Truck It! Gallery

Maybe it's because I spent my early boating life in a warm climate that I've never bought into the idea of hauling my boat out of the water, shrink-wrapping her and leaving her up on the hard for six months. It wasn't the expense that bothered me, nor was it the hassle of applying, removing, and discarding all that glorified Saran Wrap. More than anything, it was that the whole exercise seemed

By Capt. Richard Thiel

September 1, 2008

<p>Geting a boat ready to travel by truck isn't that much different than hauling her for the winter. Here the Ava T. is lifted out on the TraveLift, gets a quick pressure cleaning, and then is lowered onto the trailer.</p>

Geting a boat ready to travel by truck isn’t that much different than hauling her for the winter. Here the Ava T. is lifted out on the TraveLift, gets a quick pressure cleaning, and then is lowered onto the trailer.

When AYT drivers shrink-wrap your boat, they do it right. In the case of the Ava T., AYT manager Jeff Nowitzke took a good three hours to do it. When he’d completed the job, the plastic covering fit tight and secure.

Jeff Nowitzke tightens up the plastic as his wife Jerina looks on.

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Capt. Richard Thiel

Raised in San Diego, Richard grew up on boats—admittedly, mostly sailboats. He actually didn't purchase his first powerboat, a 19-foot SeaCraft center console, until after he moved to Jupiter, Florida, in 1980. From the moment he launched Last Resort, he was hooked on powerboats, so much so that he decided to parlay his love of them and his experience as a diesel mechanic into a career as a freelance boating writer. Thiel went on to serve as Power & Motoryacht's editor-in-chief for 25 years and contributed to the magazine until his passing in 2016.