how not to be efficient boat buyers

AMFlite 14 and Sunfish checking out the grandparents' cabin 

 

We might have to write a book on how not to go about buying your first boat. We now have two boats and two trailers and technically do not have an efficient way to store them. But it's an adventure!

So, the Two Boat Saga is well underway. Quick recap:

1) We wanted a Sunfish but did not have a trailer, and pickings were slim and insufficient in our area.

2) A fellow Sunfisher 4 hours away had an extra boat and a shop class that could customize a foldable utility trailer that could carry 1 to 2 boats, detach those cradles, and become a utility trailer for hauling landscaping. Foldable means we can shrink it down and store it in the basement over winter.

3) Then a boat & trailer came up for sale just down the road. We jumped on it, because the blue boat was an unknown entity at that point, and we didn't want to miss a good deal. But we had already boat the under construction trailer.

So, this weekend we took the trip to KC to pick up the trailer and wound up buying Blue Boat. Mike felt obligated to, though I could have walked away from it. It did make us feel better about the condition of the AMFlite.

It rained on the way down and spit on the way back. The trailer has some issues, because its suspension is designed for heavier loads and the weight distribution causes some disturbing bounces and thunks over bumpy roads and bridge seams. We need more weight in front of the trailer wheels, we think, and are trying to figure out how to do that.

Possible options:

• Add weight to front with a disk or spare tire.
• Flip the boat so the stern is toward the car. Might not work, since the cradles are precisely curved to the hull, but they are detachable, so we can just rearrange them. Feature!
• Extend the tongue or hitch and shift boat forward a few inches (the bailer and short tongue prevent that right now).
• Add more cushioning to the cradles to dampen the impact of the bounces.

The journey home was mostly interstate, where we had only occasional winces going over bumps and bridge seams. Then we detoured toward Mike's parents cabin to drop off Old Blue for the night with the plan to bring the AMFlite down and swap boats the next morning.

We should've packed an overnight bag w/ sail gear. Then we could've sailed Blue the next day AND just relaxed. But we are not An Efficient Sailing Couple. We are scatterbrained but enthusiastic newbies. So, we went home, and then the next day brought the boats down for some swapping.

Mike moving AMFlite into the garage.

Again, we were idiots. We didn't bring our sail gear, because we were hoping to try out one of the lakes near home. It was gusting up to the 30s, so we were going to wait until the afternoon.

But we could've sailed at his parents' pond of a lake, which is in a wind shadow most of the time, so this wind transformed into a nice breeze.

But we didn't. Oops.

We didn't get to sail. The wind was too strong, but mostly it was so late by the time we got home, and there was so much to do to prep for Monday that we flaked out. But tomorrow looks good!

Old Blue is now in our garage, hanging out, and AMFlite is standing guard at the cabin. Our winter plans for these boats is a whole other story ...