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Since there's no discussion area for dumb mistakes, I'll post it here. A week ago I hooked up the 5th wheel camper and the whaler behind my pick-up. The wagon train was in the driveway and ready to go. The 2" ball that I have doesn't match up very well with my hitch. I have to lift just a bit before latching the hitch. Well, we were loaded and pulling out to leave home. I saw in the mirror as the camper came down the curb and bumped that the boat lurched in an odd way. I didn't realize it right away but the trailer had jumped off the ball. When I straighted out I couldn't see the boat behind the camper. That's not a comfort when traveling. I heard a scraping noise and realized what had happened. I hac lifted too high when latching and lifted the hitch completely off the ball. The safety chain did its job and no damage was done.
I've been boating since about 1956. Not driving or towing but around it since then. It was just a careless mistake and fortunately no harm or damage was done. I feel very fortunate for that. After hooking up properly, we left and had a nice weekend of camping, fishing, and boating.
I just wanted to pass this on to reaffirm that we can never be too careful, no matter how long we've been doing this.
Mike

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Glad it worked out for you Mike. Imagine if it would have jumped the hitch while on the highway? Hmmm.

Goes to show you that no matter how much experience we have in life, we can never be to confidant nor can we ever stop learning lessons.

Thanks for sharing.

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Moose, Dont beat yourself up, its an EZ thing to overlook when you have 200 other thing on your mind. It seems that I always forget something when I'm pulling my boat. How many of you out in whaler Central-Land put a bolt or something through the lock down on the trailer hitch so It wont pop off? What do most of you use?

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nobody got hurt
no damage
you win !
mw

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Speaking of stupid mistakes. I made 3 in the last few days. I`m in the process of rigging my new 4 stroke Merc 25 on my 13 footer. I found I had to make a lot of changes in the boat to make everything work, and I`ve been putting in long hours, which I think made me careless. Firstoff, I was fabricating an aluminum bracket so I can use the cable and pulley steering, sort of a blend of the old and the new. I was almost finished cutting out the aluminum part on my chop saw, and got careless, didn`t clamp the piece, tried to hold it with my hand, the piece moved, jambed in the blade, hung up, broke the cast aluminum fence and totaled the saw. I still have all my fingers though, just by good luck.:o:o Was pretty scary though, after spending many years as a carpenter, and using saws, every day, that was my first close call.
After that, the manual for the motor, said the crankcase hold two quarts of oil. So I dumped the 2 qts in pulled the dipstick and the oil geysered out. What the--?, big mess. back to the directions now I see its already partially filled. Ok, so now I have to drain it. This afternoon, I was going to hook the battery to it, to see if it would crank. How many times have I done this simple job, This time I reversed the wires, I saw a spark, and I blew the main fuse.:o Back to the directions. At least now I know where the main fuse is though. LOL. Hope to get it running tomorrow, Think I`ll check the oil in the gearcase first though.

rich

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Rich,
Please, go take a nap!
Mike

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I'm glad that I'm not alone. I left my drain plugs out when I launched a couple of weeks ago. First time that I have ever done that. Thinking of the fish before I hit the water. No harm done and lesson learned are the best lessons.

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Ed,

I put a Master lock through the lock down on the hitch when I'm towing or when it's off the hitch. The Master lock set that I bought had one for the hitch too and they are keyed alike. http://www.etrailer.com/c-L.htmom/c-L.htm #3774DAT.

Jack

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Hey Moose,
Glad to hear it all worked out. I'm surprised it's legal to tow 2 rigs. I'm sure some states probably won't allow it. Is there any way you can mount a mirror on the back of the trailer so you can see the boat just for peace of mind?

Steve

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moose,

Glad nothing major happened.

Here's a story for you.
My buddy was driving down the freeway at 55 mph towing his boat when he noticed in his side view mirror that someone was passing him on the right side. He looked again and saw what looked like a boat. He told his wife, look, a boat is passing us on the right.
Well, he took a closer look.... It was his boat...........
He slowly edged his truck over to slow the boat down. The front of the boat hit his mirror and he slowly moved the truck and boat over to the side of the road where it stopped safely on the shoulder.
Nothing was damaged on the boat other than some scraping on the bottom skid of the trailer.
The only thing that happened to the truck was that the mirror was bent.
He was really lucky......

So, the moral of the story is, the next time you see a boat passing you, make sure it isn't yours......... B)

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That's a funny story! I'm glad it worked out like it did.
Mike

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I`m having a hard time imagineing that tale. LOL

rich

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Binkie,

Like you, I am having a hard time imagining my boat passing me on the highway. Though it seems funny when I think about it, I wouldn't want to be that guys who's boat is speeding by him on the road.

Great stuff.

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Steve,
I don't know if a mirror would work. It's a bit far back for one of those round back-up types. I looked into a camera and remote monitor in the cab. The reasonably priced ones are for back-up use and not continuous use. I might opt for one of those and turn it one every few miles to check. Or I could get my wife to ride in the camper looking out the back window. She could call me on the cell phone if anything happened!B)
Mike

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My favorites:

How about having your boat in a slip an hour from your house, driving all the way there to fish and discovering you forgot the key! You just want to punch something. There is absolutely nothing you can do. OK, so that doesn't happen again. Drive down to the boat, an hour away, and find that you don't have the key to the boathouse where all the tackle is stored.

I too have turned my boat into a floating livewell by launching without the plugs. My brothers now affectionately refer to that boat as the "SS 2Plugs." It's nice to have brothers! Every damn time we go fishing, you can bet at least one family member finds a way to make reference to the 2Plugs.

How about this: Put a brand new Honda 225 on your Grady White 209. You need to run it through a break in. OK, launch at the north end of Seneca Lake and run at varying speeds the 22 miles to the south end at Watkin's Glen. At the marina there, you pull up and help yourself to fuel. The attendant comes out after some time passes and you have just about filled your 84 gallon tank and points out to you that you just filled your boat with diesel fuel. There you are in 100 degree heat, not a breath of breeze blowing, a 22 thousand dollar motor with two hours on it mounted on a boat full of what would most likely invalidate your warranty. OK, out comes the boat, we got 2 55 gallon drums and after rigging up a pressure hose to the fuel vent hose, blowing 80 gallons of diesel fuel into these tanks. 2 hours later in the blinding heat, we splash the boat again, fill it with gasoline, pay for that tank, pay for the tank of diesel, and pay the marina owner a fee to safely dispose of the contaminated diesel according to EPA regs, and a cool 500 bucks later, complete the break in run on the motor.

Thanks for telling your tales. Who are we to judge. I share your pain brother. *#@% happens!

Grady:@

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WOW!!! That was a good one...