Great day on the water. Until....

[redneck joe]

Coming back home on the back roads, a couple cars sitting in the middle of the road with the folks talking (not an unusual event here) so slowed down to about 10 mph until they moved off. The truck in front of me going real slow so looked in the sideview to see if I had any traffic coming as I might pass him. One of my wheels about 45 degrees angle to the road and smoking like a bbq grill....




No shoulder to speak of so kept moving about 5 mph until I could find a place to pull off. Oops, there went the wheel. Pulled into the first drive. There is a flatbed semi and an old boat (pics to follow)

Truck pulls up from the house (which is set way back) and old guy rolls his window down. 'Are you the homeowner' I ask?

"Yep" as he eyeballs the axle.

"Think I could leave my boat here for a day or two until I get fixed"

"Let me take a look I might could help you out"

He checks it over.

"You get the parts and I'll put them on for you, but I'm busy tomorrow. How about Thursday?"


WTF? Nobody is that nice. Well, he is. Retired diesel mechanic from the base (Arnold Airforce Base) We talked for a bit, turns out he knew the mrs daddy who retired from there as well.


God takes care of the fools and the idiots, I guess i'm one or the other (maybe both). Would have lost the wheel at speed if not for the folks chatting it up in the middle of the road. First drive we find has lots of room to leave a boat. The homeowner is a good person.

Life is good.





Side note - when I bought the trailer two years ago I paid someone to get it road ready in which I specifically called out bearings. I had one hub bearing replaced a month ago because it was wobbly and I asked him to make sure the others were road ready. that irritates me. I replaced a set when I bought my first boat about 25 years ago so I guess I'm going to re-learn how to do it.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

Isn't it great to meet up with super nice people?!? Way cool!

 

[redneck joe]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

the old boat he's selling for cheap....







Tells me the motor was running 6 months ago when it was dropped off at his place...






Seats for patterns....






inside stripped. Didn't get in buy floor felt ok the couple spots I pushed on.

 

[gm280]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

Good story. Not everybody in the world is bad...actually on the contrary. I have a great time meeting folks and will give anybody the benefit of a doubt until given a reason to not like them. I find way more likeable folks then unlikeable folks the norm.

Something similar happened to my wife and I on our honeymoon road trip. I had maybe a year old new car at the time and we were returning home from a long long trip and the front wheel started squealing like crazy. It was on a Saturday evening and I managed to limp it to a gas station off the interstate. Of course they were in the process of closing. But the manager saw what our predicament was and told his wife, who just happen to get there as he was closing, to tell her he was going to fix our car for us first before going to a planned night out. The factory didn't grease that front wheel bearing correctly and it actually welded to the spindle. He got out his cutting torch and cut that bearing off and then put a new wheel bearing and seat and seal back on and actually used the proper lube and part so our warranty was intact. He worked on it for well over an hour. After he fixed everything, his wife told him from talking to my wife that we were on our honeymoon, he said that it would cost us $12 dollars for the new part. I was beyond shocked. He said it was his wedding gift to us... Being young and knowing virtually nothing at that time about cars much, I was amazed they there were such kind folks willing to help strangers like that. A true honorable family at their best...

Much water under the bridge since that time. We are now going on our 42'd year being happily married...

 

[rsmitty814]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

you should have bought the trailer.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

I LOVE MIDDLE TENNESSEE!! That's cool Joe. Not common by any stretch, but more common than where I use to live.

 

[kmarine]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

Good stories, people who give to strangers out of kindness receive joy knowing they helped others. I have been on both sides and always try to help out others. I have had others help me out as well. As for trailer bearings they should be repacked annually if you do a lot of traveling. Remember you are submerging them into water. An hour in the driveway beats three on the side of the road. I also recommend keeping an extra set in the truck.

 

[redneck joe]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

you should have bought the trailer.

Took me a minute but thats funny...

 

[redneck joe]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

good news my guy that repaired one of them (not the one that fell off but was supposed to check the rest of them) call Oreillys for me and all parts for 3 completes will be ready for pickup after 2:30 pm

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

Great story! I had a similar issue when one of my wheel completely feel off at the ramp last year while I was trying to play "cool uncle" to my young nephew (woops :/). Thankfully, some locals saw that I was up a creek, so to speak, and were willing to run home, drop off their own boat, grab their flatbed trailer and pickup, then help me some how load my trailer and the boat separately (still not sure how we did that), then drag it all 25 miles back to my house and they wouldn't take a dime. Typical luck of a boater, the worst thing about the trip runs out to be the best in the end. Here's to shad tree mechanics and good ol' fashion kindness. A little goes a long way.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

Nothing like RJ, but I got towed back to the dock twice after I thought I had all the kinks worked out of my new to me boat. I offered some cash for gas and the help, both times I was turned down and they said just pay it forward.

A couple of weeks ago I passed a boat stopped on the lake and I waved as always and they waved back, Thought nothing of it and happened to look back and the dog house was lifted, so I circled around and asked if they were having trouble. Of course the answer was yes and had been sitting DOW for over an hour. I told them to wave their arms vigorously when a boat went by, I took their wave as just being friendly as I was. Long story short, I towed them back and refused the money they offered and said just pay it forward.

 

[redneck joe]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

Nothing like RJ, but I got towed back to the dock twice after I thought I had all the kinks worked out of my new to me boat. I offered some cash for gas and the help, both times I was turned down and they said just pay it forward.

A couple of weeks ago I passed a boat stopped on the lake and I waved as always and they waved back, Thought nothing of it and happened to look back and the dog house was lifted, so I circled around and asked if they were having trouble. Of course the answer was yes and had been sitting DOW for over an hour. I told them to wave their arms vigorously when a boat went by, I took their wave as just being friendly as I was. Long story short, I towed them back and refused the money they offered and said just pay it forward.

me, both sides, many times. That why I love to boat.

 

[Maclin]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

I have helped and been helped, I try to pay it forward as opportunities present. Up to last Fall I think I still had 2 tow-ins and one drive-out credit

Last fall I had a solid done for me by a total stranger when launching solo, not that Boaters are ever total strangers I was so impressed by the event, totally saved my day. Even more meaningful was that was the only time I got to go out all season, and it was turning into a really weird day. I had just done a tuneup and other maintenance so this was to be a shakedown cruise that hopefully would morph into a pleasure cruise.

Here are some excerpts from my post last fall as I described my only outing for last season...

I drove my rig to to the staging and backing area. A couple of guys were just starting to prep their nice aluminum fishing rig, so I went over and chatted some. The wind had come up some, probably 20mph, and they as well as I were questioning our sanity at this point. One of the guys was visiting his buddy, and mentioned he had a boat back home more like mine. He knew the powertrain and it became obvious he was an experienced boater. We had a good chat, then I decided to go ahead and launch.

Got it backed in with trailer right beside the dock/pier. I planned to just start it up and idle on back and tie off to the dock. I underestimated what the wind had in mind though, as it was blowing across the dock then blowing my stern away before I could get out of the pilot seat and back there to tie off. I tried several times to power back over to the dock, wondering what was next. I knew I could eventually get it but it was taking a long time. To add even more pressure, my rig was still on the ramp engine running. Then the guy I chatted with hollered and asked if I wanted him to park my rig. I hollered back YES!!! and THANKS!!!!

At this point the best thing to do was back out and get the bow around as soon as possible. When backing the water was splashing against the stern and spraying me in the back some. I got the bow around and waved and took off.

I had left my billfold and cellphone in the still running truck on the ramp, had planned to bring the cellphone on board in case of problems, but that plan went away. I thought, Ok Maclin, this is a test of your faith in your mechanical abilities and in the trustworthiness of Mankind. I headed out to open lake.

The guy who parked my rig hid the billfold and cellphone and keys all just where I was going to, very nice and I wanted to be sure he knew that it was appreciated greatly. I finished the retrieval ritual and began to write a note to the guys that helped me launch, then saw they were coming in. I waited then walked on over to thank them in person.


For interested parties here is a link to that topic...:

http://forums.iboats.com/dockside-chat/tornado-sign-turn-around-test-perseverance-630960.html

 

[nickcunn]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

wow brother sorry to hear about that. Mankind still has good people in it, especially in boating.

 

[redneck joe]

Re: Great day on the water. Until....

yeah nick won't make it tomorrow to nickajack. I did get the boat home yesterday. Old Charlie spent the whole time with me and there was some damage I probably wouldn't have known what to do but he walked me thru it, did much work himself and wouldn't take a dime from me. Need to do the others today/tomorrow in between the rain.