Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Boat ramp mishap...

Being around boat ramps a guy gets to see all sorts of launching/loading gymnastics. I saw one yesterday I've not seen before. Guy and wife pull their boat to the ramp. He backs the trailer down and lines it up so that all the wife has to do is put the truck in reverse and back up, then straight out. Guy gets out removes the motor tote, stern straps, puts plug in... looking good. He then unhooks the bow strap and climbs in. Lady gets in the truck.

I'm sitting in my boat at the dock waiting for my son to bring our rig around. So I'm casually watching the launch. Then I notice... the boat is sliding off the trailer. This ramp is pretty steep, the guy in the boat is standing up getting something out of a storage compartment, wife in truck is oblivious. I yelled over, "Hey! You're sliding off the trailer!" Took two yells to get his attention. He looks up from what he's doing, looks at me annoyed just about the time the skeg of the trimmed up motor made contact with the concrete ramp. The impact knocked him off balance and while he was scrambling to regain his balance the boat slid completely off the trailer and crashed onto the concrete ramp - high and dry. Boat was a 17.5' Triton glass bass boat with 115 Merc.

I'll say this, his trailer has a heck of a winch. Hooked the boat back to the winch strap and with some help he got the boat loaded back on the trailer. Motor skeg was trashed, lots of gel coat damage on the stern bottom, pad and keel. Said he would file an insurance claim. Reminded me to be aware of the variables in ramps!!!

The bass boat guys tend to load up their boats ass heavy so they can get up on plane faster. Probably contributed to his dilemma.

And that would be why I NEVER release the winch until boat is floating. Everything else will be released, but only about 5' of slack in the winch. (In fact, one of my jobs today, is to replace the tounge of my boat trailer. It is cut. Fitted, welded, and painted. Should be installed today.

A most entertaining location indeed. Once made it to a launch site a couple hours ahead of my hunting buddies. In that interval I handled 5 different rigs and trailers for folks with no idea. Worst was a big Winnebago. Asked if I could back the boat down for them and one could not see it at all in the mirrors. No camera either. Got it in by doing a slow arc so I could just see it in the drivers side mirror. Half of the issues involved husbands that sat in the circling boat and sent the wife up to handle the rig and trailer.

My dad launched his fishing boat once with the plug still in the glove box of the truck...lol.
I have 2 drain plugs. One cabled to the boat at the plug hole. And a spare in my tackle box.

Twice I've seen guys forget to pull the bow mounted trolling motor up and then power load the boat on the trailer. Tears hell out of the trolling motor!

Did that once with my drift boat and completed a 13 day trip before noticing. Fortunately, the rear end is about 5 inches above the water line. Did not pick up on it until I was trailering up and saw the rear end filling.

Fun watching the cluster and seeing someone that really knows what he is doing run a trailer right down past the idiots, loaded and gone before they even finish scratching their asses.

Launched out of Valdez a couple of times. So many people lined up to launch you only have one go at it. If you are taking too long they send you to the end of the line. Glad I can just tie my skiff off to my house now.

Launch at Whittier sometime... they always pick the most clueless idiot in town to work the cluster...

Back in the 70's Ranger had a straight lace 16ft bass boat hull. I believe they called it their DTR10 hull. It was rated for 115hp but some of the guys were putting 150hp Merc's on them but using the 115hp cowling. To say they would fly would be an under statement. We had a man and his wife fishing our club's open tournament on Lake Travis that had such a boat. Well, to make a long story short, at the end of the day the man backed the trailer down and his wife started to put the boat on the drive on trailer. She didn't give it enough gas so he said, give it some gas and she did but still not enough so he hollered back at her again, give it some damn gas and her being frustrated from him hollering at her, floored the control all the way forward. Well, that 150hp Merc put the nose of that boat thru the back window of the camper that was on the truck.Took seven grown men and another boat pulling in the opposite direction to get it flat on the trailer. Winch post destroyed, lots of gel coat damage and the old man was madder than a Jap but after looking at her...he didn't say a word. I have others...like the guy who backed his truck down and forgot to put it in park, jumped out to get in the boat and he had trouble catching it. When he did finally catch it the only thing visible on that Chevrolet truck was the windshield and roof. I'll never forget that truck gurgling coming out of the water w/water pouring out of every crack and crevice on that vehicle. Spend 40years on the water and you'll see some strange things. powdr

I watch a black Chevy truck do the same fish impressions. It wasn't very good, but it was funny to watch.

Had a local kid who took Dad's new pickup out on the ice from the boat ramp. Thought it was the coolest thing ever, to go spinning across the ice. Until he hit a shot spot and the truck went through the ice. Kid got out ok, but the truck had to wait for a thaw to get winched out. If I recall correctly, dad was a cop and not pleased with junior.

A few years ago a guy got off the ferry in Whittier and drove off the boat onto the dock then made a right turn down the boat ramp and straight into the ocean. Claims his GPS sent him there.

USAF jet jock...

Sitka: I was there that day. Florida plates. The cat did not make it.

I watched my friend begin to pull his 29 ft bayliner up the launch ramp. He couldn't winch it up far enough to to attach the safety chain. The boat trailer an easy loader with rollers. As he began the move up the ramp, the pressure on the old winch rope caused it to break. The boat rolled backwards with a great deal of speed and launched! It had some hang time as it flew to the water. His girl friend was in the boat and she lost her balance and screamed. The boat never touched the ramp and suffered no hull damage what so ever! What an amazing sight.

Lucky guy!

Boat ramps can be the best free entertainment there is.
We used to take lawn chairs and a cooler and go sit at the Homer boat launch on Memorial day weekend.. Damn, I wish I had taken video of some of the stuff I saw. Boats falling off the trailer, people who can't back a trailer, the ones who would back halfway down the ramp and then load a months worth of food and camping gear into their boat, the one who backed their large boat's outdrive thru the grill of the ford Explorer. And the list goes on and on.

Several years ago a friend finished a day on the lake with us, trailered his 23' Bayliner, and headed home. At a red light in a town about 10 miles south of here, he took off, and dropped his boat in the middle of the intersection.
He can laugh about it today.

Black Point Marina, in south Dade Co. FL can be an especially entertaining location, particular on the opening day of Lobster mini-season..................

I was sitting on the dock waiting on my 'ride' when up comes a station wagon with boat in tow.

'Dad' backs her down into the water, starts pushing on the boat..... nothing, not budging, calls up 'mom' and the gang of young-ens, everyone's a pushing, still nothing......

lots of pushing, hollering in a foreign tongue........... nothing.

I offer a suggestion........ 'UNDO the bow safety strap' !?!?!?

Boat slid off the trailer without a push, all the way to the other side of the canal.............. no one on board..............


Another, on I95 in GA, and not a the boat ramp.....

Came up on a pickup, pulling about a 14" jonboat............. boat was 'flying' above the trailer a couple of feet..................

Jonboats are actually pretty stable as a kite............. just takes about a 65mph wind!

Yup, you never know what you might see at a boat ramp!!