Dolly and Life Vests

The carting experience was more than enough to convince me that we needed a shell dolly for transportation back and forth from house to lake/dock. Even if we figured out how to keep the shell at the dock on the weekend, we wouldn't leave it there all the time. So, at least one round trip would be needed each week.

We also weren't quite comfortable going out on the lake without a life preserver of some sort. I knew that not all state regulations applied to non-powered boats but we sure as heck didn't want to be out in the middle of the lake and get tipped by the wake of some moron. Not knowing what we were doing, we decided to pass on a Sunday (Apr 27) outing and researched logistics instead.

After some surfing, I settled on a small boat dolly and pair of life vests sold by Chesapeake Rowing. We paid extra for them to arrive before the following weekend.

I also went to Lowe's to figure out a system for storing the boat suspended from the ceiling in our garage. At 24 feet long, I only have one option for the hanging to avoid lights, garage door openers, etc. But this is better than having the thing sitting out on our back porch all the time! The porch is the same width at it's max. To walk around the end by the door, the bow of the boat sticks off a bit.



The white thing on the spa is the stroke (stern) seat drop-in. It has the seat on runners and allows the shell to be set up as a single as well as a double. The oars are also on top but hard to see. They are about 8 foot long hatchet-style carbon oars - really very light.