My first attempt and mistakes!

[deerhound]

I was logged in before as Lurcher but site was down and had to change, so after all the help and advise I finally managed to launch and have a go! boat is 15ft Dateline with 40hp Evinrude, went to slip myself about 2 hours before high tide, had to wait over 1 hr untill 5 people tried to recover a fishing type boat, the boat had wrong trailer and no winch! anyway the slip is very shallow angle, I reversed untill ball hitch was just in water, stood on trailer and pushed boat off (after attaching rope to bow ) I have no PTT and launched with engine down so boat went straight onto skeg and wouldn't shift after some lifting and pushing it floated, my rear roller was badly seized and I changed it next as had all the others, pulled boat round to side of slip where it's about 5ft deep, reached in turned key and it fired up straight away, paddled out away from wall and headed down river towards open sea, imagine my surprise and excitement when she motored away stern down but not to bad, as soon as I moved OMC control lever slightest distance I felt the push in my back, I went outside speed limit into open water and manuvered side to side to get feel and then opened up a bit, in an instant the boat just skidded along over water with no effort in what appeared to me to be flat instead of high bow in air as I see some, the push on near wide open throttle was quite scarry, my GPS was showing 37MPH, I have read lots of info on getting over the hump etc and planning but I never noticed any problem, she planned very easy just above low throttle, hull shape is wide shallow, with reversed chines, very steep rise at bow and almost flat underneath, this was maybe reason? after some 40 minutes there was a thump like going onto 1 cylinder, headed back to slip, and started to boat back on trailer, I had to take trailer off car and I was over waist deep putting it on trailer, but when I tried to hold trailer with boat on it ran down slip, had to get a long rope about 20ft to car to hold boat but then I couldn't lift engine onto tilt as water was to deep to get my arms down to skeg or prop, after getting soaked, cutting my left hand and splitting my knee open, I finally pulled it slowly up slip and had to tie it to ring on ground before hitching to car, throughly exhausted I'm desperate to get back out, I waited for all the help that was promised but went alone.many thanks everyone for now, JBD

 

[deerhound]

Re: My first attempt and mistakes!

Sorry forgot to add that on arriving home I removed hood and top plug lead was off, this was another of my mistakes as I had put silicone grease inside rubber lead which caused it to slip off, now I will have to replace them or try degrease them JBD

 

[Ilikesalmon]

Re: My first attempt and mistakes!

Glad to see that I am not the only one that enjoys boating "the hard way"!! 8)

 

[jaymasta]

Re: My first attempt and mistakes!

I had to take trailer off car and I was over waist deep putting it on trailer, but when I tried to hold trailer with boat on it ran down slip, had to get a long rope about 20ft to car to hold boat but then I couldn't lift engine onto tilt as water was to deep to get my arms down to skeg or prop, after getting soaked, cutting my left hand and splitting my knee open, I finally pulled it slowly up slip and had to tie it to ring on ground before hitching to car, throughly exhausted I'm desperate to get back out, I waited for all the help that was promised but went alone.many thanks everyone for now, JBD

I don't quite understand I launch and retrieve my boat in about 10-12 inches of water, and I have seen many people do it in less, you being waste deep doesn't make any sence to me, why you would need to be that far in at all? and also can't you lift your motor onto tilt from inside the boat, I have a merc 650 with no power trim or tilt but I can quite easily lift the motor onto tilt from inside the boat..

 

[Prin]

Re: My first attempt and mistakes!

Try very hard to get some experienced person to go with you. As stated, things just don't sound right. Unhooking your trailer is never a good idea. Hang in there, you will get the hang of it and love it.

 

[BF]

Re: My first attempt and mistakes!

Well, first congrat's on getting out. Other than the plug lead coming off, it sounds like the "sea trial" part went well! Yes, it sounds like you need some advice/practise on launching and retrieving.

It's better to do both with the engine tilted up. Other than the engine hitting bottom, it sounds like the launch was alright, (but sounds like you backed in too deep). As for retrieving, I've always found backing the trailer in so the rearmost roller is just above the water to work best. You take your winch strap/rope to the back with you, lift the bow onto the roller, and then crank it on. It helps to have another person to hold the boat straight if there's a cross wind. If you back in too far, the boat floats off line. If the launch is shallow, the winching is harder work. If you're trying to float the boat all the way onto the trailer, that's WAY too deep.

Ditto that unhooking the trailer from the car was a bad idea. Sounds like you got off lucky. It could've gone down right off the end of the ramp and needed a tow truck to winch it out.

Do you have a friend with a boat? It would be a good idea of you went out with another boater for the first couple times. They could help you with the launch & retrieve, even better if they brought their own boat along also... (make it an outing with 2 boats). That way if you break down or whatever, they could give you a tow.

Are you all set up with the required safety gear etc? If you're new to boating you might want to find out about a boating safety course (they are required for an operator's card here, but are probably a good idea even if they weren't required).

Good luck!

 

[woodduck17]

Re: My first attempt and mistakes!

You could grab an adult beverage and a lawn chair and spend a litttle time watching other people launch and recover their boats. Guaranteed to be both educational and entertaining.