This is my post for #freewriters 2571 prompt ugly stall hosted by @mariannewest
Since the net ban in Florida in 1995 I have had some adventures or some might call them misadventures, towing my boat or just driving. We used to keep our boats tied to the fish house dock. We would drive to the fish house get in our boat, get our ice from the fish house, fish all day, come back to the fish house, weigh our catch, tie our boat back to the dock, and drive home.
This was a good thing but when we had bad weather we were all the time driving to the fish house to check on our boats. You had the constant worry if the bilge pump was getting clogged or the battery dying and the boat sinking, but you did not have to trailer it everywhere.
I had never towed a boat before the net ban. When we lived at our old place I spent a lot of time practicing backing up with the trailer, luckily we lived on a dead end road. I spent hours backing in our driveway and around the corner of our house. I did this until I felt comfortable enough to trailer a boat.
But still after over 10 years trailering, I forgot to put the latch down and the lock on the trailer and it jumped off of the hitch going down my driveway. I came to an ugly stall and had to walk back to the house to get boards to sit the jack on and a few bricks, it took me a long time to get it back onto my truck.
The owner of one of the fish houses had to retrieve my husband from one of the Vero bridges. He had just reached the top of the bridge and started down when his engine did an ugly stall, With no power steering and brakes that were hard to push, he made it to the bottom where someone stopped and helped him push it off of the road. Joe came and towed him back to the fish house. I forgot what was wrong with the truck.
I had just pulled out of the boat ramp and drove about a mile when one of my tires fell off of the boat trailer, the bearings were bad. I could have prevented this if I had checked it more often. All I need to do when the boat is off of the trailer is to wiggle the tire, it should not be loose, a little is ok.
I came out of Walmart and saw my bumper half on the ground behind my truck, I did not see it like that when I went into the store so I am not sure if someone hit it or it just fell off.
I found some rope in the bed and was tying the bumper up so it did not drag on the road. I looked around and some woman was videoing me tying it on.
I had backed down the ramp, put the emergency brake on, and got into my boat to put it on the trailer. When I bumped into the front of the trailer, the truck jumped into reverse. I jumped out of the boat in waste deep water and ran for my truck. I got the door open but it knocked me down, I did this 2 more times before I could get in it and get it stopped. By the time I got it stopped water was going in the door but the engine did not go under water.
We sprayed under the truck with freshwater hoping to keep it from rusting because it went into brackish water that is mostly saltwater.
My husband found out why it jumped out of gear, under the steering wheel there are some bolts you have to use Allen wrenches on, and he tightened them. I told him I knew my gear shifter was loose but I thought it was because the truck was so old, it is a 1997, and now it is not at all loose.
Fishing for a living has always been one adventure after another, but I do not think I would change any of it, well maybe the misadventures I would change.
photos are mine