The trailer was finally finished for our Cape Dory 22 and we went up to New Milford, CT to pick it up from Traid Trailers.  We left around 6:00 PM on a Friday night for a trip that was supposed to take four and a half hours.  We trusted our route (and our fate) to Mapquest to get us from Essex, MD.  (A mistake we will not make again.)  They routed us over every horse trail in New Jersey and New York.  We got lost on the way up and didn't get into our hotel room in Danbury, CT until midnight.

We were supposed to meet with Michael Orro at Triad at 10:00 AM Saturday morning to take delivery.  Michael was already there working on the trailer when we arrived at 9:30 AM.  Apparently a worker who was supposed to finish up the trailer on Friday night had failed to do so and Michael was plenty upset.  The rear stabilizer jacks had not been installed.  We didn't see it as a big deal.  Lance was happy to talk boats with him while he worked on the trailer, and I was taking a nap in the car.  Shortly it was all done and Michael said he wanted to "go over a few things" with us.  Going over a few things meant a complete lesson on every aspect of the trailer; how to adjust the brakes, how to grease everything, the maintenance required, all of the warranties, how to get service on each individual component should we ever need it, and throwing in a can of galvanizing paint in case the trailer gets scratched.  He was more than thorough and so nice.  After he was done he cut us a check for $150 as an apology for not having the trailer ready as promised.  We told him this was unnecessary, but he insisted.  He had advised us on what trailer hitch to install before we came up and he had ordered a particular hitch ball for us.  We should have paid him $40, be he insisted we take that for free as well.  What a man of integrity!!!  The trailer is great.  We have a lift off model with the screw pads, rear stabilizer jacks, a bow stop and ladder and a mast holder.  Very well constructed and quite attractive (if a trailer can be called attractive).  The boat fits like a hand in a glove and rides like a dream.

But Michael Orro's kindness didn't end there.  He had instructed us to check the lug nuts on the trailer at 10, 25 and 50 miles just to make sure they weren't going to loosen up on us.  Our tire iron did not fit the nuts so we stopped at the Advance Auto down the street from Triad to get another tire iron.  We locked ourselves out of our car.  Lance walked back to Triad to see if Michael had any tool we could borrow to try and get into the car.  Michael walked down to our car, then went and got a friend that might be able to help us and they worked on the car door for a good 15 minutes (at which point we decided to call the police to come and break us in with their SlimJim).

You can probably tell how impressed we are with Michael Orro and Triad Trailers.  I would never hesistate to recommend them highly, and if we ever need another boat trailer, Michael Orro gets our business every time!!!