We had to get the boat from storage this past weekend because, according to our contract, we had to remove it before the end of April. Since Travis and I are busy this upcoming weekend, it needed to be done Easter weekend. For some reason, Travis told the storage place that we would pick it up Friday. There were multiple reasons that Friday was a bad day, including that Travis was on call, he had to work, and I was busy. To top it off, it was one of those cold, gusty, windy, rainy days that just screams, “BOATS!” And the neighborhood association had changed the insurance requirement for the boats. Our policy had to name them as an insured interest. I couldn’t get the boat stickers without the insurance change, and I couldn’t get a key to the boat launch without the stickers. I spent a significant amount of time going between the neighborhood association and the insurance agency on Friday trying to hammer this out. Also, I had to take a boating test for the association in order to obtain a newly required boating ID, or I couldn’t get the boat stickers, which I needed to get the boat launch key. You can see that Friday was frustrating in that paperwork overload kind of way. So, I took the initiative and called off picking up the boat. At some point on Friday, I called the storage place again and left a message asking them to pull our boat Saturday for pick up Saturday or Sunday. I know it was Easter Sunday, but my family celebrates on Saturday, so Sunday would work better. Of course, Travis was on call, but we usually solve that by having an escape route for him if he needs to go in. The storage place can just leave it outside their gate for us to get Sunday. 

On Saturday morning, after I go to Sam’s Club for items I am missing for my salad to bring to the family party (Sam’s Club is a bad idea the Saturday before Easter), I was cooking and getting things together for later in the day. My plan was to leave for Illinois by two o’clock. Travis got home from work around 11:30am. I asked him if he wanted to get the boat. HIs exact response was, “I am NOT getting the boat today.” No problem. I just wanted to check with the storage place to see if they had gotten my message and confirm Sunday pick-up, not Saturday. So, I did just that, saying that my husband was at work (a white lie) and I don’t often tow the boat because I had taken out a mail box one time (the truth), so I needed to wait for him. As soon as I hung up, he said, “Let’s just go get it now.” Seriously? I have talked to this place or left a message three times in the last 24 hours. I will look crazy. I mean, I am crazy, but I try hard to not look crazy. Next thing I know, he and Trent load up into Bert and drive to the storage place. I don’t even know if he called ahead or just showed up. 

I also don’t know how the pick-up went, except that the trailer lights didn’t work, then did, and there was a mouse nest under the steering council. Tessa and I sat in the living room, looking toward the club house, waiting to see the boat pop out. See, a lot of things could go wrong. The battery not working right was primary among them. Then, the guys would need to load the boat back onto the trailer. Depending on how far into the water they had placed the boat by that point, they may need help at the launch to manually pull the boat (no motor, no power) back onto the trailer. They would test it first, but it could stall and not start back up again. It’s an eleven year old boat that’s been in unheated storage all winter. The battery was in our house, but still. So, we waited for that potential call. The better scenario was that the boat starts right up. Then, we needed to lower the boat lift into the water so we could put the boat on. I didn’t want to lower it until we knew the boat was coming because I didn’t want to leave it down, or it would get covered with undesirable moss. So, we watched… do we go to the car or the boat lift?

Then, the boat chugged from around the peninsula by the clubhouse. We both jumped up, cheered a little, and ran down the lawn to the boat lift. When we got there, the lift wouldn’t lower. We both stood on the lift and moved the big crank wheel… and still it didn’t budge. Tessa decided that maybe she should climb to the far side to even the weight. I was doubtful, but let her go. She went into spider monkey mode (even though she was in slip-on sneakers), and climbed over to the other side. With my weight on one side, and hers on the other, it started going down! See, usually when you are lowering a boat lift, there is a boat on it. This lift is ancient and has sat in the water all winter, so that adds to the excitement. As the actual boat cradle (or whatever you call the part that actually holds the boat) entered the water, Tessa jumped up on the arm of the lift. All I could think was that it was a good thing it was her over there and not me, because that was a lot of jungle gym type of maneuvering over some VERY cold water. As soon as her weight came off, the lift stopped going down. UGH!

So, she threw her shoes to me. One hit the cross bar of the lift and landed in the water. The other hit my chest and bounced into the water too. So, there’s that. She probably should have just kept them on. She pulled up her sweats and stood on that bar as I lowered it into the arctic water. It’s not like we have had any warm weather to warm up the lake. BRRRRR! Meanwhile, Trent is circling the boat, waiting for us to get the lift ready. We couldn’t get it quite low enough without submerging Tessa, but Trent came up with the genius idea of using the weight of the boat on the front pads to help. It actually worked to get the lift a little lower. Tessa had to wait on the far side until the boat was in (there were no bars left to climb back since they were under water) and do her spider monkey moves to climb over the boat to get back. 

But the boat was in! We didn’t have time to put the cover on the boat lift until the next day, but there was no rain in the forecast. The next day, Travis and I got to clean up the remains of the mouse nest. Fortunately, there was no damage to the wiring, and there were no remaining mice. All good things. And we were only an hour late for Easter, which is pretty much on time for us. I don’t know how we will drop the boat when these kids move on, but that’s a thought for a different day.

Have a great week everyone. Nothing screams summer like a boat in a lift covered with snow.