Lois’ powerboat, a Donzi Z23, had been at Columbia Island Marina for probably close to 15 years where she and John used to love taking guests out on the Potomac for unprecedented views of famous sights along the shoreline and even the occasional 4th of July fireworks celebration. The DC memorials are all right there as is the Kennedy Center, Georgetown and upstream past the Key Bridge to a wilderness among the urban chaos. It was really a great spot to have a boat but unfortunately the last handful of years, its been seldom used.
Interest in the boat was rejuvenated again following the purchase of her waterfront home in Annapolis. She could finally have the boat waiting right outside her door without need for extensive preparation for the slightest outing. The time was finally approaching to relocate the boat and as is normal in this family… nothing comes easy.
The boat’s trailer had been stored on Fritz’s property for no less than 10 years (I had towed it there using the Durango). With all the other projects I have going on, I had asked Fritz to handle getting that roadworthy again, but he was handed an estimate of roughly $2k to repair and service… ummmm no. Let me give a little more thought about that. No.
So I retrieved the boat from the service yard up in Poolsville and brought it home to repair and service. One brake had locked up, so I removed the wheels from that axle for the trip home. I pumped a bunch of grease through the others, wired up some temporary lights and towed it home where it sat for another month waiting for more attention. Bearings and tires are the most common issues with old trailers. Surprisingly, the tires were still decent, so I pulled the wheels apart, repacked bearings for 3 of the wheels and replaced the 4th. The brakes needed bleeding and overall cleanup since one of the drums had been a rodent hotel (the locked up one). The brakes still didn’t work quite right, but I’ve towed heavier loads without brakes before, so I knew the drill and would drive accordingly.
Finally, the day came to go get the boat. I enlisted nephew Graeme to help with lines and such since I had no intention of trying to start the engine. We ghosted the boat over to the ramp dock and loaded her on to the trailer. All went well, with the exception that the batteries were dead and the stern-drive was left down (or had leaked down). So upon pulling the boat up the ramp, the skeg was dragging and making a horrendous sound. So I disconnected the lifting rams, lifted it manually and supported it with lines. From there the trip to Annapolis was uneventful. I pressure washed the bottom once we arrived and I know I’ll need to get a list going of whats needed to get her underway this spring. The kids are already super excited about fun on the bay this summer.
