Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

[TBarCYa]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

On Saturday, I took my son and my brother out fishing and we had an experience on the ramp. The boat retrieving had problems because his trailer wasn't deep enough so the guy next in line to launch (along with me and my brother) went to give a hand. We had him back in and the tri-hull went on right the first time. No big deal. When the next in line goes to launch he gets down the ramp with the safety chain still hooked and it's wedged between the two plates that support the bow roller. Not only this, but the chain is hooked on the plate and won't release. The driver wouldn't pull back up the ramp so my brother and I get wet to try to help and end up with a broken winch strap and my brother's cellphone got wet. The only way to get it loose was to use a hammer to release the chain from the plate and use the throttle to push the boat towards the trailer while pushing the bow up so there was enough slack to unhook it. They thanked us, but if they had only released the safety chain before backing in, it wouldn't have been an issue.

Just to take a second to toot my own horn, both times I launched and retrieved this weekend I was complimented by onlookers and I owe it all to having read hundreds of ways not to launch and retrieve on iboats!

 

[skargo]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

Any stories from this season yet?

 

[bowman316]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

i saw a guy at the ramp the other day in a 20 ft steel boat.
he was launching, and his wife was at the helm, while he was on the ground. next thing I know I hear the engine rev up, a lot, and the boat goes forward and hits the concrete ramp pretty hard.

I don't know why she had it in forward anyway, and why she went full throttle. didn't seem to do much damage, but sure made me jump when i heard that engine rev up.

 

[Tig]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

Pickerel season opens next weekend. After reading the first page of this thread I'm reminded why I will launch my boat a couple days in advance. I'd rather not see all the mayhem.

 

[45Auto]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

i saw a guy at the ramp the other day in a 20 ft steel boat.

Probably meant to ground it on the ramp. Concrete won't affect a steel boat much, just scratches the paint. Was it a Navy boat? You don't see too many steel civilian 20 footers.

 

[bowman316]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

it was probally alluminum.

it may have even been fiberglass
i don't really remember
it wasa cuddy cabbin type boat

 

[j_martin]

Re: Reasearch at the boat launch 4/26/09

Re: Reasearch at the boat launch 4/26/09

Are you saying it was the 25' that fell off the trailer? that's a lot to drag across concrete even downhill. Hate to see his gel coat after that!
There are a number of techniques to get a trailer under a boat, but none are "easy" and few would work at a crowded ramp.
I've moved a number of boats around on rollers--4" diameter wood poles (round fence posts) 4-6' long. You can build pyramids with those things. It's all I use for a 14' Lowe with a 15; I can launch alone and could retrieve as well if I had too (not at a public dock though!)
Another salvage technique over soft ground (sandbar, marsh) is to jack the boat up then push it forward to flop down on the ground. Baby steps, but I saw it done to take a drunk's 25' across 100 yards of marsh.

That's a technique we use in Northern Minnesota to get the pickumup out of the snowbank and back on the road.

 

[lowkee]

Re: Reasearch at the boat launch 4/26/09

Re: Reasearch at the boat launch 4/26/09

I find it amazing how many people try and launch/retrieve their boat with shoes and socks on. You are launching something which is IN WATER, stop being such a prissy and get your feet wet. These people will treat their truck/trailer/boat like a jungle gym, nearly face planting multiple times, just to avoid touching water. The number of times a boat retrieval could have gone from 5 minutes of pull-out, back-in in order to try to center to stern on the trailer down to 5 seconds if the person would have walked into the water and push the stern over a bit.

Out of all of the stupid human tricks I've seen at ramps, being a wuss and not taking your shoes off has been the cause of many of them. The most often being power-loading in order to avoid stepping one step into the water to reach the bow eye.

 

[skargo]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

Amen lowkee. I actually wear Marlin boat shoes, think crocs on steroids. I have no problem getting my feet wet even when it's cold.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

Yeah, the shoe thing is funny. There are so many varieties of water shoes out there that drain easily. I wear croks, but have also worn the running shoe type that have mesh sides. I like the croks, because I can just rinse the sand out them when I get in the boat.

It is funny to watch folks at the ramp trying so hard not to get their feet wet. You'd think they weren't waterproof. I don't like going barefoot, since some moron may have dropped their beer bottle at the ramp.

 

[bkwapisz]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

This thread is great. There is a ramp about 1/2 mile down from my house. I think this summer I'll head down there with a lawn chair and a few beverages, maybe even a video camera and watch the chaos. I'm still laughing my butt off over here from some of these stories...

 

[bowman316]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

try getting your feet wet when the water temp is 40.
i have retreving without getting my feet wet down to a sceince.

i just walk down the tounge, and step on the fender, where the boat is still floating. the hook the strap to the bow eye.

the boat centers it self, usually

 

[dwco5051]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

All my trailers are drive on. Since I usually fish by myself the procedure is drive on, reach under the bow and hook (I always leave a foot or so of slack in the winch strap hang down before backing in), climb out to where it is dry, take the last few cranks, and pull out.

I am not about to wade in November or April plus the concrete ramps are so slippery from algae and silt at my home lake that you take your life in your hands trying to walk on them below the water line shoes or no shoes. I have seen lots of people fall while retrieving their boats over the years I have worked there. You are much safer balancing on the 3" wide tongue than trying to wade.

 

[skargo]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

I disagree with much safer to balance than wade, get some good shoes. My Marlins laugh at slime and algae! 90% of the time my feet stay dry, but I'm certainly not afraid of cold water, my truck has heat!

 

[j_martin]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

All my trailers are drive on. Since I usually fish by myself the procedure is drive on, reach under the bow and hook (I always leave a foot or so of slack in the winch strap hang down before backing in), climb out to where it is dry, take the last few cranks, and pull out.

I am not about to wade in November or April plus the concrete ramps are so slippery from algae and silt at my home lake that you take your life in your hands trying to walk on them below the water line shoes or no shoes. I have seen lots of people fall while retrieving their boats over the years I have worked there. You are much safer balancing on the 3" wide tongue than trying to wade.

If I'm using a van to pick up the boat, and the landing is shallow so I have to back into the water a bit, I open the back doors before I back it down so I have a dry escape route from the boat.

I don't quit boating till the ice is hazardous. Ain't no way I'm going to purposely go wading in October in MN.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

I dunno. I live in Minnesota, too. I wade in a little every time I launch. My feet seem to dry out just fine, even when the water is below 50 degrees.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

keep the axle out of the water and you will have a nice dry place to stand while you run the power winch.

 

[DrWiffel]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

Ok, because we?re all sharing here?

Last year I was on of the people doing some questionable things at the at the boat launch, but seeing as I was a simi-newbe (owned a boat years ago), it?s some what excusable (but not really).

I own a 14? fishing boat with a 9.9. Backed it down the ramp, the girlfriend pulled it to the side of the dock when I went to park. As I was parking she calls me on the phone and says ? the boats sinking!? I realize at this point I had forgotten to put the plug in? oops. So I run to the boat jump in, as half the back end had filled up with water, and quickly put the plug in. It would have been bad if the GF wasn?t there. So we tooled around and let the water drain out in the lake before we started fishing. From that point on we made sure to double check to be sure that the plug was in?

The other and final incident that I had was pulling out the boat at the launch. I had back in to the water to get the boat on the trailer. Used the wench to pull the boat on, locked the wench, got in an pulled up? (Maybe you can see where this is going). As luck has it sometimes, the wench lock had failed sending the bow straight up in the air, but stopped inches from the motor hitting the ground. (whew). So I now make sure to secure the bow with the safety strap before moving anywhere.

The best lessons are the ones from experience? and I learned a long wile ago to keep my cool. It doesn?t do anyone any good to lose it. I?m just glad on those ones I got by on the cheap, and haven?t had any incidences sense then. Also another thing to remember is that these kind of things can really happen to anyone, I was just lucky...

Jon

 

[bowman316]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

about a week after I bought my 16 ft runabout, I was leaving the house with the trailer.
And I did not fasten the straps that go from the transom to the trailer. And I was messing with the bow strap, so I loosened the strap, and forgot the lock the winch in the other direction.
So I dirve off, and get to the road, and the boat falls off the trailer!
the bow strap was in the reverse positon, instead of locked. I had no saftey chain, and the straps were not on the back. the motor was sitting on the skeg, on the shoulder of the road.
I just winched the boat back on the trailer, as it was still hooked to the winch. the only damage was some metal lost on the skeg.

 

[JSGOLD]

Re: Research at the boat launch 4/26/09

Me and the wife are hoping to launch our boat (for the first time) in about 2 weeks, so we have been watching the lake we frequent so far to get close ups of the folks doing their thing(plus fishing is great near the ramps). So far have seen no big problems except for one guy falling down and one guy leaving several large plastic pieces on the ramp when leaving....looked like his trolling motor hit something on the trailor wrong...as it was sitting way high on it at first then came crashing down...But we are sure to have some kind of fiasco given it will be our first time. Have cameras ready....if we can tip a pop up camper over we can surely sink a boat when launching