I just can't wait to get on the boat again! Seriously, I am so excited to be back out on the water after too many days apart from it. Our pickup truck was down and out with a bad transmission line, but it is now back and better than ever, ready to pull the trailer wherever I need to launch. 

I'm very aware that my time on the boat the season is coming to an end, and I'm planning to make the most of it while I still can. There's a ton of stuff that still needs done in terms of restoring the vessel, but my philosophy this season has been to just run it. I put a ton of work into getting the boat water-ready at the beginning of the summer, and now, it is just time to enjoy it! I do need to readjust the controls, as it was running weirdly at anything above idle speed on my last adventure, but hey at least it runs. 

I consider this boat endeavor a complete success if I make it through the season without anything major breaking, such as the old Suzuki two-stroke motor we took a gamble upon. Additionally, my main priority is to avoid sinking the boat- or worse, the truck. I heard about both of these nighmare scenarios happening to locals this year with a Jeep apparently going in whilst launching, as well as a boat sinking to the bottom. I saw the recovery video of the boat, and as bad as this sounds thought, "Well at least I don't have the worst boat out there." Mine is rough around the edges, but it holds. 

The boat itself is a 1958 Magnolia, made from fiberglass. It's truly a classic, and even has fins reminiscent of a 1956 Bel Air, as well as other period stylstic touches  like the steering wheel. It is not set in stone, but I really enjoy the name "Sweetbay" for the boat, as sweetbay is a variety of the magnolia plant. It is a nice little play on words with the nautical nod in bay. Corny boat names always make me laugh, but I'm thinking Sweetbay is going to stick. 

Whatever you call it, I love my boat. I don't have a radio in it yet, so I make sure to always have my Bluetooth speaker charged and ready to crank the tunes. You already know I've got it locked on WQMX, and you too can listen any time and anywhere with ease. It's Your Country: on the radio tuned to 94.9 FM, here on our website under the listen live tab, on our mobile app, and even on your smart speaker at home!