We finally got the boat into place at the marina. The ground was soft, so I had to jack up the trailer and wedge cinder blocks underneath for support. The marina crew anticipated this — they added wheel blocks too. All that was left was to disconnect the trailer.
“I got this,” I told myself. I lowered the truck suspension, eased back, then pulled forward to release the hitch. Nothing. Tried again. Still nothing. One more time. Still stuck.
By now, it was getting dark, and the mosquitoes had discovered me. (Pro tip: never wear cologne in the summer — it’s like ringing the dinner bell.) The hitch refused to let go. Finally, I pulled the ball off the truck and drove forward. Success — the trailer was free. And then, as if to mock me, the ball joint fell off on its own. A little reminder that in boating, even the small things have a way of humbling you.
The boat was now sitting in the yard, looking every bit like she needed some TLC.
The Checklist That Didn’t Exist
I went home that night thinking I’d start preparing a checklist of things to do. Except I didn’t have a checklist. So the next day, I went back to the boat and started creating one on the fly. The adventure had officially begun.
First order of business: the camper top. It had been taken down for transport, and with storms forecasted, I needed to get it back up fast. How hard could it be? Seven canvas panels, a few windows — like a jigsaw puzzle.
Well, in mathematics there’s something called a factorial — the number of ways you can arrange a set of items. Let’s just say I explored most of those arrangements before I figured out the right sequence. What should have taken five minutes took hours. By the time I finished, I was drenched in sweat.
The Reality Check
With the camper top finally in place, I needed to vent the cabin and start thinking about the basics: fuel, systems, and storage. The fuel tank alone was a shocker — 100 gallons. Convert that to litres and your eyes water. Thankfully, the boat was still on the trailer, so I had time before I had to face that reality.
Unlike a small runabout or fishing boat, this wasn’t something you just back down the ramp, launch, and tie up. This was an event. It took three people just to manage the logistics. If I wanted to do this solo in the future, I’d need to lean on technology.
So what’s next? The list was growing fast, and the real work was only beginning.