The Yacht Part 2

Shutdown and Getting Ripped Off

The pets and I were moved onto the boat and having a nice time, aside from dealing with some stress from the nosy people in the condo’s above. We were on B Dock, close to the marsh, which was a great spot away from the boat traffic on the ICW. One of my old friends lived on a boat on the same dock too so that made it nice. Everyone on B Dock was helpful and kind.

Shortly after moving onto my boat, the C-19 shutdown happened. That was a scary moment. I had just bought the boat and had a pet sitting business to operate. Pet sitting came to halt due all the cancelations from the hospital staff and UNCW staff who were forbidden to travel. I did have my long time writing gig with The Watercraft Journal but it wouldn’t be enough to survive. Fortunately, my parents helped out and I was able to get a PPP loan to help me stay afloat.

Enter the mobile marine mechanic, my old friend CJH. I hired him to repair my engines. Instead, he started doing some other things on the boat that in hindsight, I’m not even sure he needed to do. I asked him numerous times about the engines and he always had a reason for not getting on them. When he did finally get to the engines on August 10, 2020, he charged me almost $6,000 for parts. The boat had sat too long without going anywhere, so now I needed more parts. I gave him the money and waited. Months had gone by and the guys on the dock kept asking what was going on and my dad wondered if I had been ripped off. I didn’t think I had because it was J. I often asked about the parts and by this time, the supply chain issues made an excellent excuse for his to use for parts not being here. Now I was dealing with other issues on the boat from not being able to take it out. Fast forward to January 2021, J’s helper is on the boat working. We had a long chat about what was really going on…