good thing I brought a tape measure. What I didn’t bring was any scratch paper for mental sanity. I can say the pier to the slip prutrusions both have angles on them, and the distance between them from my neighbor’s side to mine is 46 of my literal feet, or like 96 boards, or close. I did this because I realized the one thing I’d left back in the car was my tape measure, so I paced them off while my wife grabbed the tape measure. No scratch paper, and of course the neigbhors boat was offset by a bit into the water, while I literally had no idea how wide my own boat was backed in, so some carefully measured guessing was achieved.
Ultimately, the looked ok-ish considering the boat wasn’t here for measurement.
When I had first gotten them, they seemed pretty hard, like maybe not pliable at all. Installing them, and maybe them being in the sun - I’m liking them more. They’re not soft, but there is some flex. Let’s see how they hold up.
We headed to the marina office
primarily to let them know we’re finally going to be in the water, and that we’d need to know where to put the trailer, as the owner had said to leave it somewhere and let them know, and they’d move the trailer to wherever my spot might be.
While we were up there, I saw a dock box sitting out as one of the marina workers was talking to us (who was not wearing a mask, came within 6’ and I stepped back and asked him to back off - this seems silly, but my wife and I are pretty much hermits at home during this mess other than taking an occasional ride top-down…
The COVID situation kind of feels like dating and STD considerations - sorry, I just don’t know where you’ve been! Hopefully he got it, really wasn’t trying to be rude, but I don’t look kindly on the possiblity of someone infecting either my wife or I, even though we had masks on ourselves.
The box looked to be brand new, with plastic wrap still on the struts
But as happens, it had recently been installed, then the owner decided to pull the boat. It was, well - enormous. Far bigger than I was thinking, and the big boxes in particular aren’t inexpensive, because they seem to be even more expensive than stainless stell truck toolboxs - go figure.
I had started considering what we’d actually put in it, as well as the costs of them new, with used being roughly half price. Anything around 4’ long should be more than enough. Meanwhile, however, they seem to come into the marina on moveouts but be gone nearly instantly, so when I asked him to get a price and he came back with $600 - I said done deal. We migth have waiting months to find a smaller box, and it might have saved it $100-$200 or so, but who knows how long that would take, and I already wished I had somewhere to put the carpets and miscellaenous while we clean out the boat. I figure for days we’re not going to grill out on the water, we’ll keep the grill and some extended tools and camping chairs in it, and let them feel like they’re in a mansion because I’m just not seeing the need for something so big.. :) Of course, the marina here builds them out a bit off the dock into the water, so my edge protectors I literally just installed probably need to move, but what can ya do
And she’s finally here!
Justin got caught up in traffic but we got it done. He’d brought his wife and newborn with him, which made my wife and I both a bit sad to have made him make the trip like that…certainly he was being paid for the trip, but still…I suppose the alternative trip on his plate was to FL, so I guess it was kind of a win for him? :)
I’m very glad we were able to get Justin to bring her off the trailer and get her into the slip. I was able to get her backed off the trailer, but getting her into the slip was a muliple person job. It was slightly windy and Justin could do things with the boat I just had no clue on yet. As it was, it was a bit nerve-wracking as he used the wind to help push her in, but I had to grab the hook to keep the bow from coming around into our slip neighbor. Justin meanwhile had jumped off the bow of the boat, pulled her back in and got a spring line attached. I’m very thankful for all the help through the sale, and even in delivery that Justin gave us.
We did some initial cleaning and just hanging out at this point, as it was getting on in the afternoon, but she was finally home - in need of a new name and some other bits, but home!