I was running a little late for a business appointment when I crossed over the causeway of the Shenango Reservoir in Mercer County.

As is customary with any angler, I took a peek out into the lake to see if any boating activity was taking place. Sure enough, there were about a dozen boats working the shoreline and channel.

I became wistful and thought about fishing instead of working on this summer day. It was about this time that I spied a super clean fishing boat sporting a for sale sign along the road in a grassy spot. It caught my eye because of the mood that I was in and because I was saving up for a boat just like this one.

As fate would have it, I was heading the opposite way and I was running late, so that boat would have to wait. I'm a firm believer in timing and taking action when opportunities present themselves, and I felt that this was one of those times.

A few days later, I came back that way and the boat was still for sale. I slowed down and pulled into the grassy area to take a closer look at the craft.

It was a 16-foot Crestliner Fish Hawk fully decked out with all the extras, including an Evinrude Fourstroke outboard motor and a Shorelander trailer.

It was clean, in my price range and I was ready to deal for it. The boat was a trade-in for a guy who wanted to buy a trailer for a landscaping business. He needed the extra money and was open to negotiations, so I haggled the price down another $500.

I was feeling pretty good about the entire process and this was a time that I felt everything was going my way. I told the fellow that I would be back on Friday afternoon to get the boat and complete the paperwork.

Just like that the easy part of boat ownership turned into hassles when I tried to get that boat back to Butler County. I had borrowed my brother-in-law's truck to haul the boat back. He was on a vacation cruise and would never miss it.

The first problem came when his wiring harness and plug wouldn't work for the brake lights. We tried to clean up the contacts but eventually cut off his old connection and put on a new set.

Transferring the title of the boat was the next hurdle to clear. After three different attempts, I was able to get it done at the Mercer County Treasurer's office and the clerk was both professional and knowledgeable.

Putting on the new stickers wasn't difficult; it was taking off the old registration stickers that about made me lose it. With a little bit of heat and slow peeling we accomplished the task.

Beaver Boy came over and excitedly declared that we had a boat!

The Professor was in town and he dryly commented, "One thing better than having a boat is having a buddy that has one."

We checked out all of the equipment and found everything to be ready to go for fishing excursions:

4 livewell

• fish finder

• trolling motor

• drift sock

• lights

• safety equipment

Someone picked up a metal plug with a rubber seal and handed it to me and said, "What's this thing for?"

We almost forgot a crucial bit of boating equipment — the drain plug that empties rain water from the boat but can fill it up if not installed on the water.

Making sure that we had the right trailer hitch was another issue, as I discovered that a 2-inch ball was the right fit for the trailer and we all had 1M\,-inch set ups. I never even thought of that issue until we were hooking things up for the first run on the lake.

We were able to get the Fish Hawk on the water and the boys are lining up some trips that we always wanted to do.

I'm in the market for some rod holders and a few other small items to make the boat even more fishing ready. I'm starting to realize the meaning of a saying an experienced boater once said to me, "The happiest day of a boater's life is when he gets his first boat; the next happiest day is when he sells it."