In 2015 we bought our Cabin, taking possession in mid-August. At the time, we owned a boat. Our boating adventures prior had been to load up in the morning and drive to a lake, usually Blackstrap or Diefenbaker, at Coteau Bay, and spend the day on the water, stopping on a beach from time to time, or just boating and floating. We had to pick our days as weather was the biggest factor beyond our control.

Then we bought a cabin and we could hop in the boat any time the weather was nice, or in between rain showers. Convenience, while it had a price, was very welcome.

The cabin came loaded with furniture, too much, and knickknacks and assorted other stuff that had little value. What it did not come with was a dock and a lift. Previous owners barely used the cabin and not to go out on the water.

For what remained of the first summer summer, and into the fall, we went to the cabin, hooked up the boat trailer, launched the boat for the weekend, then back on the trailer and parked it back at the cabin. During the weekend, we simply hopped in an out of the bow of the boat then pulled it up tight and tied a rope to a tree for overnight. Not ideal, but we were still smiling as we were using our boat at our cabin. We knew eventually a dock was needed and a boat lift. But the dock was first.

I found someone selling their dock at another lake. Much cheaper than buying a new one and much faster than building one (although the thought was intriguing me as it would have been a good project with my kids and they could claim some pride of ownership in the dock).  Me and one of my sons hopped in the truck and went and loaded the used dock. Probably over loaded the truck, but we made it to our cabin without any incident and the next day we had a dock in the water and our boat pulled up next to it. We bought some dock bumper pads to protect the boat from bumping against the dock and all was well. We could survive without a lift for a while.

Then a year or two later I was searching Kijiji for boat lifts and found a used one, at another lake, for a pretty decent price. So I called, agreed on a price and a date and time to meet. I showed up, found the lift, ran it through my extensive testing procedures of cranking it up and down and bouncing on the frame to see if it could support me. It holds me, surely a 2000 plus lb boat?

All was good. The owner didn’t show. Instead he sent a buddy to collect the cash. In the previous conversation the owner had agreed to help disassemble and load on my truck. his buddy simply shrugged and said “I dunno’ and drove off with the cash. A big thanks to YouTube for having a video on how to assemble the lift I had bought. I watch on my phone a few times then worked backwards. Eventually I had an assortment of pieces, big and small, some oddly shaped. Thanks to ratchet straps I was able to get it loaded and strapped semi-securely.

The next afternoon I had the lift partially assembled down at the shoreline. Adjusted best as I could figure for my boat, and me and my two boys struggled our way through getting it into position in the water. Float the boat into place and it worked!

Fast forward a couple of years and we finally reached the point of the need for repairs. The lift cable wound around the crank post, through the pullies, and then connected to the far end of the lift frame. I was frayed enough in enough places that I was certain the strength was now compromised. I snipped of fraying strands of wire, a temporary solution only, but the time to eat the cost was here. No one local, in Saskatoon, or in Prince Albert, seemed to have a cable. I had considered the idea of a different gauge of cable, or a different type of steel, based on what was available locally. It made sense, dollarwise, but would it work. Fortunately, I found a replacement cable, aluminum aircraft cable, from the lift manufacturer website in Wisconsin, or Michigan, or Illinois, somewhere.

The replacement was easy. I secured on end of the cable to the winch crank and then fed the loose end through the pulleys to the far side and fastened to the frame. Was good to see the lift cable feeding through the pulleys without strands of wire splaying about as each came loose.  That was 6 years ago and the cable still looks like it will last another 20 years.

This past winter I was standing on the deck at the cabin, looking out into the yard and something about the lift, which was stored in the yard just below me, caught my eye. One of the two bunks no longer looked to be one continuous board. It had a noticeable bend near the front mounting bracket.

I knew I had a repair project in the spring. Here’s what I have learned in the fixing process: it’s the labour that will do you in. The cost of the pressure-treated 2 x 8 was about $30. The labour to do the repairs was half a day. Removal of the old board was 10 minutes. Removal of the staples holding the carpet covering the bunk was the time eater. I’d put it at about 3 hours. Probably more but the low skill – high effort project also meant beer was involved.

Once the staples were all gone, I simply laid the old board on top of the new board and drilled the bolt holes in the new piece. About 200 staples later, it was re-built and 5 minutes to bolt it back on.

If I ever have to do it again, I will buy a new piece of carpet and turn it into a 30 minute fix.