CONTINUOUSWAVE

From Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and even today, Sunday (June 27 through June 30, 2024), I was working on my boat trailer. I have done all sorts of work on my boat trailer in the past, but this time there was one significant difference: age. Yes, my boat trailer was older than previously times I repaired it. But the more significant problem is I am older than I was in previous times.

Working on a boat trailer often means getting into very odd positions to be able to reach something that needs to be moved or tightened or loosened, and the something is heavy, has some rust, does not want to move, and in general puts up a fight. I feel like I went 18-rounds with the boat trailer, and the trailer was winning.

By Sunday morning (today) the trailer was in a state of repair that was about as much as I could do at this moment--I need to wait for a few added parts that I did not anticipate I would need.

I understand and am also living the dream of age and boat trailers. I long for the day that I can offload the boat into a slip somewhere so that my battle with the trailer goes so much easier. Trailers are indeed a pain in the butt to work on, especially with a boat sitting on them. Brakes are next in line for me.

I've kept our boats on trailers, in wet slips and in dry slips. Of the three, in order of most to least problematic are wet slipped, trailered or dry slipped. Keeping a boat in the water for extended times requires anti fouling paint and frequent inspection of through hull fittings, sacrificial anodes both inside and outside the outboard or attached to the hull or trim tabs. It also requires frequent inspections of shore power connections.

Depending on the waters and climate where the boat is kept, a periodic hull cleaning will be needed as well as attention to the anti fouling coating.

Waxing the hull of a floating boat is an additional challenge.

Trailering a boat requires no discussion as we know what a pain it can be with the severity of the pain increasing with boat size. I recently kept or 190 Montauk in a dry slip. I decided that at age 80 I deserved the break.

This was the best option for us. We could call a day ahead to have the boat launched and tied to the pier awaiting us. The would add fuel and or ice if requested. Our part was to load our provisions and to cast off. When we returned we tied up, unloaded using the convenient dock carts and notified the Dock Master that the boat was ready to place in the rack. They gave the boat a good rinse down and drained the hull before storing. For a fee or generous tip they would wash the boat.

A self-service rack was available and they would place your boat there so an owner could wax the hull, replace a battery, install electronics, etc. Those services were available for a few if you preferred not to do the work. Detailing was available. There was a nearby public launch ramp in case you wanted to move your boat.

When I was working on the trailer, the boat was not on the trailer. I was able to get a transient slip at the local marina. With the boat on the trailer I would have never been able to get anything done.

An adjunct to having your boat in a slip at a marina while you are not aboard is the worry of how the boat is moored to the dock and how the wind direction changes. I had to make two trips over to the marina just to see if the boat was still tied-up appropriately for the change in wind direction and speed, and that the fenders were helping fend off. I am just a worry-wort, I guess. The boat was fine, although I did adjust one fender position. Usually we are always staying on the boat when it's in a marina slip, and if anything changes in the middle of the night, any banging noise wakes me up and tells me I need to go topsides and adjust something.

A short update: after the initial--and very temporary--fix for the trailer axle, I ordered two missing but very important parts necessary for a properrepair, and they arrived about a week later. I then had to work on the axle while the boat was on the trailer--I just wanted to take some weight off the left rear wheel so I could remove the retaining nut, install a special washer, install a locking mechanism, install a cotter pin, and put the assemby back together . This required operating the handle of my 2-Ton dolly jack from a rather odd position.

My back was already sore from the four days of working on the trailer previously, but I think cranking-up the trailer with the boat loaded on the trailer was the final straw--the next day my back was very sore. From there it just got worse. I ended up spending about a day and half in bed, as the pain got to a level that was intolerable when standing or sitting.

When I finally got out of bed, I really cut down all movement. In desperation, I stopped all my normal daily physical activity: no bicycling, no kayaking, no swimming, hardly any walking--just moping around for several days taking a lot of Motrin and trying to nurse my back to a lower pain state. Finally, the back pain began to reduce. It got to tolerable, then to almost completely gone. Then back to a dull ache. I don't quite feel 100-percent even now, about four weeks after the trailer project started.

Since I got the trailer back to what I think is a road-ready state, it has not moved an inch. I hope to take the trailer (with boat loaded) on a test drive in a day or two, and maybe even get to the launch ramp, put the boat in the water, and enjoy a boat ride.

ASIDE: As if trailer problems were not enough, one of my tow vehicles, my 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee, was making a very strange noise. I took it to a local--highly respected---service garage about 15-miles away--hey, when you live on very northern end of a 35-mile-long peninsula, anything that is only 15-miles away is considered "next door". To my complete surprise, the garage repaired the problem in literally 15-minutes and only charged me $32.50. The noise was from a loose "dust shield" on the left front wheel brake rotor, which is apparently a common problem with Jeep Grand Cherokees, as the garage knew exactly what to look for based on my description of a rattle noise associated with brakes. This outcome was much appreciated, and may have been the lowest cost repair in the history of modern automobiles. (And, no, they did not replace the dust shield, as I am sure they didn't have that part in stock and most likely even a Jeep dealer would not have one on hand. I think a "rotor dusk shield" is an artifact of the Jeep ethos of being an "off-road" vehicle, "off road" is somewhere my Jeep will never see.)