At 8 a.m. Justin Schuck's coming to the house for a Love Boat rendezvous. Bill and I will meet him in the driveway. Then we'll get in the pickup, with our boat trailing behind, as Justin escorts us to a spot less than half a mile from the house in a gated air park.
Once there, Justin will open a door to a hangar and direct us to a spot inside where we can park our 1966 Starcraft 16-foot yacht for the remainder of the winter. I've been told by my friend Kathy, who owns the hangar, that it's worth the trip over there to see what kind of company our Bonner County luxury liner will be keeping during its winter dormancy.
Some guy's storing his $200,000 Ford something-or-other in there, while another well-known local executive keep her yacht in there too. Besides these items, the place serves as a storage area for Seasons at Sandpoint items.
The Seasons, which Kathy's brother-in-law, Jae Heinberg from Tampa Bay is building, is the new ultra-luxurious condo complex currently under construction on Lake Pend Oreille's northwest shore. Kathy says the storage hangar, which she and her hubby Chris bought recently, is so clean you could eat off the floor. So, I'm excited and thrilled that our personal watercraft will be living so high off the hog this winter and keeping some pretty impressive company.
Up to this point, our well-used boat has been a real trooper, since we bought it for $1,800 from our neighbor Marlin Turinsky shortly after I retired. He and the former owners had used it for fishing on Lake Koocanusa near Libby Dam. It isn't the prettiest boat around, with its paint partially worn away and letters missing from its brand name, but it's durable and steady.
I'm hoping the poor thing doesn't come home in the spring with a self-image problem. After all, when you're a blue-collar boat belonging to some North Idaho plebians and you've gotta spend several months in the company of Sandpoint's newest recreational royalty, you could get intimidated.
I have confidence in our boat, though, and figure it's earned a chance to hibernate with the upper crust autos and vessels. After all, the poor thing didn't complain a bit when it had to spend the endless snowy winter of 2003-2004 out in the yard because the snow came and piled up during the week we spent back and forth to Spokane every day when my dad died. By the time we had time to put the boat in storage, three feet of snow (and growing) sealed its fate and location for the winter.
It stayed put, but in the spring, the worthy craft demonstrated its true-blue mettle and fired right up after its summer tune-up with Frank Delamarter and the maintenance crew at Sandpoint's Alpine Shop. During other winters, it has occupied a spot in one of June Paulet's storage sheds over on Boyer, but she's sold her place and moved to Salmon.
This year, Bill took the boat for its annual tune-up in July when Annie came home. Then, he got called away for almost a week on a fire. Annie never got a boat ride during her three-day stay. Later, one evening, we decided right after dinner to go out for an unplanned outing. We spent about an hour on the lake and watched thunderstorms build up all around us. We also speculated that those thunder storms were probably sparking fires.
Sure enough, when we arrived home, there was a call for Bill to report for duty in Craigmont. He was gone for more than a week on that fire. The busy summer moved on, and we never made it to the lake again. So, the boat sat idle in the sun, providing shade for the kitty cats. It had its summer tune-up and its fall winterizing, all for just one-hour's worth of work. Now it's gonna reside in luxurious surroundings this winter.
It's been good to us, though, and besides, it should feel right at home in a Chambers setting, despite the luxury. After all, for thirty years, our families have shared connections through dogs and horses, kids, good jokes, and a famous "magic friendship" candle. Why not add the Love boat to the ongoing story of a great and lasting friendship!
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