I'm On A Boat

We recently became boat owners.



For as long as I have known Brian, he has wanted one. Every spring when the run off really starts to flow and you can't drive in anywhere good to go fishing anymore, he brings it up.  
We should just drop the cash and buy a boat this year.
As though we just have the cash laying around to go and drop on something like that. He has always met resistance.  
We don't have the money. 
We don't have the time. 
We have too much work to get done.
I don't think I will love being on a fishing boat all day. 
Our truck can't pull a big boat. 
It doesn't have to be brand new you know.
 Etc, etc, etc. Then we found this boat, by chance, driving down a downtown street. The stars (and banks) all aligned and we bought it. It was not on a whim, its been years in the making.

I've learned a lot about boating and fishing and just about being on the water in general, in the last month or so...

-Its never a good idea to wear long pants and socks and shoes. Someone inevitably has to wade in to launch/load.
-Shoes take a long time to dry.
-Go pee before you leave.
-Make sure the boat battery is charged before you leave. It makes for a frustrating half hour after the boat is in the water, wondering why it won't start.
-Just because it started last time, doesn't mean it will start this time. It's old(er). Be nice to it.
-When the water is hovering just about 50 degrees, don't plan on suiting up and jumping in so you can go pee.
-You aren't guaranteed to catch a fish every time. Even with a fish finder.
-When it takes 15 minutes to drive to the boat launch, don't think you can get across the lake, loaded and home in 20 minutes. You will be late. Every single time.
-Almost 2 year olds only find it amusing watching you steer the boat at a slow speed while you troll for so long. They get bored and want to touch stuff. Usually stuff they shouldn't.
-Along with the purchase of a boat comes other, inevitable purchases. Such as a trolling rod and reel. Because obviously a regular rod and reel are deemed un-usable when trolling.
-Almost 2 year olds look really cute in a life jacket (aka wife jacket)
-Some people can't hold their pee as well as they used to. Keep that in mind at all times.
-Your husband will need to spend hours on end doing stuff to the boat. Greasing, tuning, washing, tinkering.
-Don't expect him home early. Ever.



The bottom line is that I have always been a boat skeptic, thinking that we are so not a boat kind of family.
Turns out my mind can be changed, and has been. We are so totally a boat kind of family.