The deed's finally done for me. "Fall service" has been a 3 week endurance contest for me because:
1. The only decent place I know of to get a Volvo worked on around here now is an hour away
2. We combined the fall service with getting the trailer bunks replaced - and the place I'm having do my work now is
buried this time of year due to all the other dealers going out of business
3. And we combined the fall service with moving our storage unit from close to home, to close to our day lake (an hour away).
The storage move has been a huge job. Not only do we keep the boat there but a lot of camping stuff, household goods, bikes, etc. So it's taken 3 trips over there (one of them with a 6'x12' trailer completely full) plus all the cleaning of the new place, cleaning out of the old place, putting up lights at the new place, making it a home away from home, etc.
The new bunks turned out great. It's a job I've been contemplating for a year and a half. I had them replace the 2x4's with 2x6's, all stainless hardware, and black carpet (the original was gray). All four bunks are longer now, with the two outboard bunks carried further forward to the next frame cross member (they had to fabricate, weld, and paint new stanchions) and all 4 extending about 4" further aft - so the transom is now totally supported and we've got some margin of error for that not-quite-perfect loading that happens to everyone now and then.
I've now replaced every component on my trailer except the wheels (but did the tires), brakes (but did the actuator), and winch. I think I've about got it the way I want it now.
I'm not at all happy about the boat being an hour away, having become used to it being 10 minutes. Seems like it may as well be on the other side of the planet. But, having the rent jacked over 26% in four years at the old place, while maintenance and service went from fantastic to non-existent during the same period, just wasn't acceptable. And now for most of the boating we do, the total tow time will be less than 10 minutes.
If anyone is looking for a great boat repair place in the eastern third of Kansas, I can wholeheartedly recommend Lakeside Marine
http://www.lakesidemarinetopeka.com/ on the west side of Topeka. This is my 2nd year having them do my maintenance and I couldn't be happier so far. The gentleman who runs the fiberglass shop is one of the most highly recommended 'glass guys in this part of the country and is someone you can trust with your boat (I don't know how to make a better recommendation than that!). He even had me run the trailer paint out to his house late one night so he'd have it in time to get the trailer done when I needed it. Last year he repaired my neighbor's pristine red '98 Four Winns that had been hit hard by a pontoon while he was taking on fuel. The boat came out perfect in every way - not the slightest clue that anything had happened.