Some of you may be familiar with my previous attempt at boat ownership ------> Starcraft Falcon
I kinda fizzled out on energy when it came time to putting the boat in the water. Don't know why, but it didn't require much to finish other than some outboard tuning. My guess is the other projects I took on easily stole my attention. Anyway, I put that vessel up for sale on Marketplace for a number I didn't really expect to get. I figured for that amount I'd let it go, but if not I'll fix when time allows. Roughly 6 weeks later a gentlemen a couple hours North of me paid that amount and took it off my hands. WTF. That wasn't supposed to happen.
So I've kept my eye out for another aluminum gem to snatch up and give it another go. Yesterday morning I opened up my browser and saw this:
Without much spare cash kicking around I don't really need a boat right now. The k swap on my FRS has drained me for the most part, but I do need a project to follow that one. The cheaper the better. I figured I would just throw out a $100 offer with the stipulation I would retrieve that evening. Probably should have offered less in hindsight, but didn't really expect the seller to accept.
Well, the offer was a success. WTF.
I just so happened to have an early day available to me this week, so I put a list together of stuff to pack when I got home. My spare cheap HF trailer donated a set of good wheels and tires in 4 lug pattern. Some cribbing blocks plus a bunch of various chunks of useful lumber. HF aluminum jack and a spare hydraulic scissor if needed. TONS of straps. Furniture dollies. My new winch on the trailer should come in handy.
The plan was simple. Jack up the boat, bolt on the spare wheels, and drag it onto my 20' trailer. Easy right?
I pulled up to the property around 5pm. There was a good solid 3 minutes spent pondering. Was it possible to get on the trailer? Should I attempt to retrieve this vessel from mother earth? It's only $100 though so can't lose right?
Well, I'm no quitter. It's going on the trailer or at least I'll make an attempt. Unfortunately the boat was filled with 6 or more inches of swamp juice. The good news is the boat holds water and doesn't leak. The bad news is it's really gross water and smegma. I tilted the nose of the beast to the sky and let it drain as much as possible for about 15 minutes after bolting on the spare wheels.
I couldn't get access to the back of the boat to save my life. Most of the brush I was able to stomp down and away, but the razor sharp thorn bush was too much. I brought gloves but forgot to use them. Facepalm.
While draining I started pulling the 8 or so spare wheels that were sitting inside the boat. Less weight to hassle with, and I didn't care to own a single one of them. You could almost see the potential.
I knew that there was an outboard in the Marketplace ad, but was surprised to see a 40hp unit. While twiddling my thumbs I found some dog dish hub caps with Gator stamped in them. They were at one point submerged in the sludge. From what I can tell the trailer is a Gator, but the hubcaps didn't fit a single wheel of the 8. Weird. I used one of the hubcaps to help scoop water out in hopes to speed up the loading process.
At some point it was obvious the drain was going to continually get clogged with shmutz, so I decided it was time to start getting it onto the trailer. What was left of fluid was manageable at least. A couple guys on the property were eager to do work, so the winch barely put in much effort when it came time to roll onto the trailer. I spent about 20 minutes strapping EVERYTHING down. Even things that wouldn't move. I strapped them anyway. Would you look at that!?
On the road we go.
I didn't mention before, but the boat was in Verona Missouri. I live in Bella Vista Arkansas. It's about an hour and 30 minutes away, but all windy back roads if you feel up to it. I did. A nice scenic view on the drive home. As I crest a hill through a dry river crossing I see two figures pasted to the face of a rock feature/mountain? What is that?
Friggin goats. I don't know why they are there, but they are there. Just hanging out. I stopped to snap some pics and they just hung out. We checked each other out for a minute and then went on with our lives. Now I haven't come up with a boat name yet, but something tells me there's a good chance it can be associated with goats. Maybe.