So Much To Do

The last WHILE has been busy as all get out. My friend of some 42 years came to help me pull the BMW diesel from Zulu's hull last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Heavy and dirty and, at times, dangerous work. The engine weighed some 300 kg/660 lbs and was NOT an easy thing to get off its mounts. Once loosened by disconnecting electrical, hydralic, steering, fuel lines, it had to lifted off using a hoist, only three inches to get it off the mounts but it took us over an hour to do the job. Then we waited for the owner of the yard to clearify how we were going to lift the engine from the engine room and place it on the bed of my truck. Smallish problem, he wasn't there. Yes, we worked in the yard alone. Not enough business to keep a staff either, times are hard in the boat maintenance business. People are more likely to want their boat pulled from the water but then to do the repairs, maintenance themselves instead of having Mr. Walton and his able crew do the work for them. Tough times indeed! Mr. C and I accomplished our deed in the same manner except that I've had Zulu up on blocks with a major hull repair for three years now. Eventually we completed the engine placement below the large deck openning and decided to call Tuesday a day, then as we drove north out of Rio Vista S saw a grouping of CRANES, not the birds, the giant winches (not wenches either!) and had me pull into the yard and stop in front of the office. Once inside we addressed our little job to the secretary who promptly forwarded our request for a price to another individual over the phone who quoted $650 at first then after S balked at the price, asked S how long did he think it would take...S replied 20 minutes and then the price went down to $50!!! Wow, what a deal! So back to Zulu we went to remove the rear roof and prep for the giant lift exercize. We completed the removal and positioned ourselves opposite Zulu on the other side of the fence. About 1/2 an hour later here came The Beast...a HUGE 35 foot long firetruck-like vehicle with a long hydralic powerred crane mounted thereon. This thing was huge! Capable of lifting Zulu herself if need be! Within 20 minutes it had lifted the diesel and placed it gently on my truck's bed. Then the travesty, upon going to pay the driver for the lift of the engine S gave him the 50 dollars, the driver BALKED...he wanted MORE, much more...550 USD! S Balked, the driver babbled about how much the rig normally charged for such a job then said $350. S balked again, "The guy said $50 dollars", another exchange and he called the BOSS. He reiterated the 550 dollar amount and finally S offered all he had on him...$120. They accepted and the deed was done. It was still a bargain. Steve and I spent Wednesday morning cleaning up around Zulu then came back to put both of the diesels in his van in preparation for his trip to NC in a couple of weeks. The van nearly touched the ground with the Farymann and BMW tied within. What a job that was. What a job. Thanks S!!