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!!