So, I’d convinced the wife to let me buy a boat.  Amazing.  She opened up one day and said, “I wonder how much it would cost for us to have a boat?”  A few weeks later, I’m driving home with a nice Nitro fish and ski bass boat.  “Yes!” I’d convinced the wife to let me buy a boat.  Amazing.  She... said, “I wonder how much it would cost for us to have a boat?”  A few weeks later, I'm driving home with a nice Nitro fish & ski bass boat.… Click To Tweet

That actually went fairly well.  The boat was great and I loved it.  I used it frequently and took the wife and kids out a few times.  Thus, it should have been no surprise to her when one day, I mentioned at a party the consideration of buying a small, second boat.  “Just a little Jonboat for fishing in rocky areas,” I said.  “Sure!” she replied, in the presence of others.  So, off I went.

Talk about a miscommunication.  She thought I was joking.  I thought she was giving me the ok.  I came home with the second boat. 

The good news is that it also proved to be a good little boat.  Except that its trailer had needs.  It needed new wheels and tires.  It also needed brake lights and wiring.  That’s where the boat man comes in.

I stopped by Paul Lynn’s fiberglass boat and corvette repair out on the highway.  Paul and I were friends, and he was a well-respected boat repair man (THE fiberglass guy in the county) and so I trusted his judgment and recommendations on how to fix the jonboat trailer up.

I said, “Paul, the trailer has no brake lights, so if I order some on Amazon can you install them for me?”

He surprised me with, “No. That boat is under 14 ½ feet, so under Kentucky law it does not need brake lights on the trailer.”

“What?” I said.  “How about we put them on anyway to be safe?”

This is where Paul gets emphatic and tells me how things will be. 

“I am not putting lights on that trailer.  I refuse.  They are not needed and the law doesn’t require them.  I will not do it.” He said.

I was a little surprised at the answer and the vehemence.  As I said though, Paul was a friend and I trusted his judgment on boating related matters.  So, I proceeded with the boat trailer wheel solution and left the lack of brake lights alone.

The next week, my neighbor tells me about his Dad’s getaway cabin and pond that is a half hour south of town.  We take the jonboat and trailer and go fishing for half a Sunday.  Here I learned the importance of listening to locals.  As we were loading the boat into the pond, a local said, “Don’t bother trying anything else when you’re fishing.  The fish here respond to the color red and that’s about it.”

I thought that was funny and tried about every lure in the tackle box to no avail for the next 45 minutes before I finally dug to the bottom and found some red plastic worms.  Of course, that worked and we got immediate results catching a few decent sized Largemouth Bass.

Later that evening as twilight is falling, I head home on the little county road that leads back to town.  Who do you think shows up? Yes, the friendly neighborhood Kentucky Highway Patrolman.  Nice.

I know what he’s going to say when he approaches, but I’m ultra-friendly with cops as a rule.  My dad was one.  They have a tough job and I’ve found that a positive and polite attitude goes a long way for them.  I hand him all my paperwork and wait. 

He opens with, “why aren’t there any lights on your boat trailer?”

I’m nearly laughing as I blurt out with a chuckle, “Paul Lynn, the boatman refused to put them on for me.  In fact, he swears that a small boat and trailer under 14 ½ feet is not required to have tail lights.  He got a little vehement when I asked him to put them on anyway and absolutely refused!”

To his credit, the patrolman took all this into consideration.  He looked at the boat and me and then said, “My problem with that is two-fold.  First, I don’t carry measuring tapes with me to see how long boats on trailers are.  Second, I really couldn’t see your car taillights to gauge how close you were or when you were braking.  So, will you promise me that you will go home and get some kind of reflective tape on the back of that boat for safety’s sake?”

“Yes,” I said rather emphatically, “I know exactly what is needed and I’ll act on that tonight.”

I was very thankful as he let me go home without a ticket.  I did go home and get some reflective tape that night.  The next day I went to see Paul again.  Before I could tell him the episode with the patrolman, he had something to say to me.

“Hey Tim, I’ve been thinking about that Johnboat trailer.  I’m a little concerned for your safety so, I believe I will put brake lights on it for you.” 

I slapped my forehead in disbelief.  Then I told him what happened.  He just chuckled and said, “ok, I’m glad he didn’t give you a ticket, just get me the lights and I’ll install them.” So, I guess the morale of the story is, the boatman is a boatman not a lawyer.  When in doubt, go with the safest options to protect yourself.

#boat #boating #fish #fishing #outdoors #outdoorfun #fun

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Try one of my earlier stories in the Tales from the Cold Series: https://thetimtales.com/tales-from-the-cold-4/