Oh Where Would We Be Without Good Ol' Yankee Ingenuity?

That's a thought I had Wednesday while I was at West Neck Marina.

I just had come in from a day on the water and was getting ready to recover my boat when I saw a couple of young boys tow a boat trailer to the parking lot, unhitch it, then drive away. I had wondered what they were doing but figured it was none of my business, so just continued with what I was doing.

It wasn't until I had parked my boat in the shade and was preparing to clean it up that everything about that trailer the boys had left in the parking lot came into focus. A few yards down in front of me, I could see the same two boys, along with a couple others, working feverishly on another trailer. It wasn't long before all my questions were answered.

While one of the boys climbed behind the wheel of the tow vehicle, the others aligned themselves on either side of the trailer, up close to its tongue. Then, ever so gently, the boy behind the wheel started inching the trailer out from its parking space, as his friends walked along with it. I quickly discerned the trailer was listing to one side, and part of it also was dragging the ground.

As it passed where I was standing, I saw what only could be described as a fine piece of yankee ingenuity. Their problem was this: The tongue of the trailer nearly had rusted off the rest of the frame. Their solution was this: Using a few pieces of lumber and some rope, they had fashioned a support brace that allowed them to half-drag, half-tow the broken-down trailer to the ramp.

I didn't follow them there, but I feel pretty safe to say that, when they arrived, they somehow slid their ski boat into the water, unhooked what was left of the old trailer, and recovered the boat onto the newer trailer in the parking lot. What they ultimately did with the old trailer is anyone's guess, but I feel certain they didn't take it out onto the road. If so, I wouldn't have wanted to be in any of the cars following it.

I found it refreshing to see that young folks still resort to some of the tricks of their forefathers, even though they likely have found a new name for it. I chuckled a bit to myself when I figured I'd probably only get a "deer in the headlights" look if I mentioned the term "yankee ingenuity" to these boys. I know I'm showing my age--I see it every morning as I look in the mirror.