New Boat – continued, New Truck

Well, we got back the next week and the salesman warily loaded us up, backed into the lake, and off we went. It was great. The boat performed like a dream. It turned when told to, went fast, went slow, didn’t overheat, everything was great. We hooked up our now tiny Explorer (it had been our “big” vehicle up ‘til the day we saw it hooked up to the new boat), and started the long and winding road home – I promise that is the last time I’ll use that phrase for awhile. We were pleasantly surprised that the Explorer pulled the boat all the way home without a hitch (besides the one it was hooked to), even up our mountain. Next began the 5 year process to get her outfitted just the way we like her. That is an educated prediction – it took us about 5 years to get the previous boat just the way we wanted it, then we sold it.

We cleaned it within an inch of my life (see previous blog – elbow injury occurred while cleaning boat), then started the overhaul. Currently, the outside seats have brand new vinyl, the inside cushions have all been unstuffed, washed, restuffed and restitched where necessary. The trailer has been revamped to better fit the boat – they weren’t made for each other. New radio and cup holders have been installed. And new carpet is here, but not yet installed.

We actually took it out twice with the Explorer - once in December and once in January. The first time, no real problems, but the second time, I had trouble pulling it out of the water, even in 4-wheel drive. Later that same week, I had to drive the Explorer to work to pick something up bigger than our other cars could carry. It was acting funny. It didn't seem to want to go into reverse at lunch. Again, in my parking lot at work it hesitated before going into reverse, and again for drive. I handed her over to Hubby after work, and it did the same thing to him. Transmission was dying. In the past, Hubby had two different transmissions rebuilt, and neither one lasted more than six months. We had a friend recommend a particular shop and called for quotes. $2000 to rebuild the transmission - OUCH. We decided $2000 would go a long way toward the purchase of a bigger stronger towing vehicle and started shopping. We found several junkers in our price range, and three times, we found what we thought would be a great truck online, only to call and find out it had just been sold. Then, Hubby found the greatest truck online just up the road in Cleveland. I called and talked to a salesman and got a preliminary value on trading in the Explorer (yes I told him about the failing transmission) so off we went on Saturday to look it over. Long story short, the truck was in great condition, the Explorer made it all the way to the dealer even with the faulty transmission, and we left with the truck without breaking the bank. While it isn't a supersized truck by any means, it's big enough to pull the boat and we are very happy. Ram 2500 4 x 4 by the way.