In 1997 (due to some really bad planning) I found myself in Windsor, Ontario. The following tale is one of the tamer adventures that I found myself involved in.Sunday evening, we are sitting around letting dinner digest, enjoying some light refreshments, reflecting in the successful completion of yet another mission. The transportation of the 27' sea ray from the mud bog at the side of the house, to its summer quarters in the city marina.
This was of course done using an entirely illegal trailer.
In order to avoid any 'close encounters' with the police, and more importantly 'the ministry of transport', a circuitous route was mapped out, using back roads and residential areas. With the assistance of some 'inside' information we knew where the 'MOT' was hanging out.
Jim our accomplice in crime (driving the truck) gave us some 'sage' advice before we left. He hooked up the trailer, then went around inspecting the electrics, disturbed that a brake light was not working eyed the vehicles around and selected mine (great!) for a little bit of cannibalism. Having rectified (sorta) the problem he remarked "when you are doing illegal things, there is no point in drawing attention to yourself", this seemed good solid advice. He then strode over to the 'beer' fridge, cracked open a frosty 'labatts dry' , climbed into his truck, and headed out. hmmm not attracting attention......
Greg and I leap into the Jeep and set off in hot (luke warm) pursuit, our mission, to stick like glue to the back of the trailer, no tags, boat is on lopsided, brake lights only working intermittently, no brakes, boat not secured correctly to the trailer, and, the driver of the truck is enjoying a nice cool one!
Well, in the case of any potential trouble with the authorities , our mission as 'rear guard' is to run interference, tho what that will entail, I have no idea. Some low speed chase through downtown Windsor with a 27' sea ray! I wonder if we will be on CNN.
Anyway, the good news is that we make it to the marina without incident.
The boat is launched, and, after slamming it into the dock a few times, (presumably to give it that 'lived in' look), we tie the critter down, and set out on the journey home. Jim, grabs a 'traveler' and hurtles out of the marina at break neck speed, Greg and I , in hot pursuit realize that the journey back is going to be somewhat different.
Jim has decided that now divest of the 8000 lbs of boat, he will demonstrate the awesome power of his Dodge Ram 4 wheel drive truck. With the trailer bouncing wildly around the road (and the sidewalk) we do a 70mph chase back to the house. Once again 'lady luck' is with us, and we make it back with no problems with the 'boys on blue'.
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