Sweet Success

Good morning everyone. Well with a little patience and perserverance at least one yawl boat trailer has been put back to rights. I pulled out “Chadwick’s” trailer yesterday to discover yet another set of sprung springs. Thankfully the trailer parts store had those in stock. So after changing mooring lines in the morning on the bottom of the tide, with the help of the harbor master, I ran off to get the new springs. I remembered all the parts I would need and drove home quick as a wink.

How hard can this be I thought. I was about to find out. My cutting torch made quick work of the old rusty nuts and bolts. The new springs slid right into place. I quickly began bolting… oh boo! The new heavier springs were just a half inch thicker than the old ones which meant the u-bolts which hold the entire assembly to the trailer were a half inch too short. The joke is “but only on one end.” I managed to attach the trailer to the axle well enough to get back to the trailer supply store a half hour from my house. Surely they would have what I needed and I would make high tide with minutes to spare. Not so much… The u-bolts they gave me were the longest made. I just sat down on the trailer and cried for a minute. The manager suggested wrapping some pre-threaded rod around the axle and making my own u-bolts. And that is just what I did. I had gone this far through the day without throwing a tool. Why start now?

I was like a man possessed. The hardware store had just what I needed. I drove the trailer down to the park and lay in the driveway and bent steel like Superman. Old bolts off…new bolts on…nutted… torqued…etc. Ready to roll. Working together Jen and I managed to get Chadwick hauled on the top of the tide. A run through the pressure washer on the way home and under cover by dark. Sometimes it does all click. Sometimes. Thank goodness.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

#camdenwindjammercruisessailingvacations