Loaning things like that is like owning a race bike. If you're not willing to toss it into the dumpster right now, you shouldn't loan it. That being said, I do have a but if a reputation for loaning things and stopping what I'm doing to help a friend in a moment's notice.
Note your comment...help a friend. I'll take a bullet for the majority of my friends. A random acquaintance that needs something beyond a cursory hand...uh, no thanks.
I’m the one mechanic, IT guy, custom part builder, diy repair man out of all my friends. Spent a few hours workin on a buddies older SeaDoo yesterday that wouldn’t start - got it fixed and did some maintenance on it while I was at it. He’s dropping it off later today when he can throw it on a trailer and I’ll do the 100 hr supercharger rebuild for him which is not cheap at the dealer. I won’t take a dime from him. That being said he also lets me take his stuff whenever I want including a new 19 300 SeaDoo with a riva kit in it, his new wakeboard boat etc. we don’t keep track of “favors” and real friends shouldn’t as long as one of them isn’t a total drain on the relationship. I fix a lot of my friends stuff and take no money from them unless it’s a pretty expensive part but I also can use their property (to hunt, ride traIls), use others atv’s, boats, etc. They can also come grab my boat when they want to fish, take my dirt bikes for the weekend (the ktm is an exception as they’d all pretty much end up in a tree). One buddy is with his family on the gulf and I make him a fishing care package with about $1200 in surf rods, holders, etc. that I know I’ll have to flush and clean when I get home but I know that going in as he’s not lazy by any means but his mind doesn’t think that way. I also stopped at his lake house yesterday to grab a quick shower and changed so I could meet the wife for dinner vs driving out if the way back home. I guess I assumed this is the way friendships always were and the way the world should work. As said above this is how I treat my friends which I have very few people I consider “friends”. The boat load of acquaintance’s get treated on a case by case base but example had a newer neighbor A few months ago I saw struggling moving some stuff in multiple loads, asked him if he could use a trailer, said yes or sure but he tried to rent one in town and they were all rented out. Told him I’d be back in 10 min and drive the gold cart home, hooked the trailer to it and brought it over. Just a 6x10 utility trailer so even if he wrote it off a- it’s just a utility trailer b - I live in a decent hood so he probably has enough to buy me a new one (he isn’t much of a manual labor guy so I can see why he wouldn’t own one). He stopped by that night about 7 and asked first if I needed it later that night or in the morning because if I did he’d leave it with me or go get a couple more loads of stuff regardless of how late he had to work. That right there told me a lot about the guy and respect he has for people and their stuff. Since then we started chatting, turns out he’s a pilot for a major airline and owns a small plane here locally. He’s taken me up flying a few times since he’s not exactly busy at work. Won’t take any money for flying then the couple times I’d put money somewhere and text him to go look here. The next day it would be back in my mailbox. When you help people out without expecting anything in return it’s good karma and the favor may or may not get returned and who really gives a fuck if it does as long as your shits not wrecked. And if your friends wreck your shit good ones will have it fixed. Life’s too short to get hung up on material shit that will help someone out. My times limited a lot of days so I can’t offer up helping labor wise like I used to but my friends and a lot of acquaintances can borrow my shit. A few fishing rods and dirt bike are pretty well all I won’t loan out.
my buddy (Ford Mechanic) who lost his son in a motorcycle accident was not able to have another bike at the house after selling his and buying a boat . so i left my (tagged and insured) Tuono at his shop for the past half year. i enjoyed it even more last weekend when i rode it. It is more blessed to give than to receive
Last time I loaned out a trailer, the floor came back fucked and then they tried to say it was that way when they got it.
Maybe someone will loan him some. I stopped loaning anything that I rely on. Not gonna happen again. No dents, scrapes, worn tires, worn brakes, busted fenders, leaks, torn floors, gouged tracks, marred walls, busted seams...you get the idea. I'm perfectly capable of providing those modifications on my own, no help needed.
I save proper spelling, grammar and sentence structure for work. Wait- I don’t work . Time to head to the lake fishing so be prepared for run on sentence and one long ass paragraph.
I’m just at my buddies dock waiting on my wife to come and drop off my son so we can go cruising in his mint 1956 Chris craft. Can not convince him to put a modern powertrain in it though. Love old wood boats.
I don't understand any of that, except waiting son and wife. Floating on the water is not for me, especially in something old.
Old Wooden Boats are the Shit . The looks , the sound , the ride can’t be duplicated with modern materials. As a kid , spent our summers on Lake Hamlin in the Narrows , in Ludington Michigan. The mail boat was a Chris Craft Barrelback that was our alarm clock every morning ... could hear it a mile away , ran outside to watch it go by most mornings ... I still get goosebumps from remembering the sound ..
How can anybody not love a wood boat. My dad had a 35' CC Constellation similar to this, We did weekend trips all summer and deep into winter when he dry docked her. I then got to spend the winter making sure all the surfaces where in tip top shape for the next season. Learned a hell of a lot working on that old boat over the years.
