— From the helm
Marine intelligence, boating tips, and d3kOS updates from Skipper Don.
It was time to take my wife out on the boat. Did I forget to mention that I hadn’t turned off the battery bank or plugged into shore power after my first run? Rookie mistake. It was a Sunday, right after church, when my wife said, “Let’s go for a ride.” Traffic was light, conversation […]
This was the day I’d been waiting for — my first trip out of the marina. Like any marina, you need to learn the local navigation, but being on a river adds a few more obstacles and hidden hazards. And Lake Erie? Even more. I never thought my first time out would be solo, but […]
The marina had a gentle slope, so I backed the trailer in slowly until the boat began to float. She had momentum, and two people grabbed the ropes to hold her steady. One of them was too skinny for the job — the boat practically took him for a walk down the slip. But he […]
After a week of waiting, the marina owner’s youngest son came over with news: “We’ve got a slip for you.” I don’t want to be over dramatic here, but in that moment it felt like a beam of light broke through the clouds and angels began to sing. Okay, maybe it was just a car […]
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. […]
Before I could tow the boat home, I needed a place to put her. Luckily, my neighbour up the street had recently bought a marina as his retirement project, and he was fixing it up with his kids. I gave them a call, and his youngest son — who remembered me — picked up. “I […]
When I first started looking into boat insurance, I thought it would be as simple as calling up an agent, saying “I’ve got a boat,” and waiting for them to hand me a shiny policy. Turns out, it’s more like applying for a mortgage—except wetter, and with more serial numbers. The truth is, insurers don’t […]
Every boat tells its story through gauges. RPM, fuel, oil pressure, trim — the dials are the heartbeat of the vessel. On my 1994 Monterey, those gauges are classic, but they’re also isolated. They look good, but they don’t talk to anything. That’s where the next upgrade comes in. The CX5106 Converter: Analogue to Digital […]
She didn’t come with a trailer. That was the first wrinkle. The conversation with the broker started casually enough: “So, when do you want her?” Who knew that simple question would stretch into weeks of back-and-forth. The seller, as it turned out, was a bit of a celebrity — the “as seen on TV” guy […]
It was early on a Friday morning when I took the day off work. My wife and I climbed into the truck and headed back to Lake St. Clair. The first trip had been all excitement. This second trip felt different — it was time to talk seriously. Now, one thing you should know about […]
