This past weekend was crazy busy. Friday was teacher records day for me since the trimester just ended. Saturday was Megan’s wedding (our good friend) and all our tribe was invited. That’s gotta be its own blog. Sunday was slated for pontoon boat removal. The boat thing became especially important when snow appeared in the forecast for next weekend. Boats and snow just don’t seem like parallel events. Perhaps we waited a little too long to take the boat out.

Sunday was beautiful in the way that November rarely is. But everyone was tired from the wedding, so the house slept in, except for Travis and I. We needed to get up to attend to important things like making a pot of coffee and enjoying a large mug of it while lounging in the living room with Travis on guitar and me singing along to the tunes. Anyway, the day started getting away from us, when we finally tromped down to the waterfront to start removing the canopy over the boat. Tayden had gone to the high school musical, Tessa was in the shower, Taryn stayed with her boyfriend at his Mom’s place in Illinois, so the crew was Travis, Trent, Nick (Tessa’s boyfriend), and me. Since the boat was still in the water, canopy removal was fairly smooth… well except for that second when the wind caught it after we had removed all the hooks and it flew up in a moment of glory like a sail set free. Fortunately, the boys securely held their side (why was I all alone on the tail end of the boat?) so it collapsed on the dock, with a bit of it in the water. So, I got my side off. As we dropped the boat and folded the canopy, Nick’s phone slipped out of the pocket of his joggers and into the cold lake. I don’t know how you all feel about joggers, but we have lost at least two wallets and now a phone from those pockets, so I am not a fan. 

After the drop, we all stood around the spot where it went into the water and looked, as if we could make it jump back up onto the dock. Then, Travis stripped to his boxer briefs to go in after the phone. The rest of us moved the boat off the lift, since the phone had slipped into the small space between the boat and the lift. We couldn’t start the boat because the oil light had gone on the last time we went out in the boat and Travis didn’t want to run it unnecessarily. So, we held the boat off the front of the dock and Travis slipped into the water. I don’t know if any of you have gone swimming in November in our area of the country, but Travis would NOT recommend it. Travis stayed in there with the water to his chest, feeling around with his feet until he couldn’t feel his lower extremities anymore and he had to get out. At some point, Tessa came down to watch. Travis took a second dip after some feeling had come back into his legs, but still no phone. 

Feeling guilty, I offered to go in. I happen to be the go-to person for lake retrieval. Travis said, “Well wouldn’t that be just a fine idea. You could pass out and then all of us would have to go in to haul you out, never mind the phone.” I agreed. See, I have this weird Weizeorick family affliction where I am allergic to cold. Seriously, it’s a thing. It’s cold-induced urticaria. I stay out of cold water. It can happen in other cold weather things, like skiing, but then it is localized to the legs. In water, it is everywhere and brings with it a risk of vasodilation and loss of consciousness, which is generally a bad thing when in the water. One time, before I was diagnosed, I went swimming at my dad’s cottage in the north woods. When I got out, I looked like I had red fuzzy pajamas on because I had red welts from my neck to my feet. And they ITCH like the devil. When I itched them, the welts would combine to form huge raised continents on my body. So I took some Benadryl. That’s when I discovered that I was allergic to Benadryl. It causes something like restless leg syndrome in me. So, that was a pretty miserable day, twitching and itching. I got all the weird Weizeorick health issues. 

Anyway, Tessa came down in the wet suit. It took her a couple attempts. The rest of us were there to instruct her where she hadn’t felt the bottom with her feet, which I am sure she appreciated. We knew it was lost if it was under the dock. But then, just under the huge section of the lift that holds one of the tunes, sat the phone. We all cheered. But we had lost another hour of daylight and the boat was still in the water. Oh, and it’s a newer phone and is apparently waterproof. Last I heard, it was working fine. 

So, now we had to get the boat to the boat ramp and out of the water. And we didn’t want to run it unnecessarily because the oil light was on. Travis had checked the lower chamber (I may have this wrong) and it was fine, so it was in part of the motor that he couldn’t do while it was in the water… so we were taking our chances. We left Nick and Tessa at home in case we needed a kayak rescue because the boat stalled in the middle of the lake. Yup, that was our plan B. Solid. 

But the boat made it to the lift and it only took me two tries to get it onto the trailer. I don’t take the blame for the failed first attempt. The trailer was too low in the water and the boat didn’t catch, so the current took the tail end of it right off the submerged trailer. Travis drove up the ramp a little and I did just fine. I gotta tell you, watching Bert, with his 100K + miles haul the massive pontoon out of the water gave me pause, but Bert handled it like a champ. And Travis had to winterize it at the clubhouse parking lot because we didn’t know if the trailer could make the pitch of our driveway. He only forgot a few things. Tessa and Nick were happy enough to drive them over in the comfort of a car, and not in a kayak on freezing water. 

We finished up with phone lights and a bit of swearing. Trent was the extra hands. I did a rough clean of the boat. Of course, with all the excitement, we didn’t have a solid plan as to where we were putting the boat overnight, because the storage place wasn’t open on Sundays. While driving out of the neighborhood, I asked Travis if he lifted the motor, so it wouldn’t drag when we attempted the driveway. This caused more swearing, since he had remembered to remove the battery, but had NOT remembered to lift the motor. So, we had to pull over on the side of the road and replace the battery so we could lift the motor. Finally, as we drove home, I called the kids and had them move EVERY car to neighbors houses. Then I called and texted said neighbors to make sure it was okay to move all our cars to their houses. When we drove down our street, Trent and I got out to yell STOP if the boat was about to bottom out. Yup, that was another solid plan. Trent was at the front of the trailer and I was at the back. Travis only had to navigate the mail boxes, the side walls of the driveway, and the imitations of the width of our street while trying to make the ninety degree turn, while staying in tune to our yells. I actually had to yell STOP because the license plate was dragging once the boat was at the peak of the pitch. I told Travis to go slow. I think I could feel the eye roll. Old car, massive boat, steep driveway, and go slow. It made the pitch. WHEW!!!

But Travis did not take into consideration the trees and the boat to navigate the turn around at the top of the driveway. So, after many turn around and more swearing, the pontoon spent the night nestled under the pines (after taking out some of the lower branches) in the front yard. Yup, that’s the neighbors that we are. We brought all the cars back and called it a day. The next night, after work, Travis drove the boat to the storage place during our version of rush hour. I’m glad I wasn’t in the car. I got stuck at work, trying to work out a computer glitch with my new classes. 

I failed to get a picture of the boat in the front yard, which makes me sad. But all’s well that ends well. Have a great day everyone!!!