The Tune Up - My Driveway

So in hindsight I should have just bit the bullet and ordered an new ignition switch, but instead I wired a spare switch on the dash to the starter.  If you find a problem on your boat - FIX IT!  In my mind it was a temporary fix until we could get a new switch.  Since the marina didn't have water nearby I towed Double Dee back to my house for a tune up and to make sure the motor ran correctly before we put her in the water.  What I really wanted to do was fire up the 60HP Yammy and rev the motor a few times to be sure it ran correctly. . .  Little did I know what a headache this was going to be!




Once I got the boat home I connected the "ear muffs" to the garden hose and put them around the water intake on the motor.  These would let me run the engine out of the water by providing cold water from the hose to cool the engine.  I put the key in and turned it to on.  I then pressed the button on the dash that I had wired to the starter and the engine started instantly!  I was pleased but wanted to hear the motor rev.   I put the boat in neutral and began to give the motor more throttle.  It stalled immediately.  I tried a few more times with the same result and realized either the gas was bad or the carburetors needed cleaning because the motor wasn't getting enough fuel.  .  . So I went and picked up some sea foam engine cleaner in a can and sprayed the whole can into the three carbs on the motor and let it sit for a while.  To my wife's dismay when I restarted the motor a cloud of white smoke 50 ft in diameter billowed out of the engine and filled our yard!  The motor ran a bit smoother but now wouldn't rev any higher than 1000 RPM without coughing and sputtering.  At least it didn't stall any more!  I tried the next logical thing - clean gas - but still the motor sputtered at any RPM higher than 1000.  All the symptoms pointed to the motor not getting enough fuel.

I knew we needed to check the compression on each cylinder to be sure the powerhead wasn't damaged or the rings shot.   I found out that you can rent a compression tester from the auto parts store which we did.  Each cylinder checked out great at 120 PSI.  I also checked the spark and it looked good on each spark plug.  At this point I decided to do something drastic - I was going to attempt to rebuild the carbs and replace everything on the fuel system I could. We found a Yamaha dealer in CT and ordered the Carb rebuild kits and a new fuel line and fuel pump and filter.  I also got the repair guide for the motor. 
I carefully took each carb off, took them apart and began replacing all the parts from the kits.  I also cleaned each carb with a can of carb cleaner and a toothbrush.  The carbs were pretty dirty and the gaskets pretty gunked up so I figured once I got everything cleaned we'd be good to go.  I reassembled the carbs and re-attached them to the motor.  I fired up the engine and the motor finally would rev higher than 1000
RPM.  I called Jeff to tell him the good news that the motor was finally fixed and we'd only spent about $180!   When he arrived, the motor fired right up but when we gave it more throttle it sounded like it was mis-firing(missing a cylinder) and sputter from 1000RPM through to Wide Open Throttle (WOT)!! ARGGHH!!!!  The gauges also stopped working.  In hindsight - this was caused by the ignition switch failing because before Jeff came the gauges worked and the motor revved up fine. . .  In desperation I checked the motor again.  Then I noticed writing on the side of the CDI(Capacitive discharge ignition module). It said if the engine is running poorly try disconnecting the yellow circuit wire at the bottom of the CDI so you can limp back to port. I disconnected and lo-and-behold the motor would now run smoothly and rev up.  So at this point we could reliably get the motor to start and rev up to about 3000 RPM.  We still didn't know how it would behave under load. . . but we decided anyways to pop it in the River for a shake-down break down run!

The Ignition- Riverside Marina

I finally dropped Double Dee off at her new home, the  Riverside Marina in Portland, CT. We parked her right at the entrance, still on the trailer. 

Jeff and I soon discovered we were about a month ahead of the boating season which starts May 1st depending on the weather and the Connecticut River.  However, Karen at the Marina said the weather was good so the docks would be going in a couple of weeks ahead of schedule.  We figured that would give us two or three weeks to work on the boat.

Jeff and I took our first close look at Double Dee by going through all the gear and testing everything. We quickly discovered nothing works on her and there's only one cleat.  We also have to scrape off the NY registration tag and number and put on the new CT boat registration number and tag.  The boat did come with life jackets, a depth finder and a grill but the depth finder sensor had broken off the back off the boat.  After replacing a few bulbs and cleaning the contacts the dock lights worked, the red and green navigation lights on the bow worked and the white light on the stern worked.  We also figured out how the switches operate.  The first switch on the left controls the Navigation lights.  Up for all three - Red, Green and White which would be used at night.  Down for anchoring at night- the white Stern light only.  The second switch turned the Dock Lights on and off.    The next three switches did nothing that we could see but I knew I'd be using one of them to wire the three the blue led light sticks to.  The radio didn't work and there weren't any speakers on the boat - which made the wheels turn in my mind and I remembered that my old car stereo with a subwoofer and amplifiers was still in my garage. . .

The next thing to do was try the motor before we launched her.  Double Dee came with a 2002 Yamaha 60.  The model number  on the sticker was worn off but I was able to figure out thanks to the internet that the motor was a 2002 Yamaha 60TRLA. 
It is a 2 cycle motor  so it takes gas and 2 cycle oil in a tank at the top of the motor.  To start it out of the water I would need water and a hose. The nearest water outlet was several hundred yards away and we didn't have a long enough hose.  I was a little anxious to get the motor running and figure out how it ran.  My first attempt at starting the motor was a fail.  I put in the key turned it and nothing.  I checked the batteries and they were from 2007.  I had them checked at an auto parts store and they failed the charge test so I bought two new ones.  I brought them back and still nothing.  I went down to speak to the mechanic at the marina -  He said the ignition system on a boat is simple but the trick is diagnosing the problem.  So I bought three new spark plugs and had him order the repair guide for the motor.
I checked some of the basic components and everything looked good.  It seemed to be the switch so I googled how to check the ignition switch on a Yamaha and found out if you touch the brown wire to the yellow the motor should turn over.  .  .  I did and the motor rumbled to life.  Since I had no water I shut it off immediately and decided we'd need to bring it back to my house to work on the motor a little more.  I should have listened to myself in this video, bit the bullet and just ordered a new ignition switch for $140, but being a bit of a hacker I instead wired one the extra switches to the starter. . .  A wise mechanic months later gave me my new repair mantra  "If you find a problem  - fix it!"

The Pickup - On the Hudson

Five days after getting the temp plate were finally able put my hitch and brake wiring to the test! Double Dee was in Verplanck NY - 90 Miles from Middletown, CT.  We decided we would leave at 6:00AM and drive down to get her.   She was being held at a marina where they had checked her motor out and gotten her ready to be towed up to Connecticut.  When we got there Randy met us and gave us the quick and dirty on the boat.  He said "You see this latch here that holds the motor up?" -  "Before you launch her make sure you flip it down or you'll break the F$%#ckin' thing off!" -  Ok - important safety tip.
In between all the DMV madness with the trailer Jeff and I had taken the 8 hour - 1 day course to get our boating license at Cabella's in East Hartford. "Breaking the F$%^&!ckin' thing off" was not covered in the class. . .

Randy had his mechanic grease the wheel bearings, showed us where the two batteries were for the boat and the on-off switch for the batteries.  Finally he also showed us where the gas tank was and where to put 2 Cycle oil and that was it.  He told us we were going to have a ton of fun with our families on the pontoon, then he told me to back my car up to Double Dee so we could hook her up.  When I went to hook up the brakes and lights I then realized the trailer didn't have electric brakes, it had hydraulic surge brakes which are controlled by the hitch and the weight of boat.  Oh well, all those cuts and bruises didn't matter for Double Dee!   I figure if I ever get an airstream trailer I'll be ready with my electric brake controller. . .

The brake lights did work except for one side which started working after the mechanic tightened the bolt holding it to the frame.  We were finally off!  The drive was uneventful.    When we stopped for gas a gentleman asked me about the boat and said it looked like fun.  We got back to Middletown and stopped at the house.  My wife couldn't believe how big the boat was.  The kids were excited and climbed aboard.  Then Jeff went to work and I went to the DMV in Wethersfield.  I had two final tasks: 
1. Get a VIN verification
2. Get a CT Plate

When I got to Wethersfield DMV there was no line for the VIN verification.  A young man came out.  I handed him the form, he checked the VIN number and signed the form.  I couldn't believe how easy that was!  Then I parked Double Dee way in the back of the lot and went inside for hopefully my last visit to hell.   I waited about 45 minutes to get a number which was about 95 away from the currently being served numbers.  I knew I had at least a two hour wait so  I went down to the cafeteria and had lunch.  I headed back upstairs with 50 numbers to go.  After another hour my number was called.  The woman at the counter looked at all my paperwork and asked for the title.  I explained it didn't have a title but she could call the title department  for verification.  She didn't but made a note on the form.  She asked me for 60 bucks and then handed me a real Connecticut License plate.  I texted Jeff the picture of plate as I bolted out of there!!

The Brakes - New Jersey DMV

When we asked about the trailer we found out it had brakes.  I assumed they were electric brakes and ordered the Electronic Brake controller from etrailer.  The hardest part of installing the brake controller was running the wires for it from the back of Pathfinder, to the driver's compartment, to the engine compartment.



After finishing the installation on my truck I knew there must be a legitimate way to get the boat and trailer from New York to Connecticut.  So we did a little more research and I called the CT DMV a few more times.  They kept telling me since the boat and trailer are big, the trailer has a title.  So finally I call the New Jersey DMV and tell a very helpful woman on the phone my predicament.  She asks for the info from the little red NJ registration tag.  Then she types in the VIN number and says it shouldn't have a title but " it says here on the screen Title Issue Date" .  Eureka!  It seems as though the trailer does indeed have a title!  The original owner was wrong!  So plans are made for me to drive to New Jersey, meet the original owner at a NJ DMV and get a duplicate title printed up.   It's amazing that the original owner is nice enough to agree to this since he sold the boat 5 years ago and all of this really isn't his problem. . .  The catch is he is traveling for his business so we have a two day window of opportunity to take care of this before he is gone for a month!  On the day of my trip the title search Jeff started coincidentally arrives in the mail.  It also seems to confirm what the NJ DMV woman told me that there was a title issue date and that the title issued was standard.

The plan was simple:
Drive to NJ DMV nearest to his house in a strip mall with all the forms he needs filled out for a duplicate title.  So I take the day off work, get up at 7:30AM and drive over 112 miles to Oakland New Jersey.
I get to the NJ DMV in the strip mall and there's no line.  The original owner meets me, we walk in and he signs the duplicate title form.  I'm beginning to feel giddy.   I also give him the $60 fee for the duplicate title.  He walks right over to the counter and gets seen immediately.  I can't believe it!! New Jersey has their shit together compared to Connecticut.  He says it's because you can do almost anything DMV related online in NJ.

At this moment I text Jeff "He's at the counter!  No line.  This is going to happen!!"    I am beside myself with happiness after having spent so many hours on this issue.  Seconds later he calls me over saying "There's a problem".  There are two women behind the counter.  The older one says "The computer says there's no title, honey.  New Jersey doesn't title boat trailers that weigh under 2500lbs!"   I say "you're wrong!" and hand her the title search pointing out that it says title issue date and such.  She says "I've been working for the NJ DMV for 25 years -  we don't title boat trailers under 2500lbs.  See that NTTRL in the upper left of your title search.  It means No Title Trailer!"  I nearly collapse.  I explain to her that Connecticut believes this trailer has a title and that she's saying it never had one!  They recommend I get something from the DMV like a photocopy on NJ letterhead to prove what they were saying - so I have a man at a different counter photocopy the NJ regulation out of their Peck book.   Luckily I had also prepared three bills of sale for the original owner to sign in case something went wrong.  I tell him I'm going to need the bill of sale notarized because I'm a freaking expert from all the time I've spent on this problem.  I know that if you don't have a title you need a notarized bill of sale.  He goes into a nearby bank and gets it notarized.  I thank him profusely and call Jeff with the bad news.  He can't believe it.  We formulate a plan.  I am going to call DMV in Connecticut and explain everything and I am not going to leave NJ until this is resolved!!

So I call DMVin Connecticut and go through the whole story for the sixth or seventh time.  They ask me how much the trailer weighs and I exclaim " I am sitting at a New Jersey DMV right now.  You are wrong about the gross weight.  It's unladen weight!!  They have told me the trailer does not have a title!  Can I please speak to someone who can help me resolve this!"  They tell me they are going to transfer me to the Title Division.  This is first I've ever heard of such an office.  The woman who answers is very nice and helpful.  I explain my story and she asks for the VIN number and then tells me to "hold on".   She comes back on and says "You are right about the trailer not having a title!"  I am so relieved!  She tells me she checked the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS)  and found out it does not have a title.  So the original owner was right all along. . .  I tell her I am driving to Danbury DMV which is on the way home from NJ to register this trailer today and put an end to my suffering.  I also ask her for her name so if there's a problem the person at the counter can call her.  She says that's fine and apologizes for the hell I've been through.  She also jokes about knowing how it feels to want to get your boat onto the water at the beginning of the season.


So I drive to Danbury DMV.  Take a number and wait about an hour so see someone.  I get to the counter and explain everything. When the gentleman says he'll need a title I tell him to call my new friend at the Title Division. He comes back and says "you were right!"   He also explains that only about once a year does he have to consult the Peck Book to register an out of state trailer.  He gives me a temp registration and temp plate and I begin to walk away.





He says - "Oh I almost forgot.  Since there is no title, you'll need an Q1 form and the original owner will need to sign it. . ."  He also explains that the next step is to do a VIN verification at Wetherfield DMV.  Then I present everything including the Q1 form to the DMV rep and they will finally give me a real license plate.  They will also mail me a Connecticut Title several weeks after that!






I leave the DMV triumphant and text Jeff a picture of our temp plate for the trailer. It's been almost a month since we've bought the pontoon boat and we can finally, legally, pick it up!  Just then the DMV reps runs out of the door and hands me the registration saying "I forgot to give this to you!  You would have been screwed without it!"

The Hitch Part 2 - Connecticut DMV

As I said before - little did we know what we were getting ourselves into.  In the process of researching how to get insurance coverage for the trailer when towing the boat from New York,  I found out the trailer would have to be registered to me.  Sounded simple enough.  The owner would sell me the trailer and I would go to Connecticut DMV and register the trailer.  That way when I finished installing the trailer hitch we'd be covered in case the trailer wheels fell off on the way home!  

It seemed that all my paperwork was in order so after a quick trip to the DMV for a temp plate we'd be able to hook up to the boat and tow it from New York to Portland, CT.  Easier said than done.  

The first problem was that the person we were buying the boat and trailer from never registered the trailer in New York.  Neither did the owner before.  Only the original owner had registered the trailer when he bought the pontoon boat.  Luckily we had a little red tag that NJ uses for proof of registration and ownership.

On my first trip to Wetherfield DMV the plan was simple.  After waiting 45 minutes to get a number and then 2 hours to see a person I was going to apply for a temp plate which would then give me 10 days to tow the trailer and boat back to Connecticut. At which point I would bring it back to Wethersfield to get a VIN verfication per CT regulations on purchasing an out of state trailer and then they would then give me a real plate.

When I finally got to the counter I told the DMV employee my plan and the first thing she asked was - "What is the gross weight of the trailer?"   At this point in the journey I wasn't sure what that meant but the original New Jersey registration tag said "GW 4000" so that's what I said.  Then woman behind the counter said to the me the words that still make me cringe - "To register this trailer in CT I'm going to need the trailer's title".  CT DMV regulations are such that any trailer with a gross weight of over 3000lbs is titled by the state of Connecticut. .   The previous owner explained to us that the trailer didn't have a title because NJ doesn't title boat trailers  and he never registered the trailer in New York because he just kept it at a marina . . . He also scribbled on a piece of paper "Trailer weight 750lbs".

If you look at the NJ registration tag you'll see the code NTTRL which means No Title Trailer.  This is the KEY fact in the mixup between CT and NJ.  In New Jersey and New York they issue titles for trailers based on the trailer's UNLADEN weight -  in CT it's by GROSS WEIGHT.  In New York it says trailers with an "unladen weight of 1000lbs or more" are titled.  In New Jersey it says boat trailers under 2500lbs but it doesn't specify the figure as unladen weight.  Many hours later I confirmed this as fact.  Also according to the publishers of the Peck Title book "non-commercial trailer weight is considered unladen, unless specifically stated laden.  Few states use the laden weight as a basis for titling.  This is due to the fact that people tend to use their utility trailers for hauling different items of different weights and don't have scales to weigh them."

I didn't know any of this at the time but I smiled and explained to the woman behind the counter that the trailer was originally registered in  NJ which doesn't title trailers.  She pulled out a big book called a Peck Title Book and proceeded to look up the regulations on NJ.  She opened to the chapter on New Jersey, pointed to the fine print and said "all vehicles in New Jersey have a title"  then she held up her hands and began to back away from me saying "I can't register your trailer without a title. . .You shouldn't have bought that trailer. . . "  I stammered "but it doesn't have a title. . .what am I supposed to do?"  She said " you'll have to do a title search or track down the original owner .  I can't help you."  I walked away stunned.  This was going to be more complicated than I thought.  It reminded me of this scene from Big Bang theory but it was way more crowded at CT DMV.


Now if I had done more research before my first visit to the CT DMV I would have asked to see a supervisor to argue my case.  In hind sight I know now I should have also gone right upstairs to the title department to confirm if what the woman at the counter was saying was correct.

I texted Jeff the failed results of my first visit to DMV.  Being the great reporter that he is he proceeded to track down the original owner, email him and ask if he had a title for the trailer.  The owner's response that night was  "NJ doesn't issue trailer titles for boat class trailers. There never was one for the trailer, so there is none that I could give you."  Jeff also filled out a form and sent it off for a title search which takes several weeks.  So I printed out the email from the original owner and the regulations from New Jersey stating that trailers under 2500lbs are not titled in New Jersey and I headed back to the DMV in Old Saybrook this time the following Wednesday.  I also looked on several forums with people who were having the same problem.  Their advice was to register the trailer in Maine or register it as homemade. . .  I knew those things weren't going to work ultimately.

The Old Saybrook DMV is smaller and on the shoreline where most of Connecticut's boaters are.  I figured they'd registered thousands of trailers so it would go smoother this time. The wait was much shorter.  15 minutes to get a number and 45 minutes to see the person at the counter.  While waiting,    a man in line freaked out at the counter person and began to yell and swear because he needed two letters to prove residence.  He stormed out while they called my number.  It reminded me of this vertical video from Wisconsin DMV.



I got to the counter and explained that I was trying to register a boat trailer from New Jersey.  The first thing she asked was "What is the gross weight"  I said "750 lbs Unladen," She says no the Gross Weight. I said, "4000lbs Gross Weight".  She says "I need the title".   I say but  New Jersey regulations say trailers under 2500lbs are not titled and I try and show the print out from NJ DMV website and the email from the original owner.  She says "That stuff doesn't matter to me" and pushes the papers away.  I am stunned again and beginning to get angry.  I begin to think they may have to drag me out of here. . .   She says "The only thing that matters is what the (Peck Title) Book says . . . which she goes and gets.  She comes back and says the "books says 2500lbs and your trailer is 4000lbs."   I say "can I speak to your supervisor please?"  She won't let me.  She instead goes over and talks to her supervisor.  I see her explaining my story and then they both look go to the peck book  and look at it.  Then I see the supervisor call someone.  She explains my story to someone at HQ in Wethersfield.  She shakes her head and says something to my dmv rep.  The woman returns and says "Headquarters says it has a title.  You need a title to register it in Connecticut.  Did you do a title search?"  I say "Yes, we've started the title search but haven't received the paperwork back from NJ yet."  She says come back when you have. . .

I text Jeff the results of my second failure and we both lament that we may have to pay someone to tow it up here or just risk it and tow it up without a plate. . .  I am starting to think we'll never get the Double Dee up here!

The Hitch Part 1 - Blog Name Origin

Being the parent of three kids means when I'm not at work or asleep every free second is spent taking care of my children with my wife and extended family's help. 

That means the only time I can work on projects like installing trailer hitches and brake wiring is late at night. 

Once the trailer hitch parts arrived my friend Jim came over and helped me install the brake light wiring and filmed me.  He also came up with the name of this blog-  Late Nigh Boat Trucking -  It sounded better than "Let's install a trailer hitch and tow a boat from New York".  Late Night because it was around 11PM that we were doing the wiring and Boat Trucking because the goal was to be able to tow/truck the boat up from New York-  It made sense at that hour!

Etrailer sent me the hitch and wiring kit very quickly.  The kit I ordered involved no splicing of wires.  I just had to unplug the existing brake lights on the Pathfinder and plug them into an interface which had trailer brake wiring.  The hard part was figuring out how to run the wires to the outside of the truck from the inside.

The Beginning - Our Boating Adventure Begins

My parents owned a small 17' Sea Sprite Continental Mark 1 bowrider when I was in high school.  We loved being out on the Connecticut river but towing and launching the boat each time we wanted to use it was too stressful for my parents.  They didn't want to get a slip and the hassle of launching it each time prevented them from using it very often so to my dismay they sold it.

Fast Forward 20 years -fall 2012.  I mentioned to my friend and neighbor Jeff - "We should get a river boat-  It would be awesome fun for our families!"  We live right next to the Connecticut River and only a few miles from multiple marinas. 
Jeff was on the case immediately and started emailing me different boat ads for the next several months.  At first we thought we wanted a larger bow rider that could fit our two families but they cost too much and only held 8-10 people.  That's when Jeff suggested a pontoon boat.



Immediately my mind flashed to my only pontoon boat experience.  The somewhat hazy memory involved partying on the Connecticut River on the fourth of July in the eighties.  My buddy's brother took us up the Connecticut river to watch the fireworks in Hartford on his pontoon boat.  Only three things stand out in my mind from that night:

1. Pontoon boats are like taking your deck and a bunch of friends out on the water!
2. He had a blender powered by an inverter on his pontoon which he used to make frozen margaritas. 
3. The ride home down the river in the pitch dark with dozens of drunken boaters was pretty crazy.
Boats don't have headlights and there are no street lights on the river


Needless to say - I was in on the pontoon!




By February Jeff had found a 2002 Sweetwater 24RE that had 14 person capacity! Fourteen people meant we could fit both our families plus a third!  Now we're talkin'!

Within a week Jeff and family were able to check out the boat in person.  They called us and said they really liked the boat and "were we interested?"  She was named Double Dee, had a 60HP Yamaha outboard with low hours and plenty of extras. The boat came with a grill, depth finder, marine radio among other things and a Custom Carnai Trailer.  She was dinged up in several places and a few seat cushions were split at the seams but overall seemed like a good deal when comparing other pontoon boats from the same year.  And did I mention she was massive!



The other intersting thing is the boat was owned by 15 year old singer/songwriter Christopher McGinnis.  http://www.christophermcginnis.com/
Chris was about to get his drivers license and needed a car more than he needed a pontoon boat.

We asked a local marina nearby to check out the engine for us and if it ran well we were going to be the proud owners of a pontoon boat!

Now we had to figure out how to get this beast of a boat from NY to CT. . .

We could pay someone to tow it up to Connecticut but it could cost $300 or more.  Then I researched trailer hitches for my 2003 Nissan Pathfinder and found out my truck could tow the 3000lb boat.  With a class III hitch installed it had a 5000lb towing capacity.  So I ordered the trailer hitch and brake light wiring kit from etrailer.com and we set the following weekend as the goal to go and pick it up.  Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into!!