Prepping for a trip with my boat. Anyone have a checklist?

I booked a cabin on a lake in Ontario, Canada in August for the family. It'll be about 1400 miles round trip.

We wanted to take our travel trailer, but it ended up being far cheaper to rent a cabin. I found a 2 bedroom cabin on Echo Lake, which is connected via about 1.5 miles of river and a small lake to the St. Mary's River. It has a private dock and everything. Got it for only $40 a night. I'd have to pay $45 a night for a campsite, I wouldn't be on the water, and I'd get 6 miles to the gallon towing my travel trailer vs. 20mpg towing my boat.

Atlantic Salmon should be running, so I'm really hopeful on catching a few.

I ordered a new axle and hubs for my boat trailer, the spindles were scarred up pretty bad, and I didn't want to risk a long drive with them that way. For around here it would be fine, but 10 hours of 70mph on the highway? Yeah, no.

Does anyone happen to have a checklist for a long trip like this with your boat? Things to check, pack, etc?

A spare tire and another spare tire. Sounds like you are good on bearings and grease.

As far as a pack list, I don't really fish so my checklist wouldn't work very well for someone who does. If you have some time to sit down and make one for yourself that would serve you well.

Bateman said:

A spare tire and another spare tire. Sounds like you are good on bearings and grease.

As far as a pack list, I don't really fish so my checklist wouldn't work very well for someone who does. If you have some time to sit down and make one for yourself that would serve you well.

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Yeah, I'm going to take an extra spare tire off my camper, the boat and camper use the same size.

Try this...........

https://nmma.net/assets/cabinets/Cabinet464/7918_DB14_Pre-Departure_Checklist.pdf

https://www.leeroysramblings.com/pre_trip_check_list.htm

Ontario in August..... yes I can hear it......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

You might want to consider one of these with the appropriate brimmed hat for all:

https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Summit-Mosquito-Insect-Shield/dp/B003F5WGNG

Shaugh said:

Ontario in August..... yes I can hear it......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

You might want to consider one of these with the appropriate brimmed hat for all:

https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Summit-Mosquito-Insect-Shield/dp/B003F5WGNG

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Oh you bet I'll be bringing some heavy duty backwoods OFF with me. We went to the Michigan UP at a similar time 2 years ago and got destroyed by Noseeums until I bought some 40% DEET spray.

Ontario is the UP x 10. A constant swarm around you with or without spray. Survivable if you tell wife and kids all about it beforehand. Not survivable if you don’t. Lightweight long sleeves....long pants etc. you’ll get a break at times but plan for the worst. The fish will be worth it. Monster pike should be on your list.

Shaugh said:

Ontario is the UP x 10. A constant swarm around you with or without spray. Survivable if you tell wife and kids all about it beforehand. Not survivable if you don’t. Lightweight long sleeves....long pants etc. you’ll get a break at times but plan for the worst. The fish will be worth it. Monster pike should be on your list.

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I asked a friend who is familiar with the area, and he said by August the flys and mosquitos should be dying down.

I'm definitely hoping for some big pike. I've got planer boards, and plan on trolling around the lake with some spoons.

Yes it can vary.... You can be inside a cloud and 200 yard away can be bug free....

The head nets with the brimmed hat aren't a joke.. they really work and are a must for night time outhouse trips... etc... keeping them out of your nose and ears is essential to keep you from getting that "caribou about to jump off a cliff" look in your eyes.... especially for women and kids......

Sounds like a great trip ..... nothing like big pike on a daredevil up there....

Beer, summer sausage, Cheddar cheese.

Have all the paperwork for the boat and a list of everything you are bringing into Canada ready for the Canada Border Services.
Leave your firearms at home. We use sticks and stones here.
I would use Muskol instead of Deep Woods Off. It works better. You will only have mosquito's in August.
Expect high gas prices. $1.38 a liter for the cheap stuff. $1.65 a liter for high octane. Probably be more expensive once vacation season begins.
I'll get the address for the moonshine seller around Huntsville if you are interested.

Check this out https://ecottagefilms.com/lake/echo-lake/?alpha=E#bottomSearch

Wow, you aren't kidding about gaso prices being high. :shock:

Hopefully the moonshine is a little cheaper.

BillPlayfoot said:

Have all the paperwork for the boat and a list of everything you are bringing into Canada ready for the Canada Border Services.
Leave your firearms at home. We use sticks and stones here.
I would use Muskol instead of Deep Woods Off. It works better. You will only have mosquito's in August.
Expect high gas prices. $1.38 a liter for the cheap stuff. $1.65 a liter for high octane. Probably be more expensive once vacation season begins.
I'll get the address for the moonshine seller around Huntsville if you are interested.

Check this out https://ecottagefilms.com/lake/echo-lake/?alpha=E#bottomSearch

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Thanks Bill!

Definitely wouldn't bring a gun. If I were going further north or west I'd worry a bit more about bear, but around there I wouldn't expect to see anything but black bear.

I plan on filling my truck gas tank before I leave Sault Ste Marie in Michigan, and the cabin is only 26 miles from there. Shouldn't need to buy any gas except for the boat. Boat only has a 6 gallon tank, and I was going to pick up a couple jerry cans to have with, so I felt safe going a bit further distance. Looks like its about 10 miles via water to get from my cabin to the St. Mary's, so if I do take the boat to go salmon fishing I'll probably put it in somewhere closer. It looks like Echo lake is a fairly decent sized lake. I'll probably spend most of my time smallmouth and trout fishing. I'm planning on bringing some floating lights for night fishing so the wife and I can sit out on the dock at night after the kids are in bed and catch pan fish. I'm betting there are some nice Perch up there.

I quit drinking liquor due to some health issues. Liver enzymes were way high, cholesterol was super high. About 2 months ago I gave it up. I'll have some beers on the weekend, but that's it.
I'll probably stop at Meijers in Michigan and pick up a couple cases of MGD to bring with.

Take a look at every single fastener on your boat and trailer. Make sure you have a tool to r&r each of them. Take a big hammer and wooden block with you in case you need to "adjust" anything on the side of the road. Test run changing a tire on your trailer with only what you are taking with you.

I clipped a tree with the tire/fender on my boat while navigating a trail in the woods at 3:00 a.m. after driving 10 hrs. It happens.
Ended up changing the axle out in the parking lot of a Northern Tool parking lot on a Sunday. Again...IT happens.

Much luck and everything will make great stories next year.

Rob

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

Made a long trip south to west coast FL pulling a trailer/tinboat. I don't like traffic and have been through Atlanta only twice in 30 years. That's where a kind lady following the pickup and trailer drove alongside and signaled us to pull over. We had a burned out trailer hub, luck be luck, we pulled off 2 miles from a boat shop and hotel.

I don't leave home without a spare greased hub assembly, 4 way lug wrench, short floor jack, 4 x 6 or 6 x 6 wood blocks, and a 2 x 12 piece for under the jack; for the OBX there is a web tow strap and shovel. A can of spray lube is handy for the lugs and trailer hitch/winch.

Hope you have plenty of fun on your trip!

Well, you need a lot of things for such a trip. I went on such a trip only once, and we actually had a lot of issues! It was one of the worst trips I ever had. Well, that was the last time when I went on such a trip. Now I'm pretty paranoid about going on a long car trip or taking a boat. I prefer the train. It's the safest way of traveling. After that trip, I'm only traveling by train. I check the timetables from https://www.dbfahrplan.com/de/, look for the train I need, and that's all. No more panic and no need to have some long checklists.

MOTOR - Spare plugs, gap tool, plug wrench (you SHOULD have a truck tool kit!) and spare prop, plus any special oil

BUG STUFF - Don't use Deet or any chemicals ... this stuff here is THE BEST bug stuff going! And I've been boating on my saltwater estuary river for ~60-years now, that's loaded with bugs (as otherwise I would have bought a house on the water ...).

It says 'lemon - eucalyptus', but it sure doesn't smell like either of those to my nose! Whereas the other natural oil (no chemicals!) is made from Fennel seeds, and where Fennel is what gives black licorice the pungent smell, yup ... that's what it smells like. And while I DESPISE black licorice ... I HATE bugs even more!

This stuff works DE BOMB on those 'clouds' of midgies (aka 'no-see-ums'), mosquitoes, black flies and even greenheads, a notorious breed of aggressive horsefly found around saltwater marshes in mid-Summer. As a bonus, it was only $5 for a large pump-spray bottle at Walmart or other retailers!

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