End of an Era (part 2 of 4)

Post number two from my recent 10-day stay at Leech Lake.

As mentioned in my previous post, I couldn't get my boat off of the boat lift because the water level of the lake was too low. That meant I had to devise another method to get my boat off the lift so I could trailer it for the winter. My neighbor Tom Malay and I came up with the plan where we would use our ATVs, and the attached winches, to pull my boat off of the lift and into the water in my harbor. Once the boat was in the harbor, I could motor it out onto the lake and then put it on the boat trailer using the boat ramp at our cabin next door.

Tom and I positioned our ATVs behind my boat on the morning of Labor Day. I got into the water to attach the winch cables to the boat. Unfortunately, the winch on Tom's ATV was broken, so I ended up attaching only the cable from my Warn winch to the boat. I got back out of the water, placed my Polaris 500 Sportsman in reverse, hit the 'reverse override' button, and began reeling in the winch all at the same time. Slowly, my boat backed out of the lift and into the very shallow water in the harbor.

Tom then got in the water and helped me maneuver the boat out of the harbor and onto the lake. Once the boat was in the lake, I got into the boat, started up the Honda 130hp motor, backed the boat into deeper water, then motored next door to our cabin which has a boat ramp. Tom helped me get the boat lined up with the ShoreLand'r trailer and then attached the trailer strap to the bow of the boat. Tom then cranked the trailer winch to pull the boat out of the water and onto the trailer. In 5 minutes the job was complete and I was pulling the boat and trailer out of the water with my 1997 Chevy Blazer.

This marked the end of an era for me. After pulling my boat out of the water, I took it into Corner Sports in Bemidji where I traded it in for a new boat (more on the new boat in another post).

I purchased my Lund 1850 Pro-V SE in July 2001. It was a used boat (1999), but to me, it was the best boat in the world. During the five years I owned this boat it took many trips out onto the water. I went fishing with my son Joe, my daughters Melissa and Liz, my granddaughter Ashley, my wife Kathleen, my neighbors the Newmans and the Malays, my brother-in-law Tim and his son Jackson, and by myself.

The boat also took me and Kathleen on many pleasure rides around the lake -- looking at the beautiful Leech Lake shoreline in the Fall, or just taking in a sunset from the water. I used my boat to pull Liz , Melissa, Joe and Ashley on a tube. The boat even pulled Liz and Joe while they waterskied. It was a good boat, but it was starting to show its age. The livewells had stopped working, the electrical system was beginning to go, and the motor had been recalled by Honda. As much fun as we all had in that old Lund, it was time to trade her in.

More reports from my Labor Day 2006 trip to come.