The old family dump trailer. It's been a staple during our time here in the country house. Between the leaves and downed branches that had to be trucked to the dump and soil and mulch that came home it has been an invaluable tool we had access to. It was also a must have for those basement flooding monsoons we've had during our time here. Below is a picture of it put to work after a basement flood we had in 2021, just one of several over the eight years.
It was always pulled with whatever beater pick-up truck I had owned at the time. And then there are the tools that are needed to go with it, chainsaws, hedge trimmers, shovels, rakes, pitchforks, trimmers, and leaf blowers. I don't think our young buyers have that, and don't even know that they know they will need it. You know you need a beater, and a dump trailer, when you have an old house, right?
So as we get real close it was time to call in the reinforcements, and today that meant my Dad. Age isn't a factor, but I'll tell you my 80 year-old Father broke his ass helping me out today. First it was a ride to Home Depot to pick up butcher block countertops, which I have to install by Monday. Then it was weatherproofing the wooden basement doors from the outside. And then my final trip
to the dump where I paid my last $30 dumping fee to get rid of stuff from around the yard. Going forward I'll have no need for a pick-up or a dump body down in Cape May or Bluffton. But I did
find this little beauty while searching around the country on Facebook Marketplace. It's in St. Petersburg, Florida, only a few towns from my Mom in Bradenton..... I have a plan, and a mental disorder. But wouldn't she and the Suburban look nice parked next to each other at The Shrimp Shack. Oh yes, The Shrimp Shack, more on that, and the name coming soon. Now back to reality, and working around the yard anymore, I'm now all about having another people handle landscaping type things for us, for the rest of our lives.
We finished just before the heavens opened up and deluged the area. I was then off to New Egypt to have the new trailer hitch installed on the Suburban and to pick up the boat and trailer. While I like to think I can do anything, it just felt right having a professional do something for once
in my life. I know I could have serviced the wheels and axles on the trailer myself. All the guy did was remove the wheels, and the axles, replaced the ball bearings and hubs, no big deal, I could have done that...yeah right. But the thought of the wheels coming unglued and falling off somewhere between here and South Carolina made me think that just paying the bill and having it done right would leave me with some piece of mind, and my life.
And I know I could have ran new wires and installed the new lights on the trailer, including those side yellow marker lights that have been holding on by a thread. But truth be told I could have never had the patience to run the wires through the inside the rails and forget about doing all the connections properly and having them be water tight. In the end it was $475 for the trailer work and $175 to have the hitch and connector bracket installed. The Curt Trailer hitch ran me $490, so I'm into this portion of boat and moving expense around $1,200. But at least I feel confident now, and safe.
And then Theresa asked me a reasonable question, "Do you really need to tow that boat down to South Carolina?", oh, the blasphemy. The idea of starting anew, and getting rid of everything and anything we had, well, duh, applies to anything but old boats of course.
The above picture was taken on September 21, 2000, the day I proposed to Laura about the possibility of me buying Jim's boat. Theresa were out for a visit and it just seemed like a good fit. I brought her home a month later and gave her a good cleaning and a once over. The once over became many once overs as I tried to figure out all the things Jim had added and modified. Boat mechanics even shook their heads trying to figure it all out, and most just passed on the opportunity to help.
While I was able to use it a handful of times most of her tenure has been sitting in my yard waiting for the moment to get her restored, and that time is coming soon, or at least a little closer. I made a promise to Laura, and Jim, and myself, well Theresa as well, that one day the boat will be back to her original condition.
And the picture above shows Jim shortly after he purchased the boat in October of 1996, and that's the way I want to return it to. Stripped down, simple, and easy. Interestingly the boat, above, came with a 130 on it, shortly after they came with 150's, and there's no poling platform. That's why I couldn't find one in Jim and Laura's pole barn, and the one that I did find Jim had designed and built himself. My plan was to grab the one Paul Eidman has in his yard but for some reason he's emotionally attached to it at the moment. In the end I'll probably have to get one from Jones Brother's down in Moorhead City, unless he reads this and changes his mind.
So in the next few days I'll be loading up the boat with stuff that won't fit in the Suburban or that the movers aren't taking. Next Wednesday or Thursday we'll leave for South Carolina to drop it and some stuff off before heading back north to Cape May.
With the boat and trailer checked off the list it's time to move onto other last minute things to do. We're still not out of the woods, and things can always go sideways, but there's light at the end of the tunnel.