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Posts: 585
Location: Gaithersburg, Maryland | Until this year, I kept my boat at the lake for seven years. This year, I decided to trailer my boat. Here are some of the things that have happened to me:
Of course I found out quickly that the trailer goes in the opposite direction that you think it will go when backing. I've finally got the knack of backing and turning the trailer in the direction I want it to go. Takes practice. Here's some other problems I've run into:
Couldn't see the boat in back of my truck backing it in. Was a real problem, especially in the dark (area not lighted). Solved it by adding 48" pvc guide-ons. Also got a "redneck flashlight" (zillion power spotlight) to illuminate it in the dark.
When I first started unloading from the trailer, I was real proud whe I quickly backed the boat in. I parked the trailer and came back to discover that the bottom of the boat was quickly filling up with water. Left the plug out!! Luckily I got the boat and and drained before it sank. Never faced this problem when I kept the boat at the lake because I never took the plug out.
Backed the boat up and couldn't figure out why the boat didn't come off the trailer. Forgot to unhook the front strap!!! Makes you feel real dumb!!
Here's the best one of all: Prior to launching my boat for the first time, I watched others do it and made a check list to follow. It goes like this: (this is what I do when I'm alone)
Unhook all of the tie-downs (except the front one) prior to approaching the ramp.
Back the boat to the ramp (hopefully straight). Stop just before the trailer wheels hit the water. I then unhook the final tie-down at the front.
Tie a rope (actually a hook is attached to the rope which quickly snaps onto the front of the boat) to the front of the boat with the other end tied to the dock (if present) or to the front of the trailer.
Back the boat up until it comes (floats, hopefully) off of the trailer. At this point, it is held by the rope attached to the trailer or dock. If attached to the trailer I will then tie the boat to something (usually a dock post).
I then pull the trailer out of the water & park the truck.
Yesterday, I followed all of the steps and was really proud of myself as the boat quickly & smoothly came off of the trailer. However, all of a sudden I realized that the boat had come off the trailer and didn't stop when the rope tightened up!! It just went out onto the lake and never stopped going until it was about 100 yards offshore!!! The rope hook broke and the boat just kept on going. Luckily (know one I knew was around to see this), the wind blew my boat to the other side of the lake and I was able to retrieve it. A lot of strangers were around giving me a funny look!!! Really embarrasing!
I"ve seen others crash their trailered boats into the dock, get their trucks submerged (went off the end of the ramp), and some people launch boats into the lake that looked like cabin cruisers (the lake is 505 acres and electric only). Of course theirs also the guy that launches his gas powered boat and takes off at 40 mph only to find out it's an electric-only lake. We also had a sailboat overturn at the ramp area with the mast stuck in the mud!! Took several (paid) divers to cut the mast and right the boat!
After seeing these things (and doing some of them myself), I feel lucky I even have a boat at all!!!
Wondering what crazy things have happened to some of you guys or what you've seen?
Edited by muskiekid 10/22/2003 9:16 PM
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Posts: 20281
Location: oswego, il | Kid, does this lake have a boat rental? It may be a better option for you.;-) Your a shoe in to get a CDL license in illinois. | |
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Posts: 366
| I've taken part in all the classic blunders in my boating infancy. My favorite two are:
One time I had just driven my boat up onto the trailer hooked up the front strap, then I jumped into my truck and started pulling it out. After a few feet there was this horrible grinding that I could feel through the whole truck. Immediately I jumped out thinking I had just plowed a trough in the concrete with the skeg, but the motor was up. I looked over everything I could think that could be responsible with no answers. I climbed back behind the wheel assuming it was a fluke only to be irritated by the grinding once again. This time I actually went around to the other side of the truck and found my rope that was tied to the front right cleat of the boat was dragging under the trailer tire. It had obviously shredded the rope. I still can't beleive the vibration that created. Unless I had seen it, I would have never believed where it came from.
The second experience was completely my fault. I have a bunk trailer and have experienced trouble lauching on shallow ramps. After contemplating how to alleviate this problem someone suggested that I spray pledge on the carpeted bunks sometime when the boat is off. Well I used about an entire can thinking the more the merrier. A couple weeks later I head to the lake with my wife, then my girlfriend. My launching process was always to unhook the boat completely then back it in while she held the rope on the dock. I had completely forgoten about the pledge and my boat would previously never even budge without floating it off. So I start backing it down when all of the sudden it starts sliding. Instinctively I hit the brakes, absoultely the WRONG thing to do. It goes flying off and ends up flipping up once the center of gravity got past the end of the trailer. After the huge splash I jump out panicing. Luckily I had the motor trimmed all the way up and it had enough water under it to float it. My wife is standing there holding the rope with her jaw resting on the dock. It had happened so fast that she couldn't even say anything. I thought for sure that the hull was split in two, so I immediatly grab the rope and pull it back onto the trailer and crank it up. Much to my suprise I had one relativly small scratch on the bottom of the transom. That was the most terrifying thing I've ever had to watch.
Ryan
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Posts: 585
Location: Gaithersburg, Maryland | Seems that I'm not alone. Boat rental? No way - I would then have to carry my batteries....Practice makes purrrrrrrrfect!!! | |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | I was waiting to launch once when I see these two guys with a relic of a old beat up 1960's boat and a brand new s10 blazer with the temporary sticker in the window. They are struggling to try and get the boat on the trailer...Couldn't get it on straight to save there souls.. Finally they say screw it, get it part way on, pull it out and then winch it the rest of the way... Well the trailer was about as old as the boat. It had one of those screw down hitch coupler instead of the the type more common now. So they pull the boat out of the water and the skag is dragging bad...Most of the serious weight of the boat is in the back not on the bunks. Hitch coupler gives out..tilt and trim on the boat gives out simultaneously..nose of the trailer shoots into the air... Guy behind the wheel of his brand spanking new blazer does the one thing that no-one in this situation should do....SLAMS the brakes on!!!! Nose of the trailer left a dent the size of a sewer cap on the tailgate..... Anyone who denies leaving the drain plug out at least once either doesn't trailer a boat or is lying..lol.. Only way I know how to christen each boat I buy...lol... Cold water and trailer lights are always a good combo..especially when you leave the spare bulbs at home... | |
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| lol.
this past weekend up on l.vermillion we were trailing my buddy's boat with my truck. this was the first time he'd ever trailered a boat...so it's set to go and i tell him, "make sure you grab the rope so the boat doesn't float away." so...after i back the trailer in, he gives the boat a shove to get it off the trailer and i hear, "Oooohhhharrrghh..." and then a big splash. i hop out to see him wading after the boat up to his thighs in the 45-50 degree water. he gets the boat, climbs out, and says, "when you said, 'grab the rope' you meant to actually grab the rope, huh?"
yeah, grab the rope.
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Posts: 585
Location: Gaithersburg, Maryland | Sounds like I'm in good company. | |
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Posts: 1137
Location: Holly, MI | Ryan, thanks for the pledge story, it was awesome. We can visualize the entire scene and feel your pain the moment it went sailing.
We watched a father and young son trying to pull a boat out at Hudson while we waited for the ramp. The dad backed the truck up and hit the dock with the trailer. When he finally got it straight he jumped in the boat and tried to power load it but went Way crooked. He figured he could straighten it out on land I guess (aluminum rowboat)so he pulls foreward and starts spinning the rear tires like crazy. I thought the dock was going to blow up, he had tied the boat with a rope to the 4x4 post on the dock and forgot to unhook it. Then when he finally pulled it all the way out of the water, the boat was on so crooked that it dropped and hit one back corner on the cement. We had tears rolling down our face by this time. If he had only left the motor down to scrape the skeg.
Ditto on the "everyone has left the plug out at least once" theory. I did it in my dads old starcraft that we swiped to go waterskiing. Didn't realize it until we noticed the boat was listing hard and turning very sluggish. The floor was so far above the bottom of the boat that we didn't see any water. Must have had a couple hundred gallons in her. Got the plug in on the water and relaxed for quite a while as it bilged.
Good stories, keep 'em comming. Fess up you guys. | |
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Posts: 1462
Location: Davenport, IA | I've done my (and a few other people's) share of stupid things with loading and unloading the boat 1. forgot the plug-I got in the boat and i was standing in the lake on teh back deck (it was so heavy fromt he water) I have no bilge pump so i had to hurry up and back the trailor back into the lake. 2. Falling in the lake- The boat wouldn't go on the trailor straight. I was pushing from the dock and fell in head first 3. lose the boat-rope brok and it floated away 4. almost broke trailor-the winch hook got caught on a piece of metal that was on part of the boat launch for extra traction (think like the road on some bridges) and I heard an awful noise and really bent the trailor part that holds the winch. | |
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Posts: 129
Location: Bemidji, MN- | Several of the above, plus I hooked my boat up to the safety snap instead of the main line snap and had the main line snap wedged tightly in the winch mechanism before I figured out why it was cranking so hard. Ah, the joys of trailering! | |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | I'm outing with two other MuskieFirsters. We back the boat trailer into the water and while he and our buddy get in the boat I offer to park his truck and trailer. They meet me at the dock and away we go. As we're riding, I'm in the passenger seat staring at the console and I see a "boat safety checklist" sticker on the dash. "Oh, I haven't used that in years," says he, so I start reading:
1. Insert drain plug
2. Undo straps and ...I hear a gurgling sound coming from the driver. Was it something I said? Yup! Back to the dock to trailer the boat and watch for a looong time while the water drains. Then, back to fishing. Actually, one of our better days.
Of course, I'd never... oh, forget it. Me, too. m | |
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Posts: 246
Location: Jamestown, Pa. | Among the many things I have done in my life, "ditching " my boat is not one of them. Not to say, however, that it 's never been ditched. It wasn't me who did it. I drove semi over the road for three years and got tired of it , but I do have experience backing a trailer. This year my lead painter, Jason, ( not good at driving a stick shift I found out) winched the old tub the rest of the way up the trailer to the stop ( after I drove on). He left the crank in nuetral than got in the truck and stalled trying to pull out. I hollered to give it some gas which he did( like trying to fly) and "dumped" the clutch . The boat started to slide back off the trailer while he proceeded to drive off. After yelling at the top of my lungs, while trying my darndest to keep my glass boat on the trailer fruitlessly, he stopped. The boat was half off and resting on the lower unit on the ramp. We managed to get the weight off the lower unit enough to back the boat back into the water to reload. This time he cranked the cable down through the winch gear and when we got it back out the cable was all but severed. We finally got loaded and tied down and got home. Next morning I checked the motor out and very luckily it was undamaged. This motor is a 1989 and it is still new as it has never hit the 100 hour mark yet. I would rather replace the "old tub"than the motor. Jason is learning how to drive stick now.
Want to trade Kid? I'll send him to you for a while.  | |
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Posts: 148
Location: DES MOINES, IOWA | I am trying to figure out why I always have something to add to these posts that refer to something stupid you did on the lake.I am starting to worry.First time I was going to take my new Skeeter out, I plugged the aerator hole in the dark garage, and ended up on the lake, stopped , having cocktails, when son,s girlfriend noticed water coming thru floor boards. We were 1/2 sunk before, I knew it. Figuring plug had come out, and knowing water would suck out the whole, if I could get it on plane, I was able to accomplish this only because I have a horse of a motor. If I would have had anything less than a 150, it never would have made it.Son was able to plug from the inside, while I ran around the lake keeping it dry. One of my other sons borrowed my Skeeter for a father, and son bass tournament.Because my grandson was only 8 he has someone back him in, while he tries to get the boat off the trailer.But since he forgot to untie back tiedowns, this becomes impossible, and everyone sees him keep gunning the motor, and going nowhere, with all of these boats waiting to launch.He was still embarrassed telling me the story later that evening. | |
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Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | I just know that by replying to this post that I'm tempting fate,the gods,murphy's law,or the powers that be, but I have NEVER EVER left the drain plug out. I have a little black plastic screw on cover over the access hatch to the bilge, whenever I take the drain plug out I leave that cover off of the bilge access. When I see that the cover isn't in place I know that the drain plug is out. Works for me!
So much for the theory of "everyone has left the drain plug out." | |
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Posts: 148
Location: DES MOINES, IOWA | This isn,t exactly a backing a boat story, but a pulling your boat out of the water story.This one didn,t happen to me, but I was there,so maybe it rubbed off on someone else. At C & C,S boat ramp in Nestor Falls you have two ways to pull your boat out of the water. Straight ahead takes you onto a flat road, or hang a left, and go up a real steep incline to the resort. As my son, and myself are standing on the top of the incline, we see theses guys pulling up one of those old, heavy fiberglass 21/22 footers up the incline, instead of going straight.As soon as the truck reached the top of the incline, and leveled off putting all the stress on the ball hitch, all hell broke loose, weight of boat snaps everything; boat hitch/safety chains.Now, the boat is heading down the asphalt hill at an allarming amount of speed, and heading dead on towards the resorts large gas storage tank.Luckily, I didn,t have to find out what would have happened on that collision, because when the boat went off the asphalt into sand, it did a hard right into a guys brand new pickup truck.Not good for the truck, but good for the resort. When we went down to check it out, we find out the truck pulling the boat, and the truck hit were both from Ohio, and lived less than 50 miles from each other.Here,s additional info on the people pulling the boat. Boat was full of water up to the floor boards. Guy walks over after, and pulls plug, and water gushed out of the boat for 20 minutes.He then says, I guess we should have pulled the plug before. Dah,no doubt Sherlock, how much weight do you think that boat was carrying extra up the hill? Then I looked at the safety chains, and they were rusted chains the size you would use as a collar on a small poodle.These guys were an accident looking for a place to happen, and luckily they didn,t kill anyone. | |
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Posts: 1120
Location: West Chester, OH | Not precisely a “backing mishap” either.
Backing the trailer to the water, after July 4th fireworks display on the Eagle Chain, when I hear the lovely Mrs. c screaming hysterically for me. The old red boat has Houdini-ed the bow line as she lead it around the courtesy dock & is drifting gently into the dark.
She orders me, in no uncertain terms: “Go get that boat!” She’s upset because the boat escaped from her & mad because I’m not reacting quickly. I’m trying to ramp up my problem solving skills, when she yells “Don’t stand there thinking about it, JUST JUMP!!”
W/o any hesitation, I launch myself off the dock – fully clothed w/jacket - far enough that it only takes a couple of awkward strokes to corral the boat. A small group of walkers stops to watch in silent amazement. We trailer the boat but now she will not allow me into our week-old pick-up truck.
I ride in the open bed while we “negotiate” through the rear slider. She finally agrees to let me in if I strip down to my Hanes.
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Posts: 148
Location: DES MOINES, IOWA | I would have told her, she dropped the line, she could wade out, and get it.Of course, thats probably one of the reasons I have been divorced twice.So, any advice I ever give on this type of a subject, take the opposite view point, and you will do well. | |
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Backing my boat up - crazy things that have happened!