No Slip, No Problem

One of the successes on the 2021 initial launch was the discovery that a mooring ball that Sid had placed in Lake Shawnee (with permission) in 2019 was still there. Well,,,the ball wasn't visible, but one of the floating bottles attached to the line still was. That gave him hope that he could secure the boat there for a couple of days to work on the trailer.

This was essential because he had an appointment with a trailer shop to work on the wheels and otherwise check the trailer's travel-worthiness. The shop strongly preferred not having the boat on the trailer while they worked on it. (Likely for liability reasons) Having a place to secure the boat on Lake Shawnee was theoretically a time-saver, i.e., not having to drive to a lake further away to lodge the boat in a slip.

Me: How will we get back to shore from the boat, assuming we can find the line under the anti-freeze bottle?

Sid: Well, there used to be a little row boat you could borrow, but it must have gotten stolen or destroyed.

Me: Did I get an answer to my question?

Sid: When is our inflatable "life boat" arriving?

Me: Estimated between June 30 and July 2. Isn't the appointment first thing on June 30?

Sid: Yes; well maybe the dinghy will arrive early.

Me: Maybe, what if it doesn't?

Sid: I guess we take life life jackets and swim back to shore!

Me: (under my breath) Oh boy!

This trip to put the boat in the water, we used a different dock, so launching went almost flawlessly. My trailer backing was a little better. (I may not have mentioned that one of the things we learned the first launch was that I am not currently any good at all at backing up a trailer, with or without a boat.)

The plan was to launch the boat, I drive to a secure parking area near the dock closer to the mooring ball and wait for Sid to come pick me up in the boat. We would work together to tether the boat to the mooring, then swim back to the dock and the truck.

Sid swimming back to shore

The boat peacefully moored to an old anti-freeze bottle

Though I was dressed for the task this time, I am very happy to report that Sid was able to find the line, secure it to the boat and make it back to the dock WITHOUT me getting in the water. He even found the ball, though it was deflated and unusable. The next morning, the boat was still there!

The trailer made it to the appointment and the inflatable boat arrived later that same day. I think that’s a win!