First mate

G is in charge of all things boat in our family. He loads it up, launches it, drives it, unlaunches it, and cleans it. That's not to say that I don't help. But he's the captain, and I'm the first mate.

One afternoon during our vacation, G went to get ice for our cooler while I launched the boat. I successfully backed the boat down the ramp, got the boat off the trailer, tied the boat to the dock, pulled the trailer out of the water, and parked the truck all by my lonesome! You're impressed, aren't you? I was too.

We went out snorkeling and cruising, and when we got back to the marina, I went to get the truck while G straightened the boat up a little. A man had been admiring our boat as we pulled up (we get that a lot - it's a little aluminum boat with an old Evinrude motor - classic). I backed the trailer into the water and stepped out of the truck. The man looked at me and said, "You backed that trailer in that straight?" (It was perfectly straight, if I do say so myself.)

"Yes, I did," I replied as I walked to the trailer. G drove the boat onto the trailer, and I attached the cable that holds the boat on. As I was cranking the boat the rest of the way up, the man turned to his wife and said, "Why can't you do that?" (Likely because their boat is much larger than ours. Our boat is so small that if it's on the trailer crooked, I can just pull on the back to adjust it.)

Now I just need to work up to starting the motor on my own, and I'm in business. I think I need to lift some weights.