www.iFourWinns.com

I had my marina put the boat on the trailer and wash the hull last week. In preparation for the 25 mile or so trip for winter storage, I had the wifey register and get a plate for the trailer. Called the insurance guy to advise of the trip and the winter storage facillity. Checked with my buddy Chuck who's hauling it for me. He has a 2 and 5/16 ball,,,same as my trailer. He told me he had a 7 pin round connector, soooo, I had to track down an adapter to fit my 4 pin flat connector,,,got that done.

On Saturday, I went up and winterized everything, greased the bearings and set the tire pressures for the trip. Strapped her to the trailer so on Sunday, we'd just have to basically hook up and go. Chuck arrived Sunday morning and we left. Got to the marina and went to hook up,,,,trailer coupler was seized. Nothing a little WD-40 and a bashometer wouldn't take care of. Hooked up the safety chains, got the adapter but my trailer wires were about 2 feet short. We decided to leave the adapter plugged in, in case we got stopped and our story would be the extension wire must have fallen off. The trip was on country roads with very little traffic, so we thought we'd be fine. About 2/3 of the way there we see a cop coming the other way and looking at my boat, big time. Just as we passed him, he was pulling over and I cranked my head around to see if he was making a U-turn and then I spotted my licence plate still on the back seat . Chuck told me he made the U-turn and was following us. I told Chuck about the plate,,,,no need a for a laxative for us now. He followed us for about 5 miles till we turned south and he sailed on through. I guess he was checking out my boat How's that for outhouse luck???

_________________
07 Azure AZ200,
Previous boat,
95 278 Vista,
And a lot of others.

Ontario, Canada

Wow sounds like you got lucky! That would have cost you a few hundred!!

_________________
2001 328 Vista "Nauta Dream 2"
AB Inflatable 10AL "Little Dreamer"
2000 248 Vista
1997 225 Sundowner


Mike

One thing I just remembered,,,I didn't get an over sized load permit either

John

_________________
07 Azure AZ200,
Previous boat,
95 278 Vista,
And a lot of others.

Ontario, Canada

Wow you had some good luck! I have been pushing mine I haven't put the plate on the trailer yet or the Hull Id numbers on the boat since I purchased her a couple of months ago. Got stopped on the water by the marine patrol so I had to take some paperwork out since at that time the boat was registered in North Carolina they didn't really hassle me much after I talked to them for a couple of minutes. They really tend to get mad about those black hull numbers which is what I was told to take care of other than that I think they wanted to look at the boat more than investigate anything since the 220SS is a bit rare in South Florida.

You caught a break. Doesn't mean next year you'll be so lucky. What is the legal width in Ontario? I didn't used to get overwidth permits for mine because it precluded weekend moves. Michigan just changed the law to allow weekend movement, plus now you can get the State permit over the internet. County permits need to be applied for each different county where you travel on their roads. Dan

_________________

Current Boat: 1994 278 Four Winns Vista

Why would you need an oversized permit? Is the beam larger than 8' 6"?

_________________
2011 SL242 5.7 VP GXi - 320 HP Dual Prop

Beam is somewhere in the 9'6" range I think

_________________
2001 328 Vista "Nauta Dream 2"
AB Inflatable 10AL "Little Dreamer"
2000 248 Vista
1997 225 Sundowner


Mike

Both Wintersux and I have 90's vintage 278 Vistas. Our boats are 9ft. 4in. beam. The maximum legal width for roads in Michigan is 8ft. 6in. It is probably the same in Ontario. Dan

_________________

Current Boat: 1994 278 Four Winns Vista

You hit the nail on the head Dan. 8 feet 6 inches is maximum width without a permit in Ontario. As Dan says, our boats are 9' 4" wide. I've only heard this, so I don't know for sure but a permit costs $200 and the fine for not having one is $230. With those odds, I'll take my chances

_________________
07 Azure AZ200,
Previous boat,
95 278 Vista,
And a lot of others.

Ontario, Canada

Often you can plead ignorance and beg forgivness and perhaps avoid a ticket. I haul massive loads for a living. They know I know better. I have often wondered: If you haul without a permit and need one, and get in an accident, and perhaps your truck is a little undersized for the load..... What would happen in court. Dan

_________________

Current Boat: 1994 278 Four Winns Vista

I'm glad you mentioned that Dan since I have a truck licence as well and do know better. I'll still play the odds though and plead ignorance if I get nabbed. I'll just say the guy I bought the boat from said it was 8' 6".

John

_________________
07 Azure AZ200,
Previous boat,
95 278 Vista,
And a lot of others.

Ontario, Canada

My guess is the attorneys would eat you alive. For you, being a professional driver....even worse!

_________________
Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

We had the same kind of deal happen to us when we were hauling our 27' Rinker 3 hours across Wisconsin. It was a !00 degree day and near the end of the trip, our 3/4 ton Avalanche decided she had had enough. The engine kept shutting down from the heat. We were able to pull over a couple times and get it started again. As we were rolling down a hill we saw a Minnesota State Police car sitting at the bottom. We prayed the darn truck would hold out. Sure enough...stalled!! We managed to pull over and get it started right away. Pppheew! We had the plates, but the beam was over. Life can be a crap shoot!

_________________
Wayne & Kari
00' V338 Four Winns