The secret to backing up a trailer

A few weeks ago, my husband and I got a boat. Where we live, we are surrounded by water, so we knew we would get a lot of use out of it.

And we weren’t kidding. We go out a few times a week (what did we do before we had this boat? IDK!?)

That being said, I knew that with a boat came new responsibilities and new things to learn – such as being able to get it in and out of the water!

I’m pretty confident in most things, but backing up a trailer was not on my list of abilities.

But I wanted it to be.

Why? I knew it would be a much smoother process and enjoyable experience if I could get the truck and trailer and back it into the water.

And most wifes can’t do it, which made me want to be able to do it more!

(The last time my mother-in-law attempted to back up a trailer with their boat was in 1984 – almost 40 years ago! That wasn’t going to be me!)

I wanted that sense of pride and that skill to put on my “life resume”

So I really wanted to learn how to do this seemingly impossible task.

The day came – time for Sarah to back up the trailer.

My husband tried to explain it, but he’s been doing this his whole life so it comes second nature to him.

I tried…

Yeah, that didn’t work out well! 😛 He ended up doing it himself and I sat helpless.

Next day, take 2. Time to try again.

I was determined to get this!

I was taking up the whole boat ramp.

People were all around, watching me about to attempt to back in the water and pick up my husband and boat there down floating.

Everyone patiently waiting on me.

I rolled down the windows and told everyone it was my first time, so they’d have mercy and not all laugh!

One guy came up to the truck and kindly offered to back it up for me.

A very nice gesture, but my answer – “no thanks!” I told him that I really wanted to learn how to do this myself.

And that’s when he told me the trick that changed my (and hopefully many other women’s lives) forever.

He explained it once. I listened.

Within minutes, I was backing the trailer down the boat ramp like I’ve been doing it my whole life. TA DA!!!

I couldn’t believe it (Neither could my husband)

I did it again the next day, the next day, the next day. Literally, I can now back up a trailer anywhere anytime in any water conditions, like a PRO!

Yesterday an old man at the boat ramp was so impressed, he actually thought I must have grown up on my farm. NOPE!

I grew up in a small town, and one of the main reasons I wanted to learn Spanish was because it brought me a sense of pride.

That is also one of the reasons I wanted to learn how to back up a trailer.

Both are cool things to be able to say “look what I can do!”, impressive skills!

Skills that you’ll have the rest of your life.

That will make your life easier, more enjoyable, and give you a sense of pride.

If your child wants to learn a new skill, I’ll teach them! You can click here for a free trial of our online conversational Spanish for kids.

I hope to see that guy again that taught me the trick, so I can thank him for that and let him know how much it really meant to me.

(The trick is to hold the bottom of the steering wheel with one hand only. Position the boat straight with where you’re backing into. Then, as you are backing up, if you see the trailer coming out the right mirror, you turn the wheel towards the right. If you see the trailer coming out the left mirror, turn the wheel to the left. That’s it!)

I’d love to give your child a new reason to have pride in themselves, too!

Have them try out online Spanish classes here – they’ll be beaming from ear to ear when people tell them how impressed they are with their awesome new skill!

Have a great holiday week!

Sarah