The Launch
On Thursday we got up messed around a little bit got out to the marina about 10:00 a.m. when I went into the marina office to say we wanted to launch, she said I could set up the boat on the north side of the parking lot. The problem with this plan was that by 10:00 the parking lot at the marina is full of cars for in the same Center there are five or six fishing and swimming and snorkeling excursions as well as three restaurants. So the parking lot is basically full by 10:00.
At about 4:00 in the morning I felt the boat moving on the trailer. When I walked out to see what was up, I saw that Jim was inspecting the trailer I asked if he couldn't sleep and he said he couldn't, so we proceeded to try and lauch the boat. First we pushed and pushed but she wasn't budging. I backed the truck down another foot and the trailer moved a few inches then we found a 2x6 board which we tried to pry the boat off the trailer with. The board broke.
We decided to go back to the hotel book another night. We parked the boat behind the hotel. We went sightseeing.
Jim and I spent the afternoon touring the port Isabella lighthouse park
and the Port Isabel historical museum which resides in an old hardware store. We had a good time.
For dinner we got some stuff at Walmart went back to the motel and I turned in early about 7:00 so we could get up early the next day to prepare the boat and launch.
We got up at 5:00 hooked up the boat headed out to the marina parking lot which was empty. We parked the boat where the marina office said we should park and started to set up the boat.
A problem I have when I am doing anything about the boat is telling people what to do. Although Jim was willing, I didn't tell him to do hardly anything.I try to do it all myself and as a consequence it took me 8 hours to set up the boat.
When it was time to launch the boat after she was all set up, it was already 2:30 in the afternoon low tide was about 4:00. The ramp at the marina is not in the best repair
It's full of cracks and ruts. It's also covered with slime so when I went to put the boat in the water the guy who opened the gate for us told us not to back down onto the moss because we might lose the truck. Someone had lost their truck the previous week.
I Pulled the boat up and asked the fellow to chock the wheel. I unhooked the boat from the truck. I got a tow strap and wrapped it around the pylon at the front of the trailer. I hooked the strap to the truck. I left the tongue jack down and I started to back the boat down into the water.
Before she was fully afloat the tongue jack wheel got stuck in a rut in the ramp and the boat did not go down anymore.
So as a consequence the boat was stuck. She wasn't in the water and I couldn't get her out of the ramp because the wheel was stuck in that rut.
I conferred with the chief of the Marine office he offered to pull us out but there's no hooks on the front of my truck for a tow strap to attach to and he was afraid he might ruin my truck. He did advise us that high tide was at 5:00 a.m. the next day, so perhaps if I waited until high tide we could get the boat off the trailer.
I spent the night on my boat on the ramp waiting for high tide.
I went it around and found 15 ft pipe. We used this to pry the boat off the trailer and with much prying, prodding, pushing, prying, pushing, prodding and levering,we got her to float and I was ecstatic.
I started at the motor I backed her out of the ramp motored over to my slip Jim ran over and help me tie her up in the slip. Bagatelle was afloat the marina in Port Isabel.
