Little Water Buggy: Don't forget the plug.

So, after getting the boat in the yard, I needed to get all the stuff to get it in the water.

I sent an email to everyone I could think of asking for some of the stuff I needed: gas tank and hoses, anchor and line, battery, oar. Then the stuff I would need eventually, like a ladder, radio, and a couple of other things....can't remember now.

Oh, right, a drain plug....don't forget the plug.

Oh, the reasons I should write this stuff right away.

Anyway, I got a free gas tank, oar, anchor and line, and even a battery. Then, after I ran the boat a couple of times, one of my neighbors decided I would get blown up because the battery and the gas tank are in the same little cubby hole in the back, so he got me a box for the battery and even tied it down for me. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

So, Frank and Scott, whose herculean efforts made it possible for this thing to go in the water in the first  place, gave me a plug off the wall. I had mentioned that I thought it was a 1", but not sure. Frank just grabbed one off a hook in his garage and handed it to me. They both suggested, strongly, that I put the plug in from the inside, not the back. Harder to get to, but worth it. They said the churning of the water could loosen it. Seen in more than once, etc.

Just screw it in, they said. FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO.

No problem. I can do THAT.

So, I trucked on over to my house next door and shoved the plug in through the back, just to make sure it fit. Well, it just went in and then out.

Hmmm....must be too small.

I walked back over, where they were eating outside in their screen house. Ah, neighbors....

It doesn't fit, it's too small.

You have to screw it in.

But it doesn't fit.

Scott walked over with me and explained that it's on a spring or some such thing...I don't know. It goes in easily, then you turn it to the right and it opens up and tightens.

Oh.

"I told you I don't know ANYTHING," I said.

Ugh....

Okay, now I had my gas tank all filled, with the oil mixed, and I lifted that baby into the boat. Hell, that was heavy. But I can do it.

I jumped in the boat, put the tank under that little console in the back, hooked up the hoses. I  had read all about how to do that earlier when one of my neighbors gave me a hose/pump, but no clamps. I ended up buying the whole set-up, it was just about the same price as buying the clamps separately and it was all connected. Much easier. Been back and forth to Benny's and West Marine more times than I care to count.

Anyway, hooked it all up, then jumped in with the battery.

Slid the battery in the back and....whoa....Little Water Buggy, the whole thing tipped back right into the lawn.

Oh, my pittery-pattery little heart. My hands were shaking already and I didn't even have the thing in the water yet.

I jumped out and took a look at it. What a sight to see that boat in the dirt, with the front of the trailer up in the air. (I should've taken a picture, but it just didn't seem like a Kodak moment at the time.)

I walked back next door and said, "Hey, Frank. I think that trailer needs a little adjusting."

God bless his little soul. He didn't laugh at me, just walked over, took a look and said, "they all do that, you need to hook it up to the car first."

Oh, good. Okay.

Now, meanwhile, he had told me that I would need a 2" ball hitch, not the 1 7/8" that everyone expected. Hell, how do I know that? I had U-haul put the tow package on the car and had an old ball hitch from the old car that my mechanic George B had put on. I looked at the thing and saw a "2" but had no way of knowing if that was 2 INCHES. Damn guys. Why can't they just be clear about these things?

So, I just started asking everyone everything. One of my other neighbors assured me that the "2" meant 2 inches. George B came by and gave me a great lesson on my motor, especially warning me that it would pop up in reverse if I didn't clamp it down. Apparently the pin to lock it down was gone...but, then someone else found it...it's there, I just don't know how to use it from INSIDE the boat. No matter, it's better NOT to lock it down for going forward in case you hit a rock, that way the motor will pop up and get less damage...one little, itty bitty piece of information at a time.

Okay, so, hook the trailer up to the car and get back in. Screw in the plug, hook up the battery. Get a big bucket of water to put the engine in so I can start it in the driveway first. Don't want to get out there and have it not start...EVERYONE said that.

Won't start. Won't start. Won't start.

Frank.....

Hoses backwards.

Shoot...after reading all about how that big arrow tells you which way the gas flows TO the engine, I had hooked it up backwards.

Thank you, Frank.

Engine starts. Shut it off. Move the big bucket of water.

Are you sure you won't go with me the first time, Frank? Scott?

You'll be fine.

Of course I will.

Well, I threw the crate with the two "boat" life jackets in the car, but couldn't find my C02 life vest (the kind that inflates). I figured I had left it at Frank & Scott's after we had all gone on the kayaking trip (oh, another story to tell).

That day a big old cloud had come across the island (see post one: the launch), so I was just going to take the boat to Hoppy's Landing and drive around and get the feel of the trailer, try to figure out how to back it up, etc.

I decided, though, to go by Frank & Scott's first to see if they had my life jacket. I took the left, headed down Bluepoint, which is not paved. Oh, my pittery pattery heart again. Having not been around boats, or...realizing at that point...having never even been in a car that was hauling a boat, I was totally unprepared for the cacophony that came from the back. I looked in the mirror and the boat was still attached to the trailer, both jumping up and down on the road. I slowed to a crawl, found Scott at the garage, asked for my life jacket, which he had, then..

"Is it supposed to sound like that?"

Scott walked to the trailer, pulled it up and down and assured me it was secure and okay.

That wasn't my question, exactly, but...I guess my question was answered.

"You sure you won't come with me this first time?"

Guess not.

I turned towards Hoppy's Landing, shaking like a leaf in autumn....oh...this was a good idea, right?

See post one, "Little Water Buggy: The Launch," for what happens next.