Finally!! Since that Sunday evening in October when I was told I was a boat owner I have been dying to get my new girl home. This past Friday it happened!! After weeks of talk, prep and dreaming she now sits in the backyard.
It started about 11am Friday morning. My good friend Chris (without whom I could NOT have done this) and I left for Georgetown. The order of business for today was to replace and pack the bearings on the trailer, bolt the trailer frame back together, get the lights to work, load the boat onto the trailer and, if daylight permitted, get her home. Armed with a makeshift toolkit, a print-out on trailer maintenance from Shipshape Boating, and a lot of will-power we arrived at my uncle's house at noon. The plan was to stop off at his place and pick up the keys (he had planned on being out that day) and proceed to the storage area near Russellville. Fortunately for us, my uncle was there and offered to help. He knew how to properly replace and pack bearings, and was able to complete it in half the time it would have taken us to complete.
*** From here on out, the pictures are fuzzy. I forgot my camera, but Chris had his phone***
We started with the rear section of the trailer which contained the wheels, axle and bunks. We removed the wheels, the hubs and the old bearings. As you might expect on a boat that was last registered in 1990 the bearings were shot. A trip to Auto Zone resulted in new bearings and races, Bearing Buddies , and a ratchet strap. After a quick bite from BK, Fred proceeded to pack and replace the bearings. In the meantime, Chris struggled to put a new 1 7/8" ball on his receiver. With new bearings in place, we placed the hubs back onto the trailer. The tires were in sorry shape. Dry rot was setting in, and I was a bit weary of the trip back to Covington (1 hour drive-all highway). However Fred seemed confident that they'd get us there, so we decided to chance it.
After much struggle with hand wrenches (my apologies to Chris and Fred) the trailer was back together. About that time, Chris gave up on replacing the 2" ball on his car with the new 1 7/8" so off we went again. This time, we went to Seip's in downtown Georgetown to pick up a new receiver and lighting kit. When we got back, we were having problems feeding the new wiring through the tongue. As daylight was running short, we decided to zip-tie the wires to the outside frame until they could be properly fed.
Finally, the time that we were dreading had come. Time to get 360 lbs of boat out of the barn, past a incompacitated Chevy Blazer and onto our freshly assembled trailer. The first time we tried to move her was a bit of a struggle, so we faced the task with much trepidation. Fortunately we were able to get a good grip and were able to move it on without too much trouble, and in no time we were ready to hit the road!
Chris and I started the long drive back to Covington, keeping a watchful eye on those nasty tires. We got to the house around 7:30, and after moving a panel of our privacy fence we slipped the boat into her new home. Now, the real work can start! But first, a well deserved rest after a long day. Happy Thanksgiving!
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