I was reminded by one of our previous Commodores Chris Brown that we need to thank our sponsors for our 2009 Boat Parade. Without our sponsors the boat parade would not be what it has become. So to that end I would like to thank (Put sponsors names here)

Our Change of Watch was quite historical as was our weather. The weather being so cold required the ceremony to be held inside and our boat parade… well we had to reverse the process, setting off on Mark and Tina Webb’s boat “St. Somewhere” Past Commodore Lynn McCoy and I reviewed the boats by cruising past the members who braved the cold.

Did I mention cold? For those of you who have managed to get through some of my previous boating stories Change of Watch and how it played out for the day was only natural for me. Let’s face it. Who else could get 30 degree weather when it required your new Commodore to be part of that favorite past time called “boating”. Nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Pam and I want to thank each and every one of you that attended the Change of Watch. Your support was overwhelming especially considering the weather. Dinner was well attended with over 180 people attending. If you missed it you missed a fine meal and an opportunity to make more friends.

Pam and I followed Change of Watch up with Birthday and Anniversary night for January birthdays and anniversaries, again well attended with over 150 people the party atmosphere bred hope for a new year. The Commodears had a good night with a 50/50 payout to the winner of $167.00. Check out the Commodears column to see who the lucky winner was.

Vice Commodore Bill Masters has some new ideas for your menu and is working with the kitchen to offer you some new items.

Rear Commodore Wayne Stewart already has a good grasp on the docks steering his committee towards the final phase our docks rehab with the north dock.

Our Treasurer Jim Richards has been working with our accountant to ensure the finances of our club are “accounted” for. Its looks like we have a great year ahead for our club.

The Halifax River Yacht Club is in good hands. I look forward to our First Ladies Ball when we honor our ladies who have supported their Commodores through their year. The First Ladies Ball is a traditional event that you sure do not want to miss. The menu is sure to appeal to everyone’s appetite.

Pam and I look forward to seeing you at the club.

Wow, its 2010. I remember doing a project in school and was asked to imagine what it would be like in 2010. Unfortunately my imagination outpaced reality. I am not seeing any flying saucers carrying people around like they did on the Jetson’s cartoon show.

Nonetheless it is a great time to be a member of the Halifax River Yacht Club. The effects of the economy may still drive some our financial decisions but our club continues to hold its own with the fantastic support of is members. I would however be remiss if I didn’t say “Use it more!”.

Pam and I would like to thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Commodore and First Lady. I want to say thank you to Pam for making one of my wishes come true. It truly is an honor to serve as Commodore. If my previous 5 or 6 years serving on boards and various committees is any indication of what this year will be like then I know I am in for a real treat. I enjoy every minute of it and so does Pam. This year she is serving as the Chairman of the Commodears. As you well know the Commodears is an organization for the ladies of the club. It serves the club in many capacities mostly ensuring the club has the niceties it so deserves.

Hopefully you have already noticed a big change in the format of the Binnacle. I figured it was time to step away from our old black and white version and introduce some color to our newsletter. Karen Mowrey has been quite instrumental in ensuring this Binnacle article got to press. If you see her give her a big thank you for all the hard work she has put into our new newsletter. I did promise her though that I would try this year to keep my articles short saving room for my other officers. Vice Commodore Bill Masters, Rear Commodore Wayne Stewart and Treasurer Jim Richards will need all the room they can get to keep you up to date on what is happening at the club.

As in the past I look forward to seeing each of you and swapping boat stories. I enjoy finding out just how many of you also “almost” sank your boat. Till next month…

By the time you have read this article the House Committee has met for its last time under my watch as Vice Commodore. At this meeting we should be sampling some new dishes that will appear on the menu in January. As usual our direction to Louis was to let the staff be creative and surprise us. While I write this article in advance I know I will be surprised and pleased with what the kitchen staff prepares for our committee. As a side note I hope many of you who have joined us for the various parties noticed that many of our desserts were homemade this year.

I don’t think I could have had a better kitchen staff for my year as Vice Commodore. I leave our kitchen staff in capable hands as Vice Commodore elect Bill Masters takes over the reins. I know Bill has some ideas of his own and I also know Bill will do a great job next year with the House side of things.

I want to thank everyone who made my year as Vice Commodore so great. I would list everyone here but I have had enough ribbing about the length of my articles so I will sum it by saying, “Thank you to all of our members!” A special thank you goes to my committee members. Without them my job would have been much harder.

Christmas time is upon us. The other day at work a lady said “forty-six more days”. She said this without further explanation. We all assumed she meant “until Christmas”. Curiosity did get the better of me and I had to ask “46 more days until what?” She replied, “Until Christmas is over”. We all laughed but it struck a chord in me. I remember as a child the goals I had; I could not wait until I was thirteen so I was a “teenager” then I couldn’t wait until I was 15 so I could drive. Follow that with being 18 so I could drink. Well I mean drink “legally”. Never once did I rush in the “day after Christmas”. That day could always be held off by some supernatural force for all I cared. For me Christmas wasn’t just about the gifts or a religion it was about what it did to the people around me. It made everyone a little bit more patient, a little more giving and much happier than any other time of year. It brought families closer together and most of all it made people realize what was important. Christmas was a closure to the year. It prepared us for the upcoming year and allowed us to reflect back on what we did and how lucky we were. As an adult I still do not look forward to the day after Christmas. I love going to the mall and watching the people rush about. It is magical after all. You witness thousands of people making children’s dreams come true. Quite amazing I think and hopefully you do too.

It should go without saying that boating is a favorite past time for many people. Let’s face it boating is the very foundation upon which our club was built. It is the common thread that binds many of us to the Halifax River Yacht Club.

With that said however one must not overlook the obvious. That being the friendship we all enjoy amongst the members of our club. While boating may have brought us together, the bonds we have forged over the years are worth their weight in gold. Personally I can truly say that I have not had so many friends over the years as I do now. I have met people from all walks of life, listened to war stories and have garnered life lessons from many of you.

Recently Pam and I had the pleasure of joining the boaters in October for their trip to Eau Gallie yacht club. Mind you Pam and I drove. Based upon my boating stories many a boater was happy to hear that my method of transportation involved wheels and not props.

We arrived later in the afternoon on a chilly day. We immediately headed towards the docks. Even I know that’s where they keep the boats. We were met by a bunch of our friends who invited us to sit and swap stories. I sat there as I often do and listened. ‘Tis better to listen than try to offer advice on boating. For some reason I have not gained enough respect for that yet. After a while we headed to the Tiki Bar to what the ever exciting Florida Gators play Arizona. It was a nail biter to the very end but Florida did pull it off. There at the bar again we were surrounded by friends. Mark Webb and his wife Tina were there to great us. Mark was the one responsible for putting the trip together. We were son joined by Rear Commodore Bill Masters and his wife Gracie, Dave Winkler and his wife Sherri, Mike Alekson and his wife Pat, Ash Dovel, Jack Hand and his wife, Dave and Tonia Klokow and their daughter Cheyenne.

That evening Mark and Tina invited us to sit at their table along with Rufus, Amy, Vicki and Tony. Also in attendance were all the aforementioned with Chet Brummett, his wife Linda as well as Wes Diaz and his wife Nicky.

I am afraid that Mark and I commandeered the conversation as we discussed ratings, sailing strategy and the future of the sailing program at HRYC. Pam leaned over to Tina at one point and mentioned the fact that she should not have sat between Mark and I. Nonetheless it was a great evening. We laughed, ate and drank our way back to the bar for a night cap before we said our goodbyes. Everyone was to get an early start the next morning myself included.

My trip home the next day left me contemplating the meaning of friendship. I discovered that it matters not the circumstances nor the geography but the people with whom you are with. Given any situation I know that we all have friends at the yacht club and that is all that matters.

As we draw near the end of another fabulous year please remember to tell your family AND your friends what they mean to you. Reflect upon all the good memories you made this past year and carry them forward in your heart.

Summer is technically over, snowbirds are preparing their flight plans and permanent residents are reminiscing about the previous summer with friends and family. While Summer may be “technically” over for boaters we can look forward to a few more months of warm weather that presents additional opportunity to craft memories.

I have a few house keeping items to mention. The first is to remind you that making reservations on overly busy nights like Friday night is encouraged. Reservations help staff plan accordingly to ensure your experience is the best it can be. The second item is for you to remember that our staff is very accommodating when you make requests. If you don’t see something on the menu just ask. Chances are you will be able to have something prepared just the way you want.

My boating experience has continued with the painting of the bottom of my boat. Yes, I did actually perform the physical labor of this task. Pam did help me, making the experience less painful. Nonetheless it was a challenge. We took our boat to Seven Seas Marina where my vessel was removed from its trailer and placed upon jacks. I commenced to cleaning and sanding the bottom to ensure a proper foundation for what was surely the world’s most expensive paint.

Let me stop here and tell you that when you are new to boating there is no shortage of boaters willing to offer you advice. An honorable mention goes to Mike and Judy Clower who convinced Pam and me over drinks at the Tiki Bar that painting the boat ourselves was “easy”. “They do it every year”. I discovered one should be sober when accepting advice.

My thanks go to two of our newest members and owners of Seven Seas Marina, Tom and Calvin. Calvin taught me more about painting boats than any one man should know. Both Tom and Calvin were very helpful to a novice such as me. Calvin even took the time to come out and help me adjust my tape lines so they were straight. His many years of experience must have triggered his “novice” alarm as he periodically walked by my area inspecting my progress.

It took two days to paint the bottom. Except for the pencil thin mustache Pam managed to acquire on her face, the inevitable smears of paint on her arms and small specks on her glasses most of the paint actually ended up on the boat.

We painted the boat over the Labor Day weekend so by Monday we were excited to get the boat back in the water. We had loaded all of our boating supplies and equipment into the truck that morning. Arriving at Seven Seas around 8:30 or so the crew launched my boat back into the water. Pam brought most of the stuff from the truck to the boat as I prepared to start the boat.

Finding the keys, priming the gas I turned her over. She started without hesitation then died. Twice more I did this and on the fourth try, nothing. It was as if the batteries completely died. Suspecting a fuse or breaker I search high and low, check all fuses and breakers and determined that this was not the cause of our delay.

One of the marina crew came over to help. We both thought that maybe it was dead batteries even though both batteries were brand new and I did have lights, pumps, etc. He brought over one of those portable jumpers and we tried again without success. Stumped I looked at the motor as if it would be intimidated into starting. That did not work either. The guy from the marina brought over one of those heavy duty chargers and told me to connect it and wait two minutes. I did as instructed, tried to start the motor. It started then died. Waiting another few minutes I tried and it did nothing. Waiting even longer made no difference in the outcome.

About to admit defeat I told Pam we were going to have to trailer it home. Using logic which apparently had left me that morning she suggested purchasing a new battery to see if that was the problem. I agreed, purchased the battery and spent about 20 minutes trying to get the cables off the old batteries. Finally cabling the new battery I told Pam try and start it. The darn motor did not turn over.

It did not make sense. I then tried to use the switches to raise and lower the motor and it did nothing. At this point I removed the motor cover looking for an obvious culprit but found nothing. I pushed and tugged and nothing. Then I tried the motor trim switch again and it worked. Aha! Ghost in the machine! Told Pam to try and start the motor and it started then died. “Try again”, I said. The motor didn’t even try to run over but I did hear a click this time. The removal of the cover must have made this discovery of a clue possible.

My keenly honed troubleshooting skills now in full force told me, “loose wire”. Again I pushed tugged and even disconnected cables and put them back. Pushing the trim switch caused the motor to rise. I tried starting the motor. This time it started and stayed started. Wishing to try my luck I turned it off and tried it again. It started! Again! Yahoo!

Fearing our getting stuck at Disappearing Island with no tow insurance we opted to take the boat back to the club. I spent some more time that day spending more money at West Marine cleaning connections.

Goes to show you just how fragile boating can be. Again we chalk this up to earning our boating badge. I went with everyone’s advice and purchased my tow insurance, “just in case”.

Hope you have a wonderful October!

For those long time resents of our area you may have noticed something familiar about the weather lately; afternoon thunderstorms. I remember when I was a kid every day during the summer it seemed to storm for a while and then clear away allowing me and my playmates to enjoy the hot humid Florida sunshine.

Like the weather our kitchen and service staff have gone through some “climate” changes and have certainly cleared the way for our members to enjoy the highest quality food and service available.

Recently the House Committee has asked our manager to offer two soups for lunch and dinner. As usual Louis and the kitchen staff accommodated our request and Friday night I was able to enjoy a nice sausage and kale cream soup while my friends enjoyed the clear broth type of Italian wedding soup. I want to commend Mike again for his soups. He is clearly one of the best soup makers I have come to know.

One other issue the House Committee has to contend with is the Binnacle. We recently met to discuss layout and quality and hope to have some changes ahead for our newsletter that I think all of you will enjoy. Finally with regard to advertising we are adding an additional 48 spots for advertising. We will move all advertising to the back of the Binnacle. With the additional advertising we will finally have the Binnacle in a “cost neutral” situation. If you want to advertise in next years Binnacle please send your information to Karen in the office. In addition to advertising in the Binnacle we will be producing “yellow pages” for the membership directory. Once we have finalized everything and the Board of Directors have approved of the changes we will send out notices with your statement.

Again I want to thank everyone for their kind comments on my previous articles. My goal was to have our members look forward to the next Binnacle and I have clearly succeeded.

Fortunately for me I have not had any more boating disasters and in fact have really begun to sink money into my new hobby. I believe that is how one determines ones love of boating. It’s a simple formula that I won’t take credit for but will put here for your reference: Money multiplied by time spent equals love for boating

Until next month Bon appétit!

The House is in order, the parties continue to be well attended and new menu items have appeared. Hopefully by now many of you have had the opportunity to try a few of the new lunch and dinner entrees out. We had a special run on those famous oysters and sold out very quickly. Keep a keen eye on your email inbox. You never know when a really special event is coming around. Items like oysters and lobsters just happen to appear and you have to be quick to get to them. If you are not receiving lunch and dinner specials in your email you need to go to our website and sign up.

Okay on to the boat story…

Let me recap; Scott purchases boat, Scott launches boat, Scott almost sinks boat. Wife wants RV. It could have been worse she could have wanted a divorce.

If you remember I left the boat in the water to develop the now infamous “water” or “scum line”. I was to leave the boat in the water to get this free of charge, indication line as to where to paint my boat. So far this has been the only free thing associated with this boat.

Nobody really told me really how long I was to leave the boat in the water. I mean somebody might have said a week, but I am a bit foggy on the details. So after about three weeks it really was time to start thinking about pulling the boat from the water. Especially after my friend Jon Hill told me about the full moon and the barnacles. Something about mating or something and how they would just love to attach themselves to the bottom of my boat. Again foggy on the details and we were at the Tiki Bar so maybe I thought, he was pulling my leg. Jon does that sometimes you know. Surely by now the water line has formed allowing me a good idea of where the paint should go. I was worried that if I took it out too soon then I would have to repeat the process of launching the boat, sinking my boat and whatever other calamities would avail themselves to me.

Pam and I loaded into the truck the necessary items, radio, life jackets, etc., so I could make the trip from HRYC to Halifax Marina to recover my vessel. Without further incident we arrived at HRYC where Pam dropped me off. She waited while I started the boat to make sure it would in fact start and it did. This boating stuff is beginning to go well I thought. Pam was now left with driving the truck and the trailer to the marina to wait for me as I captained my seventeen and half foot vessel down the ICW. Along the way my phone rings and Pam wants to know what to do with the truck since I told her to meet me on the dock to catch my lines. I said for her to back the trailer down the ramp so it would be ready for me. I will shorten this part and suffice to it say that she was not going to do that. Frustrated I told her to park the truck along the road since there were no legal places to park. She warned me that she might get a ticket, I said don’t worry about it. I hang up and continue my motoring down the channel into the marina my wife waiting on the dock for me. In comes Murphy. You know Murhpy’s Law? I look over along where all the different trucks are and now see a Daytona Beach police officer cruising the marina parking looking for… yes parking offenders. You have got to be kidding. I quickly call Pam and yell, I mean tell her to go move the truck otherwise we will get a ticket. It was at this point in our conversation I could tell that boating might not be for us. She made me decide between waiting on the dock to catch a line or move the truck to avoid the ticket. “Move the truck”, I said. Narrowly we escaped the ticket. I managed to get to the ramp on my own while Pam hovered with the truck in front of the ramps. After some maneuvering we got the truck and trailer into position, got the boat on the trailer and pulled from the water. I exit my truck to go around and see the results. Here is the part I wish had a camera. Not to take a picture of what I saw but a picture of my face when I saw what I saw. I can only sum it up by saying, “Oh my God!” My heart sunk to the ground as what I witnessed was the most disgusting goo and marine life all over the bottom of my boat. There was no way in you know where I was ever going to get all this stuff off the boat. I was not happy and started to think back on whose idea it was for this “free” water line. “I will deal with them later”, I thought. I got everything buttoned up, feeling a bit defeated and tense Pam and I made our way home and managed to clean most of the foreign matter from the bottom. I got a water line alright. While Pam and I scrubbed and power washed I realized I am not painting this boat, we are going to pay someone to do it. I have had enough. I was hot, tired and angry and I still had to drive back to Ormond from Port Orange to store the boat at my dad’s place. The entire drive I was somewhat steaming just wanting to get this piece of aggravation off the back of my truck. Finally arriving at my dad’s I carefully backed the truck into his back yard. This is not an easy feat but I managed to keep from tearing down his shed and the corner of the house. Did I mention being hot, tired and a bit mad? So I finally get the boat into position. I jump from the truck disconnect the chains, pull the wire harness, lower the wheel of the trailer to relieve a bit of pressure and realize I need my key to get the trailer lock off. No, problem, I go into my truck to get the key, I find the key, I go back to the lock and the key doesn’t fit. It suddenly dawns on me that this is not the trailer key. I go back into the truck and look but no other key. “Oh no, you have got to be kidding”, I said out loud. Pam looks at me and says “What?” “I left the key at home” I replied. Follow this up with a lot of words not suitable for publication, stomping my feet and the impending trip all the way back to Port Orange I was fit to be tied. I have to now drag this darn boat back to Port Orange just to get a stupid key to get this stupid boat off my truck. I think my words should give you a good idea of my mood at this point. Pam in all of her brilliance suggests “Why don’t you ask your dad if you can borrow his car to go get the key?” I stomp around the front of the house and bang on the glass door. The look on my face must have told all because he opened the door took one look and kind of grinned at me and asked, “Whatsa’ matta’? “Can I please borrow your car so I can drive all the way back to Port Orange so I can get the stupid key from the stupid house so I can get the stupid boat off of my truck”? He laughed and said “sure just don’t wreck it”. That would be the least of my problems all things considered. On the way back to Port Orange Pam thought it was a good idea to play a “what if” scenario game with me. “What if the key is not there and you lost it?” she says. I am thinking to myself, “Really, is this really the kind of thing you want to say to me?” Instead I said, “I am coming back with a key or a hacksaw but one way or the other that boat is coming off my truck” At this point the boat has become more of a leech on my truck than a recreational water craft. It’s an infection that I want removed. I want my life to get back to normal, back to a time before boats. Without further incident I found the key, drove back to my dad’s house and removed the boat from the truck. I managed to make it back home, take my shower, find my recliner and finish the evening in front of the television.

I have to say that since our inaugural boating experience subsequent trips have been a delightful experience. Disappearing island was a treat on the 4^th of July, minus the sunburn of course. I chalk it up to experience.

Till next month have a great time and enjoy the club. Hope to see you there.

Welcome. Summer is here yet we are experiencing some interesting April showers. This is why we own boats. I will get to that later but first let me pique your interest and your taste buds for a moment. I would hope that by the time you have received this month’s edition of the Binnacle you will be able to partake in some new culinary delights.

Your lunch and dinner time menus have changed. You will now have about 8 or 9 new menu items. Most dishes offer seafood as one of their main ingredients. Not one to be left out some new beef and chicken dishes have made an appearance as well. Sushi grade Ahi graces two of the plates. Everyone on the House Committee thought the Ahi was fabulous. If you have not tried one of these dishes yet I would surely recommend you do so.

As always if you don’t see something on the menu just ask. If we have the ingredients chances are the kitchen staff can prepare it for you.

First I want to thank all of the people who enjoyed my boat story last month. I received a letter from Louise Redner who reminded me of times past when the Binnacle actually posted funny stories from boaters. Imagine that. We may have to make room for just such a column. If you have a funny story you would like to see in the Binnacle email it to me. If we have room we might be able to get it in one of the next issues.

Personal experiences; where was I? Oh yeah, I had just pulled my boat from the water to allow all the water to drain from the hull. That would be the very same hull that has a drain hole and normally a drain plug. I figured this out.

Now that I had some practice launching and recovering my boat putting it back in the water was rather simple. Well I was now experienced right?

I handed Pam the rope, uh I mean line and told her to hold on as I held my breath hoping the boat would start and somehow the line would not come loose allowing the wind to blow me into the other much larger boats in the marina. Pam dragged me and the boat to the dock as my boat wanted to swing around acting as a wind vane. Did I mention the wind was blowing? Yeah I picked a really nice day to do this. Nonetheless Pam got me to the dock and was able to hold the boat close until I could park the truck.  I glanced back a few times to make sure there were no other drain plugs I may have forgotten. All was well, no fountains spewing from the aft, Pam was still holding the boat and as best as I could tell I was still married.

In the boat I jumped. I tried to start the motor and was having somewhat of a time doing it. Finally it kicked over relieving me of the certain embarrassment of having to recover my vessel once more. Pam got in and off we went. I don’t think that I could accurately describe how I felt as I moved through the water navigating the Halifax Harbor Marina. In simple terms I guess I would say, “Nervous”. We went out the channel to the ICW and made our way to HRYC where Brian our dock master offered me a temporary home while my boat developed a “water line”. A week was all I planned for this endeavor. A water line was a good idea I was told so I knew where to paint my bottom.

A week went by and Pam and I thought it would be nice to go out on the boat. We packed all of our stuff up in the truck and headed to HRYC. We then unpacked the truck and packed everything into the boat. Connected the radio, put the fire extinguisher in its rightful place and added ice to the cooler. We were all set; so we thought. I put the key into the ignition pushed the button to lower the motor into the water and… nothing.

Nada, no clicking, no whining and surely no lowering of the motor. Looking around now I must have looked like a cat when he wants you to think he did something dumb on purpose.

I re-examined the controls, wiggled the key, double checked the gauges, pushed the button once more. Nope, the motor is not moving. I think it was at this time Dave Winkler appeared on scene. Fortunately for me Dave was more interested in helping me out than laughing at me, at least for the moment. I think he suggested, “dead battery?” Remembering Occam’s Razor where the simplest solution is the answer I agreed. There being two small hatches at the rear I opened one and discovered a battery charger. Ah ha! Somebody I know (I won’t mention my father-in-laws name) must have had the same problem. The solution was of course to always carry a battery charger with a 100ft extension cord. This was a bonus and a Godsend. One problem though, my extension cord was not going to fit into one of those 30 amp receptacles on the dock. Dave Winkler to the rescue again as he made his way to his boat and retrieved one of those converters. Handing it to me he told I need to go buy one of those. I’m thinking, “Really?”, “Great, more money to spend”.

After letting the battery charge and gathering up Pam I finally made it to the ICW just a little over two hours behind schedule. I chalked it up to experience. I should be gaining some respect around here by now. I am practically an “Old Salt”.

We made our way south passing the channel to Halifax Harbor Marina when somebody mentioned something about nature calling. I couldn’t believe it. Not more than 15 minutes into our boat trip and somebody has to use the potty. I won’t be mentioning any names here. Not to mention she also said something about being cold. Considering the start of our excursion I was at this point defeated and wondered why in the world anyone wanted a boat. I turned the boat around and made my way back. Securing everything, dragging it all back to the truck and loading it up. Wow what a great fun filled day!

Believe it or not the fun does not stop here. In the interest of all my friends who also must utilize some space here I will have to continue the story next month. Yes I am still married but now Pam is talking RV’s. Till next month I bid thee farewell.

The house is fine. With little exception here and there food and beverage is doing well. The Mexican party was a great success as was the Mother’s Day brunch. Both were very well attended and the food compliments continue on as I write.

I want to thank all the staff that makes your dining experience a pleasure. Each of them works hard to see to your every need. If there is ever anything you want or need let the staff know. I am sure in most cases they may accommodate you. I continue to receive and read all of the comment cards you fill out. Again with very little exception they are all positive, especially about the wait staff.

I have received a lot of complaints from readers who wanted me to write less about the yacht club and more about something else. For them the following story should give them something to chuckle about. The story is a boating story so hopefully it is appropriate for our Binnacle.

I have to start by saying that Pam and I have enjoyed many a boat show, always finding just the right boat we wanted to buy at that time. But not unlike other excursions it was window shopping we did best, as we tried to remember one should find friends with boats not actually own one.

Now, fast forward to about 2 months ago when a small boat became available at a price and condition one could not pass up. Mind you this was no yacht. It had neither cabin nor cover but it was a boat. Trailerable at only 18 feet I knew it would barely challenge my vehicle.

Pam and I took a day off work, wanting to have a full day during the week when no witnesses would be around to see what surely was going to happen. We arrived at the dealership to pick up the boat. We were told somebody would be there to show us the ins and outs of the boat. Instead we were met with a printout of a manual showing some details about how to start it, where to put gas etc. I wasn’t too happy about it but I figured “how hard could it be?” The lady told me to pull my truck around back and they would hook it up to the truck. This is where it all starts to go downhill. We get the trailer hooked up, chains properly set, and then its time to connect the harness for the lights. Guess what? I need a converter because the two different connections on my truck don’t fit the trailer harness. Back into the dealer I go and spend another $25.00 for a plug to make it all work. As an aside here I have to ask if it’s a conspiracy. Why would trailer manufactures have harnesses that don’t fit your vehicle? Maybe it’s to sell more converters. Anyways, I bought it and finished the connections, tested the lights and all was a go.

I have trailered larger rigs and driven much larger trucks but still I was nervous about pulling this boat through the Daytona traffic. I slowly inched my way onto U.S. 1 frantically watching my mirrors making sure I wasn’t about to take off somebody’s door or worse yet run over a pedestrian. I strategically planned my route to one of the better launch sites; Halifax Harbour Marina. I was told that they had very well maintained and wide launches. When Pam and I arrived we were delighted to see to our plan worked. There was absolutely no one around and all the parking spaces were empty. Woo hoo!

Pam asked me what she needed to do and I told her to get on the dock and get ready to grab a rope. Yes I said “rope”. She said “it’s not a rope it’s a line and if I don’t want anyone making fun of me I should cal it a line”. Did I mention the number two cause of divorce in the U.S. is boating? Yeah well it is.

I backed the boat down into the water without incident. It seems I can do this pretty well. I say that because I didn’t actually hit anything and my truck didn’t end up in the water.

I released the winch, handed Pam the line and let the boat slide from the trailer. Unfortunately the wind was blowing pretty hard and this made the boat somewhat unresponsive to Pam’s tugging commands. With a little help from me we finally got the boat to the dock when I noticed something. For some reason the bilge pump was pumping out water. My first thought was that because the dealership had washed the boat that some water must be laying around below. I went with that first thought as I went back to the truck and pulled the trailer from the water. I got the rest of my stuff from the truck, locked it up and started walking back to the boat and notice the bilge was still spewing a heavy stream of water. Again I was somewhat puzzled when I mentioned it to Pam who said, “Did you put the plug in?” After a few words which are inappropriate for publication I realized she was right. I did forget to put the plug in and my new boat was sinking. This brings about another question; why have a bilge pump that cannot at the very least pump out the water caused by leaving the plug out? It’s just a thought.

Back to the truck I went. I got the boat back on the trailer and spent the next 20 minutes watching the water pour from the plug hole and the bilge pump. It was a LOT of water.

Two things happened that day. The first was that I learned my wife knows more about boating than I do. The second was that I gained quite a bit of experience launching and recovering my boat.

To be continued… No really the story does not end there.