The Setback

Shutdown and Getting Ripped Off

The pets and I were onboard tand 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 being on the 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, who was an old friend. 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 he was a friend. I often asked about the parts and by this time, the supply chain issues made an excellent excuse for him 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, his helper was on the boat working and we had a long chat about what was really going on…