Boat update. I contacted 2 people to take a look at our lift.
The first guy came out right away. He proposed using a use lift he had stored somewhere and cobble together everything to make things work. He was pretty scatterbrained and ended up giving me a "bid" handwritten on a piece of paper. He wanted 1/2 down before starting. I didn't get a warm fuzzy but I'm in a bind.
The second guy was recommended by a friend. However, the day he was scheduled to look at it he came down with covid. I felt I was sort of in a bind and contemplated going with the first guy but I decided to wait because of my uneasiness. He finally came and told me that there was no way our current lift was suitable, which I suspected. He said the entire thing needed to be replaced. Initially he said he didn't think he could get it done by the end of the month. He gave me a professional bid but it was significantly higher. But, he wanted 1/2 of material cost down only the day it gets delivered. I got a really good feeling from him, plus a good recommendation, so I went with him. When I told him to get started, he said that after talking to the manufacturer, he thought he might get it done on time.
One note, though. I hadn't really measured our dock vs. the boat. Everything looked ok but when I talked to the second guy he immediately picked up on how the boat was going to fit. We have mangroves sticking out about 6' from the seawall. Those are going to have to be trimmed down all the way to the seawall to get the boat in. He offered to move the posts out but said that was another big chunk of change PLUS a 6 month wait for permits. I'll go with the mangrove trim. I've done some research on that since mangroves are protected here. Homeowners can trim mangroves less than 16' tall all they want as long as you don't mess with the roots.
First world problems, eh?
On a related note. There is a lot on the end of our circle that has some boat trailers parked on it. Turns out my next door neighbor owns it and will rent me a spot for what I'm paying to park it across town. Woot!