Very Eventful Weekend

[Monterro]

So my wife and I decided to go Smith Mountain Lake for Memorial Day. It is about 4 1/2 hours away from us. I spent hours and hours prepping for this trip to make it go smoothly as possible. It was our first long trip with the boat. We also had another couple tagging along with us. We were going to stay there from Fri - Mon.

Problem #1 - Whoever had the my truck before had a dual exhaust installed. With the weight of the boat along with all my gear it lowered the back end just enough for the exhaust to come in contact with my rear brake line. It lasted only 2 hours into my trip and the next 2 1/2 hours were with me driving through the mountains with no rear brakes. We had to call into work on Tuesday and stay back to wait for the part to come in to fix the truck so we could come back home. Installing AIR LIFT Suspension ASAP.

Problem #2 - Bearing buddy fell out on the way up to the Smith Mountain. I just repacked the trailer bearings and must not have seated it all the way. I had extra bearings and seals but no bearing buddy. Luckily I passed a Tractor Supply and the had 1 in stock for my trailer. Got lucky on that one.

Problem #3 - After finally getting the boat in the water and to the dock where it would be all weekend I somehow blew my accessories fuse. I just changed the scupper the a stainless steel and already leaked checked it. I still wanted to run my bilge to be on the safe side. It was already to late to run back 30 min to the local store to pick up another fuse. Took a chance and left it in the water and everything went well. Picked up fuse next morning.

Problem #4 - First day out on the water I attempted to find a good place to anchor out. The lake is very very deep and in some places 40 feet deep within 10 ft of shore. I guess I was so focus on finding a spot and not running into the rocks that I missed hooking up the shackle to my box anchor. Threw it out and never came back. I would never thought I would be part of the club of owners box anchors at the bottom of the lake. I didn't put back my original anchor after last season so I was anchorless. Had to find a local marina to purchase a crappy anchor so we could get through our trip.

Even with the issues we still had a great time out and will be going back but hopefully with less issues. Extra day out was worth it. The other people who joined us left on Monday morning so it was just my family out all day and we enjoyed having our boats to ourselves. I have to stop inviting people out with us because the boat gets crowded quick. Definitely learned lessons this road trip.

 

[Scottintexas]

glad to hear you made the best of it, I've left an anchor at the bottom of the lake also, luckily it was the original cheap stock anchor but I still check every time I get ready to throw my box overboard!

 

[Julian]

Wow...that was an eventful trip for sure! Hopefully you got all of your bad luck out of the way with that one trip!

 

[scokill]

I've thrown a perfectly good but unattached anchor in the water once too!

 

[Gym]

Looking forward to your next trip @Monterro where I hope NOT to hear problems 5 through 10.

 

[njmr2fan]

Note to self, TIE OFF ANCHOR

 

[DieselCamel]

Where did you end up staying at SML?

 

[Higgy]

Bonus day on the water! Way to make the best of it! I know for a fact you aren't the only one that lost an anchor this Memorial weekend. I left mine in the lake. I decided to anchor out from a family friend's dock. A lot of people were swimming off the dock so I just decided to keep my distance and tossed the anchor in about twelve feet of water about fifty or sixty feet away from the dock. Went to haul it in after picking up a boatload of kids and the anchor was stuck. Dove down to find the carabiner on my anchor line clipped to the dock anchor cable. I couldn't belive it. 1 in a million shot. So after several attempts to free it I just had to cut it loose. Luckily it was a cheap anchor. I had read a post from @txav8r and he advised to never use a carabiner on your anchor line... I guess he's right! I also think I'll refrain from anchoring near docks in the future...

 

[Monterro]

Oh yeah I forgot my wife spilled a whole cup of red wine on my SeaDek. Luckily it cleaned right up with some towels and water. Red wine is now banned from the boat from now on.

Hopefully this was the end of my mishaps this season. Got them over with early in the season.

@DieselCamel We ended up staying at the State Park in the cabins. Worked out pretty good until I needed to stay an extra day. They couldn't extend me for the one day I needed. Had to pay for 2 days and pay a cancellation fee for the other day. They have a dumb reservation system and customer service was closed for the Holiday. We will probably stay somewhere else next time around.

 

[txav8r]

Sounds like you recovered nicely from all the issues on the first long trip. I hate when I have them and so does everyone, but your resourcefulness made your trip! A couple of thoughts, red wine, being organic, is pretty easy to get out of anything. Zep foaming spray vinyl cleaner will change the wines color right before your eyes and it cleans out easy. We love red wines and they aren't banned from our boats. I am going to be a grand dad in August, so I might have to eat these words, but kool aid and some of the kids drinks won't wash out way worse than the wine, so those are banned (for now) on my boat! One thing we have done, is to dump or consume any beverage that doesn't have a top on it before we move...until we forget again Maybe a need to add a section to the checklist called Mid Day Departure! For things like dumping drinks, pulling in the ladder, pulling up the anchor, etc.!

The loss of an anchor is a learning experience for sure. I have lost several in my boating over the years. The most painful was the loss of a $150 box anchor. That taught me two things, the first of which is to always have a good idea of where I am going to toss it, and what entanglements I have to deal with. The second...make sure it is connected as securely as possible to my anchor rode and that the bitter end is connected to the boat! As they say in my profession...there are those that have, and those that will. At least after you have, you probably never will again! So enjoy the rest of your season...oh, remember if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy, hopefully she can still enjoy her favorite beverage!

 

[Monterro]

@txav8r Thanks for the info about red wine. I would not have thought it would be easier to clean up than other drinks. I think my wife may be happy to hear about that one. We just celebrated our 10 year anniversary and don't think we will make it to 15 with more weekends like this. She wasn't too happy and blamed it all on me focusing on installing swim platform speakers and extra batteries than everything else.

Yes losing my anchor was the worst part of the weekend. I wanted to say a lot at the time but with a boat full of kids I had to keep my cool. Just ordered me another box anchor today. You better believe I will check at least 5 times before throwing it out next time. I'm in the Military and my job is all about preoperational checks and making sure the gear is ready before you release it. Too bad I didn't apply it that day or I might still have my box anchor.

 

[Monterro]

Here is a some pics from our trip. As you can see we are all smiling. This of course was the last day of our eventful trip.

 

[txav8r]

@Monterro , Congrats on the 10 year anniversary! It is ironic you mention this today, and that you reference another 15...because today, June 1, is our 25th wedding anniversary! To my wife: Happy Anniversary baby, and thanks for the first 25, hoping you will give me another 25! Believe me, I want ever year I can get, she is the best part of us as a couple! Back to the topic...I wanted to give you a link to the cleaner I referred to. They have changed the product and I believe it is no longer available aerosol. It appears this is it, in a spray bottle now. It was really great as a foaming cleaner, and I still have my first can I bought, as I use other vinyl cleaners as primary and only this stuff for a stain. And honestly, while I would clean up red wine immediately if I saw it, we have found it spilled well after the fact, and this did the trick. Here is the new packaging for it...
http://www.zepcommercial.com/product/All-Around-Oxy-Cleaner-Degreaser

 

[Gym]

Congrats @Monterro. Love the million dollar smiles. Congrats to you also @txav8r.

 

[MOA_Chaser]

I lost two box anchors in three weeks last year.

Ouch.

 

[McMark]

I lost my anchor second week of May

I had white anchore rode that was lying on top of the white of the boat and after a few hours of fishing, forgot to pull it up and didn't notice it as I was pulling away. Snapped the line. Now I have bright yellow anchor rode. Hehe.

 

[Bruce]

I have lost two anchors. Fortunately they were <$50 anchors. Losing box anchors is painful!

 

[OCPat]

Glad it all worked out! Heading to Smith Mountain Lake Friday for a bachelor party. Any good places to go and hang out?

 

[Monterro]

@OCPat We spent a lot of time on the lake and really didn't see any big hangout spots except Bridgewater Plaza. Its located right off the bridge and right on the water. Seems like a good spot to hangout with a nice bar with a spot for a band to play . We took this picture during the day and it was pretty busy. I assume at night without all the children it can get pretty crazy.

 

[bronze_10]

Ever heard of putting a small float at the end of the anchor line? I did that after I almost lost mine last year ... dove over the end of the boat and grabbed the line before it went in the water....