I Am a Fishing Widow

Well, it's official...I am a fishing widow!

The saga started when we were getting ready to leave Iowa. When we load the truck onto the big trailer, we have to raise the boat motor so the truck will go under it, then we lower it so our total length is just a hair shorter. That's when we found out that the boat battery was completely dead...but that story is in a previous post...

While we were at Fort Peck, Dale had noticed that the boat trailer lights weren't working, so when we were in Wisconsin, we decided to track down the issue while the boat was still on the big trailer, because things are higher up and we didn't have to crawl around on the ground to see the wiring. It took a while to figure it all out, but it turned out to be a wire on a running light that had come loose. Easy fix...yay!!

Fast forward to Texas...the boat is unloaded from the big trailer...now we just need a new battery, right? Wellll...maybe not....

I had remembered that the very first time we had a battery issue was last winter, about 2 weeks after we had a shallow water anchor, called a Talon, installed. (A shallow water anchor is basically just a stick that you shove down into the bottom of a body of water and tie off to your boat or kayak to hold it in place. The Talon is kind of a shallow water anchor on steroids...it is electric, and can go down 15 feet) So about 2 weeks after the Talon was installed, we were out fishing, and when Dale went to start the motor, the battery was dead...and we got to take the "boater's walk of shame" and got towed back to the marina. The battery charged up fine at that time, so we just figured it was because we had kept the fishfinders powered up all day. But since then, we've gone through 2 batteries...

So we stopped by the place that installed the Talon, and I asked if the Talon draws power even when it's off...our buddy, Scott, who owns the place said yes...that's why you have a Perko switch on your boat...and I reminded him that we don't have one on our boat. (a Perko switch is a shutoff switch for the battery so the electronics on the boat don't drain the battery...most boats down here have them, but our boat isn't from here...)

So Scott sent us to the parts store to get a Perko switch...one with settings of "off" "1" "2" and "all." Our plan was to connect the boat motor to 1, and the rest of the electronics to 2, so we could shut off everything except the motor, as we need to be able to raise and lower the motor when the boat is on the big trailer (see above for why...lol)

While Dale was in the parts store, I started second-guessing our plan, so I called Scott (who was busy with another customer and had to call me back). to make sure that our plan would work with just 1 battery (most boats down here have at least 2 batteries, but we have 1). Dale came out and said the switch was $75...I did a quick search and found one at another store for $25 in Portland, TX, so we were going to O'Reilly's to swap out the battery.

While we were at O'Reilly's, Scott called and I asked him about using the switch with just one battery...he said good catch, that it wouldn't work without a second batter to run the electronics. Then he said we should get a manual breaker to install between the battery and the Talon so it wouldn't draw power when we were parked...I asked if we could just install a rocker switch...he said yes, and that I should probably be a technician...lol.

In the meantime, we're hauling around a boat on a trailer with no lights, because when we got down here, they had quit working again! Dale checked the wire that had come undone, and it wasn't that...Our neighbor, Bob, came over to help him track down the problem...

Bob is a great guy, and has spent many hours helping Dale with the boat lights...but Dale has renamed him "Mr. Broke-It" because every wire that Bob touched broke!! Now, it's not Bob's fault...not even a little bit...because the salt air and salt water here corrodes wiring fast...and our trailer is 9 years old and so is its wiring! So wires were breaking and connectors were breaking off lights everywhere...

When we were talking to Scott, he looked at the running lights on the trailer and told Dale that we needed a new light for one side and a pigtail (connector) for the other side. So we already had those parts...Dale had actually bought 2 new lights AND 2 new pigtails...so the guys replaced both lights with new ones...but when they tested the lights...nothing!

So they started trying to track down the problem...and it seems that the tail lights on the trailer were also dead...so Bob looked up the part number and sent it to me so I could order 2 new lights, which I did...so new lights would be here in 2 days...

Now in the course of testing, they had the lights on the pickup on, so they could check the power to the trailer lights...can you hear the train coming on this one yet??? When Dale went to move the pickup, it was dead...dead...dead...They tried using our new battery jumper...and no go...they hooked up our charger...and no go...they hooked up Bob's charger...and no go...and finally, they tried to jump it with Bob's truck...and nothing...now our truck battery was dead beyond redemption!!! So the guys jumped in Bob's truck and went and got a new battery for the truck...now, in the battery's defense, we don't recall ever changing out the battery...and the truck is 9 years old...but we have a fresh, new battery that will last a while.

Fast forward 2 days...we have 2 new tail lights in hand...the guys are out installing them...and...are you ready??? None of us noticed that there is a difference between the lights for the 2 sides, and I had ordered 2 of the same light...well, poop!!! So I went back online and found the right light (which was actually the left light, but I digress...lol) And by the way, as a side note...Amazon Prime 2 day shipping isn't always 2 days...this one was to take 3 days!

So in the meantime, Bob and Dale decided that the wiring in the trailer was bad, since they had bypassed the trailer wiring and the new lights were all good, but still wouldn't come on with the existing trailer wiring...so Dale bought new wiring.

When they went to pull the new wires, Bob touched the ground wire...and it broke off in his hand! So our wiring problem was probably only that the ground had to be redone...of course, the lights were all still bad and needed to be replaced anyway, so as long as they were at it, they replaced all the wiring just so everything is new. Now everything was working except the light that was still on its way...And in the meantime, they also installed the cut-off switch so the Talon won't keep stealing power!

Yesterday, the last new light came in! Dale put it on, and now all the lights were working! Dale had to go to town, so he stopped and got his fishing license.

So this morning Dale wanted to take the boat out to check it out and make sure all is good...so he and Bob went out to go fishing for a few hours...even though I am somewhat jealous, I'm glad they got to go. We could probably figure out how to get me on and off the boat, but I just don't want to risk messing up my knee before my surgeon gives me the go-ahead to start using it...

So here I sit...it's the first time since we got married 24 years ago that Dale has gone fishing without me...I hope they are having fun and bring me some fishies!

And that's how I became a fishing widow!