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!!