I have a buddy that wants a boat, but they don't have liquid funds for a boat at the moment. They have skills, talent, time and a couple hundred bucks here and there.
This popped up. The pictures didn't do justice to exactly how sunk this boat was into the ground. I talked to the guy, he explained thigs. The boat came as lawn art when they bought the house and they are trying to clean things up to build a workshop back there.
I showed up with lumber, a recovery strap, 2 ton ratchet straps, plywood, a 6 ton floor jack, some extra wheels/tires and a v8 4Runner. It took a few hours, but I was able to get tires on it that held air and get it out of the mud. Then we slowly dragged it out backwards using a donut spare as a skid on the front trailer wheel.
Eventually, it hit pavement.
Here you see me stopping less than a mile away to let water drain out of it. There had to be 250 gallons of water in there, and a bunch of leaves in the bilge.
The hull is solid, but the floor isn't and the stringers are probably soft as heck from having all that water in there. But, my buddy has a pretty solid trailer and possibly a hull as a starting point for his project. It's currently cluttering up my driveway while he works on clearing a spot for it at his house.
You sure that is a friend and not someone you hate?
With friends like these...
Remind me not to ask for you to look at anything up there.
Grade A enabling right there!
I mean, I am boat shopping.
That is incredible. Reminds me of my co-workers' Lemons car.
He was searching for a good car to build for 24 Hours of Lemons. He sends me a craigslist link to a '92 MR2 5-speed for $300 that "just needs a battery". I don't believe it, because craigslist, so I call the seller and he is adamant that it really does just need a battery, but it's been sitting for over a year. My co-worker is excited to go get it, but he's leaving for a work trip and won't be back for a couple days. It would surely be gone by then. So I tell him fine, I'll go get it myself. I grab another buddy, a spare battery from another project, and a trunk full of tools that night after work. Plopped the battery in, and whadduya know it fired right up! Just needed the oil topped off. I paid the man $300 and it even came with a clean title. Other buddy drives that $300 MR2 100 miles home at 70 MPH like it was nothing. Two days later I drive it to work with the title in my bag and get my $300 back. And that's the story of the car I owned for 48 hours.
If the boat is completely kaput, the free trailer was worth digging out- trailers are the high demand item around here. There are quite a few boats that pop up for a couple of hundred bucks that people buy to get a trailer out from under.
If the boat is shot, he doesn't even have to cut it up beyond the floors. He then has to drive 4 miles from his house to the county landfill and they will use the fork truck to scoop it up. The floors can even leave the floors in the boat- they just have to ensure that there is no gas tank still in it when it gets crushed.
Let's hear more enabler stories!
Ian F
MegaDork
4/9/19 11:13 a.m.
Have you seen the Kawasaki H1 thread? 
Stampie! I posted a Nissan NX2000 and about 6 weeks after my initial posting he inquired about B13 SE-Rs or NXs. I reshared the link and gastropod history was made. He in turn saved me from a 4th vehicle that would require insurance.
Jay_W
Dork
4/9/19 3:13 p.m.
The "friend" who enabled me into my current ridiculous daily driver, a practical, sensible, economical... wait-- it is none of these things, it is an E55 AMG-- is looking to rent an RV for upcoming road trip. So I went and found an outfit that is happy to rent to you a Prevost or a Newell or a Featherlite for a mere 15k a week not counting mileage...but I don't think he will go through with it once he puts down the crack pipe.
My son got a job on a local farm, and I noticed a very nice little Mazda B3000 sitting in the corner that never moved. So since he was about to get his drivers licence and I was happy to no longer drive him around, I suggested he ask about it. Turned out it had a problem where it would intermittently die, usually on a bridge or some such inconvenient place . Several shops had looked at it and thrown random parts at it. It had a new battery, with another new one in the box, new alternator, new starter, and various other new electrical components. It also had a kick ass stereo with two amps and a new in the box head unit. My son offered $200.00 and I ran out and dragged it home before they could change their minds. It actually ran fine for a few weeks before it started and then stalled right in our yard. It took me an hour to find that when they installed the kick ass stereo they cut the ignition cable under the steering column and spliced in a connection. It pulled apart in my hand. One new butt connector and a year of trouble free motoring so far.
In reply to Brett_Murphy : A Navy buddy of mine makes a living going around to various marina’s collect junk boats.
Some he parts out, Some he cleans up and sells and a few get the full fix up.
nutherjrfan said:
free boat. attached to $1,150 trailer. 
Exactly that kind of thing. If you showed up there and offered to pull the boat off of the trailer and haul it away, I'm pretty sure they'd let you. It'd be easier to sell the trailer that way.
I also see this kind of thing quite a bit. Heck, I'm tempted to go get that, because it looks like $100 worth of metal plates in that floor. That, or they are road signs.
ShawnG
PowerDork
4/9/19 11:06 p.m.
I'm a professional enabler. I get paid to do it.
The last job involved facilitating the purchase of these:
1908 Ford Model S
1912 Ford Model T
1930 Lincoln Model L
dculberson said:
AngryCorvair said:
dculberson said:
With friends like these...
who needs enemas?
Is that an offer?
God I hope not. The barium enema I had 20 years confirmed that I am not gay. Fortunately it did confirm I had Crohn’s.
Not sure who the enabler is here but there is an SX4 getting buttoned up in my garage right now.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/cars-sale/sx4-5mt-awd/151114/page1/
I may have bought it anyway but Kazoospec pushed me over the edge. Typical sob story, kids car got totaled, I'll come and help move it and work on it.
What could have been a weekend of work is now on several weeks due to life.
Powar
UltraDork
4/10/19 8:29 a.m.
My latest enabling was finding this '87 C10 for fellow GRMer Junkyard_Dog. Then towing it home for him using my 'truck' and trailer. Then putting it in my workshop for him to do the trans while I'm out of town. I do my best to bring enabling to a new level.
It looks like I'm selling the Outback XT I picked up at auction in October. So, I'm un-enabling myself and passing it to somebody else.
It would've been a poor choice for a first car for Boy-Spawn, in any case.
Bye!
Yes, yes, the rear driveshaft was disconnected before moving.
Then, I went and spent $150 to enable myself.
