We unwound the rope off of the boat loader so we could measure for a new one. Luckily we still had some left over rope from the last time this happened. He fed the rope back through the middle of itself using a pointy tool called a fid. When tension is applied to the rope it tightens onto itself. Once that was made up we rewound and unwound the new rope onto the boat loader a few times until we had it adjusted a little shorter than the other one as it will stretch. (Lesson learned from the last time we did this.)The next thing on his "to-do" list was to fix the hole on the gunnel of the boat. With years of bouncing on the boat loader roller it has worn through...
...and replace the broken trailer door latch that falls out of its mount...
But before he could get started on these projects, we needed to go pick up supplies at Home Depot and Camping World. On our way, I took a picture of the Goodyear Ballpark where we were last night...Our first stop was at Camping World where we got a replacement door latch for the trailer...there were a number of choices. However, Steve decided on a stainless steel one instead of the cheap plastic ones. Hopefully it will last longer.
Then it was onto Home Depot where we ended up having more success than we thought we would. We found a length of aluminum metal stock one inch wide...it was just too long. (No stainless steel available) But it would be perfect to cut 2 - 4 inch pieces from it. Not wanting to have to buy a hacksaw, we set out to find someone in Home Depot that would cut it for us. After talking to a few people...and being sent to a few different departments, one individual managed to find a hacksaw and allowed us to cut our own pieces. We picked out the stainless steel screws, nuts and washers and after paying, we were on our way home.
It was 1:00 by this time, so after a quick lunch, I headed off to Safeway to do my grocery shopping while Steve worked on the boat. He used a file to smooth and round the edges, then drilled and mounted them. Once that was done he gave the boat a quick wash...
Of course the mounting holes on the new door latch didn't match so he had to drill new holes...and of course the latch wouldn't fit until he smacked it a few times on a rock with a hammer to bend it so that it would...
When I returned I gave Steve a hand loading the boat back onto the truck. After a very busy day, we were all finished our work by 4:30 and were relaxing with a cocktail when our guests arrived. Left to right...Ken, Charlene, me, Bob and Donna...
After dinner, we all sat around the Campfire-in-a-Can enjoying the fire. When Bob and Donna decided to head home, we gave them hugs and bid them farewell...it was lovely seeing them. Ken and Charlene stayed longer and we sat around the fire chatting until after midnight. We had had a great visit with them over the last few days...hopefully it's not another four years before we see them again!
Hey Guys, I have not commented for a long time. Not much new with us, still treading water getting ready to take off in a year or so. I got a chuckle of you using the rock hammer to make you door latch work. Many years ago when I worked in the summer with the maintence crew at my high school I was teamed up with a "mechanic" who used a hammer if something did not work. If it still did not work he used a bigger hammer. Thanks for the trip back memory lane the contiuned good blog reading. Happy trails to you guys. Harry & Vicki
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