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After reading Spuds thread about Too Much Help, it brought back memories of a bad experience where I almost thought I lost my 1 year old 130 on a boat ramp. I never wrote about it because it was too embarrassing and I looked as though I had never launched or retrieved a boat before although I have been trailering boats for years At the time I was casted from my shoulder to knuckles from surgery and only had use of one arm. The reason for writing about it is just to reiterate the importance of concentration when launching.

I was returning from a long day on water water at a new ramp when a sudden thunderstorm rolled in and people were scrambling at ramp to get out of thunder and lightning. When it was my turn I pulled boat in trailer and hitched it up and pulled out. After getting off ramp, I looked at boat and realized it was not sitting properly. It was a complete downpour and boat was getting filled with water so I took drain plug out and put on one tie down strap while lightning intensified. I hopped back into truck at insistence of wife and kids as to not get killed.

About 10 minutes later, lightning stopped but ramp was packed. I asked permission at marina next store to use ramp to realign boat. I backed boat down ramp and into water. By force of habit I undid strap to let boat off trailer and Next thing I knew boat was filling with water and because I had failed to replace drain plug. I finally was able to get drain plug in while standing in 4.5 feet of water with arm being held out of water. Next thing I realize is boat is sitting perpendicular to trailer because I undid trailer strap. But now boat will not move because I had failed to take off one tie down strap. At this point, wife jump in drivers seat yelling at me to not get my cast wet and starts asking if I want her to pull trailer out and I am yelling at top of my lungs "NO" because I have visions of boat being dragged out of water by one tie down strap up onto a concrete ramp. Well to wrap it up, I ended up underwater, cast and all, was able to undo the one tie down strap and drag boat onto trailer.

After that incident I have a family rule regarding launching and retrieving. The family remains silent unless spoken to. I checked Youtube frequently several months after that under "morons and boats" boat ramp mishaps, etc and thankfully never saw myself

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It happens. I launched a boat once. parked the truck. When i returned to the old boat my brother asked about the water on the floor. This was not a whaler!!! I fired her off and run it up the river to drain the water then got the plug in. It happens.

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I like the silent family rule. Ramps around us are usually packed so we have time to go over procedure before we pull in or out. Everyone has a job. We have 4 kids so its a lot of jobs. It is very stressful. There is potentially a lot at stake if something goes wrong mechanically or more importantly if someone gets hurt. I am always surprised on those videos that the cameramen don't offer assistance. Glad to hear you made it out all right.

I had many a day of my dad yelling at me as I tried to drive a boat back onto a trailer in current and wind and others waiting.

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Glad to hear of others' launching mishaps. About 17 years back I was launching my 13ft Super Sport Limited alone and after several months gap. Everything went smoothly and as I parked the truck I congratulated myself on a flawless launch only to discover the boat filling up with water since I had forgotten the drain plug. Leaping onto the stern platform only made things worse until I had no choice but to dive into the lake to insert the plug from the outside. By then I had destroyed a camera, lost my picnic lunch and had the lake permit bleed red all over my clothes. Saved the boat and learned a huge lesson.

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All these stories make me feel normal.
My first launch last fall after 35 years was a flawless Skit for Saturday Night Live. In fact the single mother with her two small children, enjoyed it immensely.
I backed the boat into the water, completely forgetting the rope to keep control of the boat, but left the strap connected and freewheeling. The launch was picture perfect, except now the boat was 20 feet away and the strap connected. So my only option was crank it back onto the trailer, tie on a rope and repeat the launch. except now the rope was loosely tied to the dock, so after launch I had to run out to the dock and grab the departing line just before it went in the lake. Even the 2 year old was laughing. Thank goodness the ramp was deserted, except for the 3 witness's.

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Years ago my wife (fishing buddy) and I created check lists and laminated them. There are three, (1) before leaving house, (2) before launch and (3) before leaving ramp for home. My wife reads each item out and I confirm (or do if not done). Simple things like plugs in, tie down straps off, trailer lights checked, etc. It is simple and works. My wife drives the boat off/on the trailer and everything is done by arm/hand signals (such as she has to see BOTH of my hands in the air before starting/stopping engine, backing off trailer). It is funny to watch the dropped jaws of the kids as these two old coggers perfectly get the boat off/on the trailer in complete silence.

That being said. If I could now learn to navigate the dock afoot in grace. Twice I've fallen (the dock has a step down whcih I like to trip on) and once I did the splits as one foot stayed on the dock and the other on the boat as it drifted back. Needless to say I ended up in the drink with a great loss of dignity. Nope, no personal possessions (i.e. wallet)) were damaged, putting them in the dry bag is on check list 2.

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I've personally seen Bob and his wife in action and he is telling the truth. Lol

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I once backed down a double ramp. the fellow beside me kindly asked if I could give his boat a jump start. He said he had cables. I told him I would be glad to as soon as I got off my trailer I would pull up beside him. He said thank you. I then suggested that while I was getting off my trailer that he pull forward and remove the transom straps from his boat. He was a quite embarrassed to say the least.

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Honestly, it is great hearing these stories; will definitely make me feel more relaxed next time at the ramp knowing "things happen" to everyone no matter their experience.

Moral of the story, "take your time! Be patient and confident!." It is pretty easy to get ahead of yourself and have the anxiety increase when others are present.

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Okay, I'll 'fess up. The first time I had been in salt water, I pulled the 25' Revenge with twin 200's (not a light load), from Ky. to West Palm Beach in Florida. I had just traded a 4 wheel drive Chevy truck for a Suburban 3/4 ton, with 454 Chattanooga Choo Choo custom. A friend convinced me not to buy the 4 wheel Dr. The very first time I pulled the boat out on the wet ramp I did nothing but spin tires. A good samaritan could see my plight, unhooked his boat, backed down and put a sling on my tow hooks and pulled me right out. He was in a very old Ford pick-up. Came back to Ky. and traded that anchor.

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I've done the plug out thing. Embarassing and wet, but not fatal, at least not in a Whaler.

I arrived at the ramp last spring to find someone ahead of me launching a really big sailboat, around 28 feet, behind a minivan. This particular ramp is fairly shallow, and they had the back half of the van in the (salt) water as they tried to push the boat off the bunks. Figuring it was stuck on the bunks, my crew and I jumped out and pushed, and pushed, and pushed, and some other people waiting helped too. Finally, someone chimed in with "it feels like it's still tied on" and the owner went around the stern to find that while he had removed the transom straps, he had not removed the safety line he had around the kicker. I'm actually surprised we didn't rip it right off the transom with the number of people pushing.

Stuff happens. I'm just glad I wasn't there in the fall to see them trying to pull that monster with the minivan - doubt that went well.

Tim

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Every time I go to the ramp, I tell myself "don't hurry, just relax and do it with no drama"...when I'm doing things solo, that is often (not always!) the result...but when you introduce new people into the mix, it can get crazy - and of course, there's the difficulty of a crowded ramp and the resulting stresses.

I'm living in Alabama now, and making the difficult adjustment to ramps that don't have a courtesy dock alongside the ramp. That has resulted in a few interesting moments last summer and so far this year. It's amazing - throw off your normal rhythm/cadence and everything goes to hell.

The most recent example: two weeks ago, my brother and I yanked his boat with the engine dragging on the pavement. He was pissed, I was frustrated and folks at the ramp seemed amused. Fortunately they make touch-up paint, and a 40 year old outboard's skeg is pretty easy to look good compared to a brand new one!