Wherein Nan and Husband Pay the Piper

So, today was the day we got the boat out of the water for winter–much harder than putting it in, I’ll tell ya. We did get to enjoy a small ride up to the Beach and back down to the Point where we waited for our storage guy to come trailer us home.

He dropped the boat on the trailer  in the driveway of the cottage and then it was our turn. Holy Mary, Mother of our Lord! First, we scraped algae off the pontoons–a wicked nasty job. Just FYI, algae stinks. Then we worked with a scrub brush and a couple of different kinds of cleaners and the power washer. Finally, we got out the muratic acid and just burned the shit off.

Never ever doing that again! I’ve already told Husband that his birthday gift next year is a boat lift. My plan is to call our landlord–who is peach–we are crazy about both he and his wife and their kids are darling, by the way. Anyway, I’m calling him and asking him to put in a boat lift–then I’ll bring Husband up to see his gift. Definitely a plan!!

This was WORK! Way more than I’d anticipated. However, I confess, as I was lying on my side in the gravel driveway, using the power washer on the bottom of the pontoons, I did think, “This is totally worth it!” Husband even said, as he was struggling to get the oil filter off the motor–“This is so worth it!”

I vacuumed the inside of the boat, scrubbed the table and the helm, packed up the flotation and got it stored, and wiped the cobwebs off the Bimini top and out from under seats. I didn’t even scream at the spiders in my hair–I just brushed them off like a brave little boater.

The whole process took all day–once we got the cover back on the boat, we walked down to the neighbors’ house for beer-thirty. Fortunately, we weren’t the only ones who’d been doing the winterizing thing all day, so everyone was kinda grubby. A beer and some great fellowship later and we were ready for showers and supper and yes…a bottle of wine.

Lake life is nearly over for this year. I’m sad to leave here, but looking forward to being at home on the weekends, the holidays, the kids coming for Christmas, and then opening up the cottage again in the spring. All in all, life is good…