In June 2004, the Richters (including Chris, Charlie, Chuck, and Chuck's sister Nancy) finished construction on a 130 foot by (city-ordinance violating) 4-1/2 feet high retaining wall. Later dirt was brought in to reduce the height. "Hey look, now we have a back yard!" Left over crushed rock became a parking spot. What to park there? As the Puget Sound has a lot of water, it was decided that we would get a boat--A family boat for camping, called a cruiser. Parking it in the yard would be cheaper than a boat-dock, but meant the boat was limited to 26 feet in length and 8.5 feet in width. Anything larger would require special DOT permits for transport over highways.

In July, the Richters began test driving boats locally. Some came with trailers; some didn't. Some had a single berth; others had two "bedrooms". Some came with the new boat scent, others smelled like saltwater. Chuck and Chris learned the market by searching such sites as iboats.com and boats.com, and by monitoring auctions on e-bay.

The fact that boats are expensive can be derived from Archimedes’ principle, which states that a boat immersed in a pile of cash is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the misplaced cash.

"Are we really boating people?" Chris asked.

Don't fight it. Once you acknowledge you are a fool, then its just a matter of HOW you're going to part with your money.

The dealers will tell you that Maxum and Bayliner boats are the Lexuses (Lexi?) and the Toyotas of the boat world. The search narrowed on the Maxum SCR 2400 and SCR 2500, family cruisers which sleep 4 when camping aboard and are just small enough to be trailerable. The budget called for used boats approximately 9 to 10 years old.

After some hull kicking and test driving in the local area, the search region was widened. Bidding on ebay for a 4 year old Maxum SCR 2400 was unsuccessful, but Chuck continued to watch. It wasn't long before a good boat appeared on Ebay. It had one drawback. The boat was located in Pittsburg, Pennyslvania--a city that prides itself on being 2950 miles from Seattle. "But what if we actually win the auction?" Asked Chris. "How will we get the boat back to Seattle?"

Sitting in front of the computer (as he was known to do), Chuck surfed to travelocity, and replied, "Avis has one way rentals. We'll fly out to Pittsburg, get an SUV with a hitch, and we'll tow it back! I checked on the price of a one way Chevy Trail Blazer, it's only about $400."

Thinking about his sister Chris Guetzloff who had passed away only 8 months earlier, Chuck added, "We only live once. If we ever wanted to buy a boat, then now is the time. We're living in Puget Sound!" For some reason none of the really large SUVs seemed to be available for one-way rental.

A decision to place a bid was made by the Richter Council; While Nancy wasn't a voting member, she could smell adventure. The exact price of the boat was unknown. They would be at the mercy of other bidders, and Ebay's automatic bidding features. Length of Auction: 7 days.

Following a technique that his old man would use at Farm Auctions, Chuck would wait until an hour before the auction closed to place his bid so that other bidders had less time to react and enter new bids.

Christine reminded, "Chuck, don't forget about our ultrasound apppointment at the Fertility Clinic on Thursday at 9:30." The couple looked forward to having another child, but a two miscarriages in a row left them wondering if they would be able to carry a baby to full term. An EPT test told them they were about 7 weeks pregnant.

Thursday

Bwongggg. The day of the wedding arrived. Princess Buttercup... Oops, wrong story.

On Thursday morning, Chuck drove into work early. He placed his bid, and arranged for ebay to bid on his behalf up to a limit. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Chris departed for the Fertility Clinic.

Leaving work, Chuck got in the jeep and headed to the clinic. On his way he phoned his sister Nancy who was at home watching Charlie. "Nancy! I need you to monitor the boat auction on ebay. The auction ends at 10:17 this morning. You've got to watch what other bidders are doing, and if it looks like the bidding is going to go higher than the max bid I put in, you'll have to up it. Just keep refreshing the page. Here is my user name and password." Chuck proceeded to provide her with the details. He soon was at the clinic where he joined Chris in the waiting room.

Chris and Chuck had shared with Nancy their suspicions of being pregnant, but had not shared it with the rest of the family. To know is one thing, but to see is another. The doctor waved the magic wand and before long we were seeing a baby with a beating heart on the monitor beside the vinyl covered reclined bench. Their excitement mounted as their suspicions were confirmed.

Chuck asked, "Is it just one in there?" Chris had been feeling "extra" pregnant and the couple figured it might be twins.

"Well, let's take a look..." the doctor said as she moved her magic wand. "Actually it looks like there are two in there. One seems normal sized, but the other is quite a bit smaller."

"Doctor, is it okay if I take a call?" Chuck asked. "We are bidding in an ebay auction for a boat that ends right now."

"No problem," replied the doctor.

Nancy, on the phone was keeping Chuck informed of the boat auction. Chuck relayed, "The price is going up in increments of 200 every 30 seconds..."

"Chuck you got it. We're the high bidder on the boat!"

The doctor laughed and responded, "Most people who just found out that they were pregnant with twins would be saying Pull Out, Pull Out." Too much was happening at once for Chris and Chuck to really consider that option in the seconds that were left before the end of the auction.

Returning to business, the doctor indicated that the small twin might have a tough time surviving, but that in a situation like this, usually at least one of the twins would survive. To verify how things were going, she suggested we return in one week for a follow up ultrasound.

As they excitedly left the fertility clinic, they realized that there was now the matter of retrieving the boat to attend to. What to do, what to do? Chris told Chuck, "The boat is your deal, I'm okay with it, but you have to figure out how to get it back here."

The boat and trailer were rated at 6500lbs. When he got home that afternoon, Chuck searched towing capacities for various vehicles, including the jeep. Many sites were telling him that the limit was 10,000lbs with a towing package and hitch with stabilizer bar. Okay, if a Jeep could do it, so could a Trail Blazer. Chuck called Avis. "So, what kind of a hitch does your Trail Blazer have on it?"

"Sir, we do not allow any towing with our vehicles."

Foiled again.

Okay. Think, Chuck, think. We could have Alex take a vehicle from South Dakota out to Pittsburg, where he would meet Chuck on Saturday. Perhaps he could use the Rasmussen's Durango. Meanwhile, Nancy could drive the Jeep from Seattle to South Dakota. After the Durango had pulled the boat to South Dakota, they would switch to the Jeep for the second half.

Would it work?

Chuck dialed his sister. "Ginger!? Is there any chance we could borrow your Durango?"

"What for?" replied Ginger tentatively.

"Let's just say that there was this boat on e-bay, and that perhaps it needed to be towed back to Seattle."

"How far?"

"From Pittsburg, Pennsylvania."

Some delay on Ginger's end of the phone suggested that she was conversing with her husband Chad. "How much does it weigh?"

Chuck replied, "Only 6500 lbs."

"Chuck, I don't think the Durango will pull it. Our travel trailer is only 4500 lbs and it will barely pull that."

"Oh, it'll pull it. The Jeep would pull it according to the specs. And the Durango is a much bigger vehicle than the Jeep."

"We'll call you back."

Fifteen minutes later Ginger rings us back. “We have a proposition. We’ll pay you $400 not to use our Durango. Consider it our contribution towards the moving fee."

"No. You don't have to do that. I'm sure it would pull it, but if you're not comfortable you don't have to pay us $400." After pausing Chuck jokingly added, "Can you make it $1000?"

The jist of the plan called for a weekend retrieval of the boat. A couple hard days of driving straight through could have the boat back in Seattle by Monday night. (Chuck was scheduled to fly from Seattle to San Jose on Tuesday.) What exactly would we be driving? And who would 'we' be?

Chris wasn't exactly looking forward to stressful trip, which could be risking another miscarriage. Additionally, if Chris came, she would be retiscent to leave Charlie at home with Charlie for a few days, which might mean bringing him along. It didn't make sense from many perspectives.

"Nancy, would you be up for going along with me?" asked Chuck, adding "We could take turns driving. It'll be fun."

"Sure!" Nancy replied.

Friday

Friday morning was all about emailing moving companies, checking Uhaul Truck prices, checking airfares, setting up pay-pal and paying the downpayment, looking at vehicle prices in the classified on-line papers for cities within a 300 mile radius of Pittsburg. They came up with a list of 10 vehicles that might be able to pull the boat.

Nancy voted for the 1978 conversion van with a water bed and a TV. Chuck focused on pickups.

One ebay seller was contacted about a 3/4 ton van. Chuck said to the seller, "I'll be honest with you, I need a vehicle that can pull a 6500 lb trailer 3000 miles, and I need it today. Is this the vehicle I'm looking for?"

"Oh, it could, but it needs new tires."

"Can you have the tires put on it today?"

"No, I don't have time."

"Thank you, good-bye."

Many of the owners were not home. Finally, a 1996 Dodge 1500 pickup seller was called. His wife answered the phone. She sent pictures of the vehicle by email. Her husband would call us back later in the day.

We're going to need to price and buy airline tickets to either Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cleveland or Cinncinnati. We'll probably need a rental car, unless we can get the guy with the pickup to come pick us up.

"I'll take two tickets to Pittsburg." said Chuck thinking about a joke that Zeke often told. Travelocity utilized, the two round trip (the return would go unused should all go okay) tickets seemed to be a done deal. The credit card was going to be heavily used this month.

The pickup owner called back. And the deal was essentially made for the asking price, with the owner stating, "You're getting yourself an awesome truck. But this is damned irregular--you being from Seattle, and not having seen the vehicle."

"Yeah, I suppose it is. Can I get you to pick me and my sister up at the airport?"

He agreed, again noting that it was "All damned irregular."

"Nancy, can you keep going on the leg work?" said Chuck as he was heading out to work (at a severely late 2:00pm in the afternoon). "We're going to need phone numbers for hitch places. We need maps from the airport to the notary publics and to the licensing office. We need maps to the boat owners place and their phone numbers.

Chris asked rhetorically, "What if these guys are creeps and are just trying to lure you out to their place with fake pictures of a boat and will rob you of your cashier's check? Or worse yet, kill you?"

"Don't worry. I'll have Nancy with me." Answered Chuck. "Still you never know."

"I'm glad I'm not going," responded Chris.

A woman with Travelocity called. She spoke with a heavy Indian accent as she told us that the tickets for Midnight that very night were not really available. "What!?" She would have to put us on a different flight. It turned out that the problem was with the return flights. Fine, put us on a Monday return instead of Sunday night. We were not intending to use the return flight, anyway.

At 2:30pm, Chuck left for work, thankful for flex-time.

Late on Friday evening, Chris and Charlie dropped Chuck and Nancy off at SeaTac airport where they would catch their red-eye flight. The flight, which was a non-stop to Pittsburg, departed on schedule. If they were lucky, Chuck and Nancy would be able to get a few hours of sleep, before their big drive straight through to Seattle after getting the pickup and boat. Sitting in the last row, of course, neither of their seats would recline. "I can't get comfortable." said Chuck as he fidgeted and moved about in his seat in the last row of the Delta Airlines 757. He would later come to realize that he had restless leg syndrome.

Saturday

With a three hour time change, the plane arrived in Pittsburg much too soon.

The sellers called Chuck on his cell phone, and indicated that they were five minutes away at a gas station. Chuck thought, cool, they are filling up the pickup with gas.

Nancy and Chuck made their way to the baggage claim. "Here are the bags. Let's go out and wait for the sellers on the curb."

They waited, watching the cars approach. Finally, a pickup approached which looked like the digital pictures which had been emailed a day-and-a-half ago. The driver got out and asked, "Are you Chuck?" Chuck replied, "Yes." Getting in the vehicle, Chuck wondered how big of a mistake the vehicle had been. The fuel gage was close to E. They had been filling up his wife's car at the gas station.

Nancy rode with the seller's wife and their two year old. The seller rode with Chuck. He asked about what we were intending to pull to Seattle. When he found out about the boat, he said, "One thing that I should mention, if you're going to be pulling a trailer, you should have the brakes looked at."

'Oh great,' thought Chuck to himself.

First destination: Title transfer.

Second destination: the Seller's house; He had a shaft which fit into the hitch receiver, and offered to sell a cap for the pickup bed.

Third destination: Gas station to fill up.

Fourth destination: Hitch World.

The middle aged worker came out to the pickup to look at the receiver and the wiring receptacle "Oh, that hitch should work just fine, you just need the right sized ball and a new connector for the wiring." He helped us find it and then tighten it down with a large wrench.

"That guy reminded me of Dad," said Nancy. "He was very practical."

(A year-and-a-half later, Chuck still can not get the nut losened.)

Fifth destination: Boat owner's place.

The boat had just been detailed and was clean. It smelled nice. The engine started and sounded good.

After inspecting the boat, it was time to get the road on the show. They began putting the tarp on the boat. The owner brought out a ladder to help climb up to the top of the boat--quite high in the air when on a trailer.

"Careful! You'll scratch the hull!" said Tony the meticulous (now former) owner of the boat as Chuck managed the ladder.

Sixth destination: Boat title transfer place.

The boat was hooked up, but the signal lights weren't working. In fact, the signal lights on the pickup had stopped too. It was afternoon, and it started to rain. Soon it would be dark. Soon it would be after 5 on a Saturday afternoon and shops would close.

Seventh destination: Somewhere that could help with the trailer lights. Happy for the safety of 4-wheel drive, Chuck shifted into 4x4 mode.

Intending to head back to the Hitch World, we passed a U-Haul shop, and decided to pull in.

Two guys in brown uniforms asked, "Where are you headed?"

"Seattle."

"You're crazy. That sure is a nice boat. Unfortunately we're not allowed to work on boat trailers." said one of the U-haul employees as he brought out his continuity tester and begin poking through the insulation on the wiring. "But this sure is a nice boat.

Two guys spent an hour troubleshooting the trailer and pickup lights. They found that the problem was with the pickup's relay and flasher. They didn't have the relay. "Go to Napa for that. That'll be $3.95 for the flasher."

"Are you kidding? What about the labor?" asked Chuck.

"Like I said, we don't work on boat trailers."

We pulled into Napa at 4:54pm. It was a small and seemingly old shop. After the proprietor got off of a phone call, he pulled out his catalog and began looking for the relay. He found it and we were on our way.

Eight destination: Seattle.

Spending the summer together was bringing Chuck and Nancy closer together. At least physically. In the pickup they were about 3 to 4 feet apart.

Nancy broke the silence, "Ah, Chuck?"

"Yes, Nancy."

"Just for your information, based on the first two fill ups I'd say you're getting 6 miles per gallon."

"That's not good," said Chuck thinking about the $2/gallon price.

No longer in Pennsylvania, they had driven about 3 or 4 hours, and already had a routine. Drive 150 miles or so, fill up, check the trailer tires, get back on the road and cringe at the impending Discover Card bill.

At the latest fill up, Chuck had noticed that the side-step bar on the pickup was slippery. There seemed to be some coating on it that wasn't there before. They continued through Ohio.

In Indiana, at the next fill up, Chuck noticed more slippery stuff. He got the flashlight out and started looking under the pickup.

After some investigation, it appeared as if there was oil seeping out of the front axle. He concluded that this was probably bad. To test how bad it was he turned the steering wheel and eased the pickup forward.

Clunk, clunk, clunk.

Not good. Chuck was now beginning to suspect that the 4x4 was not an all-time 4x4 system. He switched it back into two wheel drive, but the sound remained.

Clunk, clunk, clunk.

The woman at the gas station informed Chuck and Nancy that there was an 24-hour truck service station only 6 miles to the east. They drove slowly on the back roads.

Two mechanics followed us out to the pickup. Chuck turned the steering wheel sharply to the right and eased forward. Clunk, clunk, clunk. "That's the noise I was mentioning."

"Well you mighta blew a seal," says Guy Number 1.

"Yeah, sounds like you have blown the seal," replies Guy Number 2. He asks, "How long did you drive with the 4x4 engaged?"

"Oh a few hundred miles." replied Chuck still not realizing the depth of his blunder.

"I ain't never seen one go that long before!" exclaims Guy Number 2. Then he asked, "Where are you headed?"

"Seattle."

"You're crazy. That sure is a nice boat. Unfortunately we only work on trucks. But there is a guy that does 24 hour repair work. His name is Jerry and here's his card."

Chuck called him, and there was no answer. He left a message.

Parking the pickup and boat amidst the rubmling tractor trailer rigs, the two considered their options.

Chuck called Chris. "Can you do a web search on 24-hour service stations within a 20 mile radius? We are about 40 miles west of Indianapolis." Thanks.

Chris couldn't find anything.

An hour later, Chuck called the mechanic again. This time he answered, "I just came off of a 24 hour job. I gotta get some sleep. I'll meet you at 8:00 am."

That night Nancy and Chuck slept in the boat. That stunk. The boat didn't smell as nice as it had earlier in the day when checking it out. Apparently there was waste in the tank and the drive had sloshed it around. It was chilly without blankets.

Sunday

At 8:00 am the mechanic named Jerry showed up. He listened to the clunking noise. He agreed there was a problem. In the middle of the parking lot, he started taking the axle apart.

Chuck and Nancy hung out for 7 hours while the work was done, or parts were being fetched. During the work, they mentioned to the mechanic that the air conditioning was not blowing cold air.

Jerry reported, "Well, we fixed the universal joint on the front axle. But I don't think anything is wrong with the front differential, nor is the seal out. I think if we put it all together you'll be good to go."

Finally the jacks were lowered.

Time for the test-drive.

Clunk, clunk, clunk.

The mechanic slid under the vehicle and had Chuck drive slowly forward as he looked for the source of the noise.

Finally, "You got big tires, and they're rubbing on the frame."

Grrr.

Feeling a bit guilty about working 7 to 8 hours on a non-issue, Jerry offered, "I know the guys in the shop over there. I'll recharge your air conditioner refidgerant for free."

$250 later they parted with the mechanic.

As Chuck pulled out onto the interstate he swiveled down the visor to keep the sun out of his eyes. Right there printed in big red letters on the visor: "DO NOT (UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES) DRIVE WITH 4x4 SYSTEM ENGAGED ON DRY PAVEMENT."

Nancy laughed.

Chuck drove.

In Illinois they were making good time when Chuck's friend Dave called. 20-minutes into the conversation the signs along the interstate indicated that they were approaching Chicago.

Weren't they already west of Chicago?

Chuck had Nancy look at the map.

"Chuck, you're going the wrong way!"

The detour had added at least an hour to the long journey. Would Chuck be back in time to go to San Jose on Tuesday?

Grr.

As fuel was being pumped into the pickup's 26 gallon tank at a gas station just south of Cedar Rapids, IA Chuck checked the hubs on the boat trailer's four wheels.

The first three wheel hubs were slightly warmer than the ambient air temperature. The fourth was too hot to hold onto. Grease. They needed grease.

The gas station didn't have grease.

They drove to a truck plaza, thinking it could have grease. It had grease, but not grease guns.

Nancy inquired at the counter about grease guns. A customer behind Nancy reported that, "The Super Walmart up the road has grease guns."

When Nancy mentioned this to Chuck, he was incredulent. "Walmart has grease guns? No way!"

As it turned out, Walmart did have grease guns. They were right next to the wire feed arc welders. Chuck was impressed at their selection. Say what you will about them, but they do have many things for sale. Back at the trailer, Chuck pumped half a tube of grease into the willing zerk. The grease showed no sign of seeping out anyware around the wheel. "Where is it all going?" asked Chuck.

They drove at 55 mph for an hour westward before reaching the I-35 interstate in the middle of Iowa. Chuck decided it would be a good idea to check how the boat axle was doing. They pulled over to the side of the road. It was about midnight and it was quite dark outside. As Chuck walked around the boat, he noted the trailer's tail lights and clearance lights. He approached the right axle in question, he saw another red light. Where was this light coming from? It was the hub of the axle glowing red-hot. Nancy met check at the axle and reached her hand toward the glowing hub. Chuck shouted, "Don't touch it! It's hot." Nancy replied, "Duh. Do you think I'm stupid? I was just feeling the heat." Then she asked, "Do you have any marshmallows?"

They returned to the pickup and drove forward very slowly. Within a mile they saw a sign for an exit that had services.

When they arrived, the gas-station clerk informed them that the service station was closed for the night, but that there was a Motel (The Boondocks Motel) behind the gas station.

Chuck thought, It's Sunday, around Midnight. Our last shower was Friday. "We'll take a room."

Nancy added, "We need two beds!"

In the morning, after showering, Chuck sauntered over to the mechanic's shop. The boat was not quite in pole position. Apparently a bus load of scouts and their fearless leader had blown a big tire on their yellow school bus. The mechanic worked hard and was able to get the spare on within 20 minutes even with 30 pairs of eyes watching him.

Next up: the boat trailer. He started by jacking up the trailer. With the trailer up in the air, the wheel just fell off. Broken bearing races and collars surrounded what remained of the axle.

"Need a new axle." The mechanic didn't talk much.

Most of the required parts were found in his bone pile. However he did have to drive 20 miles to get the right castle nut.

As he put the axle all back together, he removed the brake.

"That was probably riding without enough slack. Probably what heated up the axle in the first place." He seemed to know what he was talking about.

But the guy who sold the pickup had said we should be checking out the brakes on the pickup. If the mechanic was removing the brake from this wheel, would the pickup be able to stop the trailer?

"Aren't we going to have trouble stopping?" Chuck asked.

"Naw. You still got brakes on them other three wheels."

"Okay."

Nancy and Chuck were rolling again around noon.

Valuable time had been lost. Chuck was pretty sure that no chance remained of him making his Tuesday meeting in San Jose.

"Nancy, we need to think of things that could go wrong, and try to come up with a plan to handle the problems," said Chuck. "What would happen to us next?"

"As fast as this thing sucks fuel, we'll probably run out of gas in Wyoming."

Chuck responded. "Okay, so we can get a big gas can and fill it up with gas."

"Another thing that would slow us down is if we have a flat tire on the boat trailer. We don't have a spare, or a jack."

"Right."

Chuck phoned ahead to a tire place in Sioux Falls, South Dakota the next sizeable city. He ordered a wheel (rim and tire) be made up for the boat. They would stop in before they closed at 6:00pm.

Having grown up near Sioux Falls, Nancy and Chuck knew they could get the gas cans and a jack at a store called 'Runnings' next door to Tires Plus.

They also phoned Chuck's sister Ginger who lived 20 miles from interstate 90. She agreed to meet them at a gas station and provide them with a tire iron, some food, and some blankets--in case they needed to sleep in the boat again.

Now they were going to be proactive.

Monday

At the Tires Plus in Sioux Falls, South Dakota they picked up their spare tire.

They inquired whether the shop worked on brakes.

"Sorry, we're closing in 5 minutes at 6pm, but you're welcome to use our yellow pages here." stated the helpful employee behind the counter as he placed the 3 inch thick book on the countertop.

From the Tires Plus, Chuck phoned Sears. "Yeah, we're open until 9pm. It's first come first served. Just stop on over." Throwing the spare tire in the back of the pickup along with the new hydraulic jack and gas can, the two headed out.

"That is a ridiculously large boat!" exclaimed the beaming young African American, who looked an awful lot like Chris Rock. "Let me check with the manager and see if we can get you in."

After a couple minutes he returned and apologetically relayed that they did not work on trailer brakes.

"What about pickup brakes? I'd like to get them checked out to make sure they are at 100%." Chuck inquired.

He went away for another couple minutes and returned saying, "Sorry, we're all booked up for the rest of the evening. If you hang around until we close at 9:00pm, there's a chance we can squeeze you in, but no promises. He added, "Midas might be able to help you though, they're just across 41st street."

At Midas, the manager said that yes, they had one guy who could work on the brakes.

Chuck and Nancy unhooked the boat trailer from the pickup. Parked by the garage entrance, they inquired which bay they should pull into.

The manager came out, "Unfortunately, the guy who does brakes says he's heading out. It's awfully hot today (it was about 100 degrees) and he says he needs to go home and cool off."

"Which guy?" asked Chuck. The manager pointed him out.

Nancy and Chuck walked up to the sweaty guy and pleaded. But it was to no avail--he was adamant about leaving.

"Why couldn't they have told us that before we unhooked the boat?" Chuck asked himself.

Frustrated about the wasted time, Chuck decided that they would continue the journey. They hooked up the boat trailer.

"Hey Marta. I lost my purse."

"Ginger, can you go into Sioux Falls and check at the Big O tires for my purse?"

"Hey, dad. How's it going? .... Yeah, it is pretty hot here. I'm mean hot here too." "Oh they've had sunny weather for the whole week... I mean we've had sunny weather for the whole week."

Upon the return to Seattle, we found that Cousins Jeff and Heide had to out-do us by buying a 32 foot Maxum.

Chris called Chuck in San Jose. "Let's put the boat in the water this weekend." "Chuck! We're drifting into the pylons over by the bridge! Hand me the oar! Hand me the oar!" Chuck handed her the oar and looked at his cell phone. "What do we do?" he muttered, "Who should we call?" Chris replied, "Call the boat place near Kenmore Marina. I think it's called Saint Cap something." Chuck dialed information. "Sorry sir, we have no listing for a Saint Cap, or anything that begins like that in Kenmore, WA." Uncle Jim. Uncle Jim had a boat. Uncle Jim was actually Chuck's 2nd cousin once removed. Chuck called Jim. There was no answer. Jim's son Jeff. Chuck called Jeff. Jeff answered. He said that he knew a mechanic, but at present the mechanic was working on his newly aquired boat. He suggested that Chuck and Chris yell at the nearby boaters (who had been completely ignoring us), ask around for battery cables and get one of them to jump the battery. He also provided some tips on getting the boat started for the next attempt.

It’s been said that the two happiest days of boat ownership are the day the boat is purchased and the day the boat is sold. That saying didn't stop the Richters from considering boat ownership. We can laugh about it now.