When are you getting your boat ready for the season?

[8gv]

A thread hijack for an early launch story:

A long time ago in a state not so far away...

My buddy and I headed out in my 12' aluminum boat for some ice off fishing. We launched and motored for a cove that would deliver the action. Upon reaching the entrance to the cove we found a barrier of ice that looked impassable. Not wanting to fish non productive areas we decided to use our mighty craft as an ice breaker. We powered the forward half of the boat onto the ice. Rocking the boat broke the ice and we continued into the cove for a slammer day of fishing.

On our return a week later we brought a third guy. Having had previous success with our technique, we briskly approached the ice. We expected a climb onto the ice with a fast, three guy induced break up.

That's not what happened!

With three guys the boat sat lower in the water. The bow hit the ice directly rather than climbing up onto it. Very cold water started pouring in fast enough to require bailing all the way back to the launch.

The moral to this story? It was the third guy's fault!