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Boat Launch Gone Wrong


Airehead

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A story retold by the wife of an acquaintance of mine.  She received a call from her husband about 11:00 pm to come to the boat dock to pick him up.  She gets there and amid the other lights at the boat dock are the lights of his truck shining up thru the water.  I don't remember the reason but his truck, trailer and boat were all submerged down the ramp.  Nothing we showing out of the water except 2 beams from his headlights.  I know that ramp.  It has a long concrete ramp and then drops quickly into the depths of the lake.  He found that out. 

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I worked for a boat dealer for years.  My favorite story is the guy that called to complain after his boat was worked on that it would not go fast, would not even get up on plane.

Our Mercury outboard mechanic drove down to the boat ramp to meet the boat owner.  As soon as he saw the boat he knew what the problem was.  The guy had backed into the water, unhooked the trailer from the car with the boat still strapped to the trailer and was trying to use the boat with the trailer hanging under the boat by the winch strap and tie down straps......

Drunks should not own boats.

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I used to love the ramps and seeing all the Yahoo's and the crazy sheot they do.  What was truly funny was know it all dude who refused help (because he knew what he was doing) and watch him f' up his boat.  Saw several of those guys over the years...

Fortunately my boat was small and I could launch and recover it by myself. Also towed it with my jeep which I hardly noticed it when towing it was pretty light.

 

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1 hour ago, jsharr said:

I worked for a boat dealer for years.  My favorite story is the guy that called to complain after his boat was worked on that it would not go fast, would not even get up on plane.

Our Mercury outboard mechanic drove down to the boat ramp to meet the boat owner.  As soon as he saw the boat he knew what the problem was.  The guy had backed into the water, unhooked the trailer from the car with the boat still strapped to the trailer and was trying to use the boat with the trailer hanging under the boat by the winch strap and tie down straps......

Drunks should not own boats.

Damn. I used up my drunk in Texas video already.

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1 hour ago, jsharr said:

I worked for a boat dealer for years.  My favorite story is the guy that called to complain after his boat was worked on that it would not go fast, would not even get up on plane.

Our Mercury outboard mechanic drove down to the boat ramp to meet the boat owner.  As soon as he saw the boat he knew what the problem was.  The guy had backed into the water, unhooked the trailer from the car with the boat still strapped to the trailer and was trying to use the boat with the trailer hanging under the boat by the winch strap and tie down straps......

Drunks should not own boats.

I think this is how many trucks get in the drink.  Guy backs in without unstrapping the boat, and the boat floats the rear end of the truck up enough so that it gets gently tugged deeper into the lake with each wake or ripple.

I have never had to get a boat into water, btw, so I could be very wrong.  

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1 hour ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said:

Wrong? Looks like it went perfectly, to me. But then, I don't have a dime invested.

My Buddy always used to say if you were ever bored, just grab a six pack and a lawn chair and go sit by a boat launch on a busy weekend. Hilarity is guaranteed to ensue.

Two of my favorite things.  Watching the first warm weekend at a boat ramp and watching the people show up to take their operator's test for motorcycle license.  

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2 hours ago, jsharr said:

I worked for a boat dealer for years.  My favorite story is the guy that called to complain after his boat was worked on that it would not go fast, would not even get up on plane.

Our Mercury outboard mechanic drove down to the boat ramp to meet the boat owner.  As soon as he saw the boat he knew what the problem was.  The guy had backed into the water, unhooked the trailer from the car with the boat still strapped to the trailer and was trying to use the boat with the trailer hanging under the boat by the winch strap and tie down straps......

Drunks should not own boats.

:lol:

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2 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

Two of my favorite things.  Watching the first warm weekend at a boat ramp and watching the people show up to take their operator's test for motorcycle license.  

Spoken like a murse that likes to harvest organs!  Both activities kill lots of people.

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On my bike rides, I used to stop at my local park and watch people launch and retrieve their boats.  It is always good entertainment.  Once in a while, you will see someone who really knows what he is doing.  Even those guys are fun to watch.

Now that I think about it, "The Boat Launch", would make a great reality TV show.  :)

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I was meeting a buddy at 5:dark O'clock, at a lake to go duck hunting. I'd never been to the lake before, buddy told me 'can't miss it, road runs straight to the launch'

Following the road through pea-soup fog, my self preservation gene kicked in and I got out to scout on foot....I was about 3 feet from the water...

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5 hours ago, Road Runner said:

On my bike rides, I used to stop at my local park and watch people launch and retrieve their boats.  It is always good entertainment.  Once in a while, you will see someone who really knows what he is doing.  Even those guys are fun to watch.

Now that I think about it, "The Boat Launch", would make a great reality TV show.  :)

One day Wo46 and I were meeting up with a friend at a bar at a lake. Our friends were running about a hour late but that was ok because we had endless entertainment sitting watching people trying to backup a trailer and launch a boat. 

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3 minutes ago, BR46 said:

we had endless entertainment sitting watching people trying to backup a trailer and launch a boat. 

I have fond memories of my first attempt to backup my trailer to launch my new boat.  No one told me it would be smart to go somewhere and practice backing up BEFORE going to the launch.  :D

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12 hours ago, Road Runner said:

I have fond memories of my first attempt to backup my trailer to launch my new boat.  No one told me it would be smart to go somewhere and practice backing up BEFORE going to the launch.  :D

My first boat was a little Sea Ray 180 BR.  I pulled it with a Ford Explorer.  I bought it and drove STRAIGHT to the boat ramp on the freaking Ohio (not even a lake).  Luckily it was a day in the middle of the week at about noon.  Nobody else there.  Looking back now that was pretty stupid.

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6 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

My first boat was a little Sea Ray 180 BR.  I pulled it with a Ford Explorer.  I bought it and drove STRAIGHT to the boat ramp on the freaking Ohio (not even a lake).  Luckily it was a day in the middle of the week at about noon.  Nobody else there.  Looking back now that was pretty stupid.

If you've never backed up a trailer but you thought it looks easy, trying to do it for the first time with lots of people watching and waiting is a very humbling experience.  :)

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Just now, Road Runner said:

If you've never backed up a trailer but you thought it looks easy, trying to do it for the first time with lots of people watching and waiting is a very humbling experience.  :)

I have backed up numerous trailers in my life.  I have driven everything from small utility trailers to large pontoons and my 31 foot camper.  I still get a little nervous when I pull into a busy campground and there are people watching me back into a spot.  

A few months ago I pulled into a state park that had several trees positioned strategically to ensure that it was damn hard to back into this spot.  I put the trailer right in, coming close to scraping a few trees but not actually doing it.  Had to pull up a few times to not hit the front fender of my truck but got it in there smoothly.  

Dude I never met walked over from his camper with a beer and handed it to me, didn't say  a word, just handed me a beer.:D 

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18 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

My first boat was a little Sea Ray 180 BR.  I pulled it with a Ford Explorer.  I bought it and drove STRAIGHT to the boat ramp on the freaking Ohio (not even a lake).  Luckily it was a day in the middle of the week at about noon.  Nobody else there.  Looking back now that was pretty stupid.

Why was that stupid?

 

I used to launch a boat with my old 4 cylinder S10.  It was stick, no power anything and no parking brakes.  Never had an issue.  Now brother in law did put his S10 in a lake once, he accidentally knocked it out of gear getting out, by the time he got his foot back on the brake, the dash was under water.

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26 minutes ago, Indy said:

Why was that stupid?

 

I used to launch a boat with my old 4 cylinder S10.  It was stick, no power anything and no parking brakes.  Never had an issue.  Now brother in law did put his S10 in a lake once, he accidentally knocked it out of gear getting out, by the time he got his foot back on the brake, the dash was under water.

I think that taking it to the Ohio instead of a small lake was a dumb move for my first boat.  Also think I should have practiced in a parking lot instead of going straight to the boat ramp from the dealership.  The Explorer pulled that little boat just fine.  

The biggest problem was the Ohio.  It is a completely different can of worms than a small lake.  

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1 minute ago, Parr8hed said:

I think that taking it to the Ohio instead of a small lake was a dumb move for my first boat.  Also think I should have practiced in a parking lot instead of going straight to the boat ramp from the dealership.  The Explorer pulled that little boat just fine.  

The biggest problem was the Ohio.  It is a completely different can of worms than a small lake.  

True, rivers are that way in general as you have to know how to follow them and then you combine that with larger barges, I'd imagine that would take some getting used to.  I've done rivers, but never one where I've had to play with larger vessels.

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17 minutes ago, Indy said:

True, rivers are that way in general as you have to know how to follow them and then you combine that with larger barges, I'd imagine that would take some getting used to.  I've done rivers, but never one where I've had to play with larger vessels.

I grew up on that river so I felt like I knew it, but still not the best choice for a 22 year old first time boat owner!

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