studlymandingo
Commander
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2006
- Messages
- 2,716
This was a new one for me. I was going to my local boat ramp yesterday evening which is 3 blocks from my house, rarely do I get over 15 MPH the whole way there. As I was turning into the park at the ramp...WHAM!!! I am rear-ended in my boat!!!!
Pretty good jolt too!
I pulled on into the park to assess the damage and the car that hit me pulled in behind. There was no visible damage to my boat, it was pushed about a foot and a half forward and the bow was run way up on the roller. The motor was down as I have high bunks that allow me to run with the motor down. The skeg was against the rear roller on the trailer, but the hydraulics worked fine. The guy who hit me was driving a new Dodge Magnum, which now has a hole in the front bumper which matches my A/V plate!
My trailer lights work perfectly, the guys said they were "hollering at a buddy on the other side of the street" and didn't see me coming to a halt. I was pissed, but thankful I didn't have any damage. When I said I wouldn't call the police the guys were hugging me, a little wierd! I readied to launch, and there were some guys coming in on a big pontoon boat that was pretty new. They were having a hard time loading as noone wanted to get their new sneakers wet! The other ramp at the launch is really crappy at low-tide due to all of the power loading that has taken place there, so I was waiting for this ramp to open up. Finally, after literally 15 minutes, I got out of my truck and offered to help. I then proceeded to load their boat while they watched. I had the driver pull the trailer forward as they had the trailer COMPLETELY under water; the guy said "you can't load that heavy boat out of the water"; I replied that I at least needed to be able to see the trailer, and I explained that all the rollers on the trailer were to allow it to come up on the trailer. He reluctantly pulled the trailer forward, I attached the winch to the boat and easily winched it up on the trailer as I stood ankle-deep in the water wearing my "boating flip-flops". Once the trailer was where it needed to be, the whole process took less than 2 minutes. I explained what I was doing the whole time so hopefully the next trip out they will be able to retrieve a little quicker.
Once I was on the water, I was relieved to find that everything was allright with my boat after being run into.
After all the drama, I was treated to a beautiful sunset over the Gulf of Mexico!
Pretty good jolt too!I pulled on into the park to assess the damage and the car that hit me pulled in behind. There was no visible damage to my boat, it was pushed about a foot and a half forward and the bow was run way up on the roller. The motor was down as I have high bunks that allow me to run with the motor down. The skeg was against the rear roller on the trailer, but the hydraulics worked fine. The guy who hit me was driving a new Dodge Magnum, which now has a hole in the front bumper which matches my A/V plate!
My trailer lights work perfectly, the guys said they were "hollering at a buddy on the other side of the street" and didn't see me coming to a halt. I was pissed, but thankful I didn't have any damage. When I said I wouldn't call the police the guys were hugging me, a little wierd! I readied to launch, and there were some guys coming in on a big pontoon boat that was pretty new. They were having a hard time loading as noone wanted to get their new sneakers wet! The other ramp at the launch is really crappy at low-tide due to all of the power loading that has taken place there, so I was waiting for this ramp to open up. Finally, after literally 15 minutes, I got out of my truck and offered to help. I then proceeded to load their boat while they watched. I had the driver pull the trailer forward as they had the trailer COMPLETELY under water; the guy said "you can't load that heavy boat out of the water"; I replied that I at least needed to be able to see the trailer, and I explained that all the rollers on the trailer were to allow it to come up on the trailer. He reluctantly pulled the trailer forward, I attached the winch to the boat and easily winched it up on the trailer as I stood ankle-deep in the water wearing my "boating flip-flops". Once the trailer was where it needed to be, the whole process took less than 2 minutes. I explained what I was doing the whole time so hopefully the next trip out they will be able to retrieve a little quicker.
Once I was on the water, I was relieved to find that everything was allright with my boat after being run into.
After all the drama, I was treated to a beautiful sunset over the Gulf of Mexico!
