Your funniest/most aggrivating boat landing story

[russ]

Remember a while back the commercial where the guy is trying to back his boat in the water and it keeps goin from side to side, then he backs over the sign? I witnessed the same thing only this guy had his wife trying to direct him from in front of the truck. He was trying to watch which way her arms were waving and not watching the trailer. At one point he thought he had it but discovered he was too far from the dock to reach the boat. Next time he managed to run the trailer tire up on the dock. I tried not to watch to close but it was a classic moment.

[Hoffer]

A few Summers back - I was waiting in line for a group of guys to take their boat out of the water. After quite some time they finally got the trailer backed in and the boat put on. The ramp was relatively flat by the lake - but as you drive away it starts to slant quite a bit upward. Anyway - they pulled up out of the water and gave it a little gas going uphill. Well, they hadnt clamped the boat down properly and gravity took over - the boat slid right off the trailer and onto the ramp. It was funny at first - but it caused quite a backup for the others in line.

[jigginjim]

Oh, where to begin? I saw a guy back his truck down the ramp to load his boat. Only to have truck keep going. After he got in his boat. The truck sank to the piont where only the 2in. of the roof was out of the water.

I saw another guys wife back the family car into lake. He's in the boat telling her to keep going. He was trying to back boat off trailer only to forget about the tying downs on the back of trailer. she didn't stop until water was in back seat.

My most aggrevating was on buffalo lake last year.

While hubby is getting the cady Esgilade. The wife is to keep the boat to away from the dock. Don't scratch the boat!!!!! Only when hubby is backing down ramp. Wifey, drives up to drop off his buddy on dock. Just to bounce the new boat off the two boats already tied to the dock. No, I'm sorrys, NOT 1 APOLOGY. ONLY RICH KIDS WHO NEED A BOOT IN THE !?*#. We just told him not to come back to this lake if you don't know what the #!## YOUR DOING.

[walleyehawk]

Oh the stories. I have seen at least 6-8 boats forget to put the plug in, launch the boat, and need to come back in on the panic.

The best one was where they bring the boat in, back down the ramp, load the boat and left the truck running, locking the keys inside. I helped him unlock the vehicle as he left the window open an inch and we got a rod inside and popped the electric locks. I opened it while they are in the woods looking for a stick long enough to pop the driver door open.

But the whole time the boat was getting more water in it. Took quite a while to return the lake to its normal level.

[Tonka Bayt]

A couple of years ago I was helping a buddy launch his 18 ft pursuit. I was backing down the ramp at spring park and stopped just before the wheels got in the water, to unhook the boat, little did I know he already unhooked everything and when I stopped there was just enough momentum and the boat rolled right off the trailer and into the lake by itself without anyone in it. It was earlie May and the water was cold but he had to go in and get his boat. We almost died laughing. Afterward, I thought how lucky he was that I stopped where I did and not 5 feet earlier or that boat would have been launched right on the landing pad. So the lesson is, if your helping a friend, make sure you do everything or he does or you could really have a mess.

Tonka Bayt

Hooks, Lines, and .....Thinkers

[311Hemi]

LOL......I raisse my hand for forgetting to put the plug in!!! doh..

Threw the 20 ft boat ski boat in the water (with a 4.3L I/O) and went and parked the truck and came back down to the launch. Opened the rear engine compartment to find ALOT of water just flowing in and the engine to soon be under water also....I'm like oh-SH*T. Defeinitely did not have enough time to go get the truck and pull the boat (have to put the plug in from the outside), so I had to swim under the boat and put the thing in......

pumped the water out..started her up....and learned my leason on that one....

That was a little embarassing!!!

Also, in the same boat I was about 100 yards from the landing when the engine shut off. I opened the engine compartment while I turned the engine over...would not start. Tried it again when I heard a "woooomph". Look back to find the engine on fire.....Didn't know to jump in the lake or what. Then remembered the fire extinguisher....which put a huge cloud of white smoke in the air....and everyone at the Forest Lake public launch looking at us on a Sunday...LOL Turned out the carberator had a leak and caused the fire. Got that fixed right away!!!

[This message has been edited by 311Hemi (edited 04-22-2004).]

[bobber_down]

Tonka Bayt-

I actually know someone that DID drop his boat on the landing. Being the intelligent person he is, he unhooked everything, backed down the (somewhat steep) ramp, and about 10 feet before the water it slid right off his Easy-Roller trailer (I had to laugh at the irony...haha) and skidded down to the water. Cost him like $5000 to fix it...

l

[1Yogi]

Sorry guys but my funniest story, is about me. and the fact that I am still very clumsy backing up the trailer. The last time I got out of the car to let the boat off the trailer and said For god Sake you'ld think I have never done this before, and another guy at the land said you're right I do.
PS this was at Clearwater near McBrides just in case it was one of you guys.

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Commom sense isn't

[TUMBLEWEED]

Funniest:
Has to be the guy with the AWD Volvo wagon
that was putting on the best smoke show
with all four tires, while trying to
pull out his tandem trailered, cabin
cruiser out of Minnetonka!! Columns of smoke
rose into the air,as this joker tried over and over, to yank out his boat. The ramp was jammed because of the show. Finally, some
bystander jumped in and fired up the
cruiser's motor. With a big roar and rooster
tail of water, he powered the whole thing
up and out of the water!! A big cheer rose up
from all the bystanders nearby. I bet the poor SOB had to get all new tires from the
flat spots he burned into them....

Aggravating:

Big Marine.... A whole family on a giant
pontoon. Took up the whole two lanes for
a good 45 minutes trying to launch this
whale of a thing. (All in "rush" hour).
Then, to add to the matter, it didn't
start so they took up another forty
minutes of dock time figuring out they
were not going anywhere. Whereas they proceeded to plug up the launch again getting it outta there NOT COOL!!

[This message has been edited by TUMBLEWEED (edited 04-22-2004).]

[LundExplorer]

Funniest: A buddy and I come cruising in to a public landing in La Crosse, old boat, 60's evinrude. He throttles down and motor dies so we paddle 5' to the dock. I go and back the trailer in, he pushes out to fire up the motor.

He gives it a lot of gas, and pulls, motor is in gear. Out of control he does about 5 or 6 donuts in the channel at landing, last time around, boat goes up on the dock (lucky no one was there), he kills motor. Boat slips off dock, water over transom, fills up the entire boat, its on the bottom now in about 4'. My buddy is a big guy, Iowa farm boy, fully dressed up in the ratty light blue farm coveralls and knee high rubber boots, up to his belly in water, standing in the boat. I saw it all as I was about to back the trailer in, was about an hour before I stopped laughing. Bruce if you read this it was too funny not to be told! TOM

[LundExplorer]

Most aggravating:

Stuntz bay, Lake Vermilion, last year 4th of July. I am just bout to launch, this ski boat with 5-6 college age guys pulls up, ties up to dock (on the ramp side, where I was about to put in), they get out & all get in a car. They stop and tell my wife, "oh we'll only be gone 45 minutes, need to go to town & get beer" Yah right...jerk! Lucky your boat was only moved to the other side of the dock, If my wife had her way it would have been towed out to the middle of the bay!!

[This message has been edited by LundExplorer (edited 04-22-2004).]

[Guest]

The one I'll never forget - was out on Madison Lake 15 years ago, and watched a truck roll back into the water. Must have forgot the parking brake. He made it back to the driver door as the water was hitting the bottom of the window. Jumped in, and drove it out.

Last year at Lake Ida a guy forgot to hook his towing chains to his truck. The trailer wasn't on the ball all the way, and when he went to pull the boat out, he left the boat and the trailer in the water. The one trailer tire must have sunk a good foot and a half into the muck when it rolled back. Took 3 of us to lift the trailer and reattach it.

[EXTREME]

Could'nt think of any one time in particular, but what I hate the most is this scenario. A guy on opener pulls right up to the dock and then start to unload all there stuff into the boat and take the cover off the boat. 20 min later they finally get their boat wet only to find out that either the battery is dead or it won't start. Geez I just ran it last August and I can't figure out why it doesn't run this year. Meanwhile, there are about 50 guys waiting patiently to launch. Just kind of funny, but it happens every year!!

[CornPirateKiller]

My brother and I often fish catfish in the evenings during the summer. One warm night, we decided to try our luck but we a little late in getting to the river and were hurrying to get out before darkness took over. I backed my boat into the water and got out to help get it off the trailer. Once it was in the water, my brother hops into the truck to go park it quick while I hold the rope attached to the floating boat. As I said, we were in a hurry, so he guns the truck and flies up the ramp, just as I notice that the rope attached to the boat has looped around one of the bunks on the trailer. I had the other end of the rope wrapped about five times around my hand with no way to let go quick.

"WAIT!!!" I screamed as the scenario raced through my mind. My brother hit the brakes just as the rope went taut, jerking me off my feet and nearly yanking my arm out of it's socket. I had a bit of a sore shoulder, but at least I didn't get dragged to the parking lot. After a couple of cool beverages, I felt better and we laughed about it. Needless to say, we make sure the rope is well clear before we pull away now.

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Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati (When all else fails, play dead)

[hanson]

Sadly enough, this one happened to my brother.

Backed the pickup down the launch to pull the boat out of the water. My brother proceeded to load the boat on the trailer and once it was secured, he told his girlfriend to pull the truck up the ramp while he was riding on the tongue of the trailer. Well, his Ranger has a stickshift and she apparently had some problems working the brake/clutch/gas dance as she tried to get the pickup moving up the hill. The pickup starts rolling backwards and she panicked and the pickup didn't come to a stop until it was in the lake up to the top of the dashboard. The launch wasn't very busy so they had to wait around until they could find someone to help them out. Insurance ended up totally the pickup and cutting him a nice check.

[Long Gray Line]

About 1970 my dad and I were dead bait fishing for northerns and lakers off the end of the old ore docks in Washburn, WI on Lake Superior. As we're sitting there in the car staying warm, a guy and his wife drive down onto the dock dragging his I/O pleasure boat. Now, there is (was) no boat launch on these old piers. If you're familiar w/ them, they were square sided & stone filled, 150 yard long piers that the big ore boats would tie up to in order to unload/load. They drop straight down to the water about 3-4 feet on all sides. This guy apparently decides it's not all that far down and proceeds to back his trailer off the side (it's only 3 feet down to the water level!!) where the water is about 30' deep. As the trailer gets past the wheels, it clunks onto its frame on the edge of the pier, and then starts heading straight down. The weight of the boat & trailer starts pulling the car backwards to the edge. No problem though. Once the boat and trailer get to vertical, hanging only off the trailer hitch ball, it stops pulling the car backwards. My dad & I just looked at this maniac who'd managed to dunk the back half of his boat in Chequamagon Bay, looked at each other and busted up. Apparently word got up to town as pretty soon a bunch of folks drove down to see the best show Washburn had in a LONG time!

[deeky]

Appearantly there was a group of foreigners out for their first boat ride. Pulled up to the dock real slow, let off the driver to get the vehicle, who then proceeded to back to the water with just the vehicle, no trailer. Boat pulls up behind the vehicle, they hook up the trailer, still attached to the boat, and pull away. Maybe an urban legend, but the guy I heard it from swears on the Bible (sober) he saw it happen.

[walleyehawk]

Opener. Mille Lacs a few years ago, we were going out of Eddy's. (pre casino) It was a cold opener so we came in for a break about noon.

We are on shore and hear this real loud noise. Look out in front of Eddy's and there is a vehicle that used to have a pontoon on a trailer. Apparently the winch holding the pontoon up broke and it started to drag on the road at highway speed. About a dozen guys went out front and helped the guy lift it back onto the trailer.

Same day, within an hour there was an old pickup that used their access ramp. Transmission gave out and into the drink she goes.

Between these events and a buddy getting his tackle boxes lifted out of the boat earlier in the day, it was a very eventful weekend. Heck, I don't even remember how many fish we caught!

[wishiniwerefishin]

First one: Last year on Tonka was waiting in line on a Saturday. See an SUV backing down the ramp with a brand new looking 21' crusing boat. They get about halfway down the ramp and stop, but the boat keeps going and falls onto the concrete pretty hard. Jump out with a couple of other guys to go help push it back up, thinking that they, being new, had unhooked it and didnt realize that they prolly shouldnt stop with a boat unhooked. Turns out though, that it was in fact a brand new boat, and the winch had given out, as the strap was still attached!!! What a way to break in the new boat, huh??

Second: Tonka again, about a year earlier. Dad and I are out fishing bass early morning in Grays Bay. See a dad and his son pull up in a station wagon with a 16' aluminium attached to the old sand ramp. They back up, unhook the boat, dad gets in and pushes it off, but the motor wont start, so he gets out and walks it in to shore. As he gets into his car to move it from the ramp, he puts it into reverse instead of drive and backs the car all the way into the water, the front wheels were even submerges. We were laughing so hard at this point that we couldnt even help him out. I have no idea how he got it out of the water, as the engine stopped running on the car also!!

[rckwll]

A buddy and I successfully launch his boat but he loses his glasses in the process in about 4 feet of water at the launch. He wants to fish around for them so he ties up the boat, undresses to his skivies and wades in where he thinks the glasses might be. Now it's a beautiful Sat. morning in June and there's about 15 boats waiting to launch. Everything comes to a dead stop while my buddy wades around trying to find his glasses with his feet. People are about ready to kill him when he says wait, here they are. He picks something up with his toes and transfers to his hand and sure enough it's a pair of glasses, but not his glasses. This unbelievable coincidence has a calming effect on the crowd and buys him enough time to continue his search, and after another few minutes he finds his own glasses. True story.

[FOOT]

Some 25 years ago a friend and I launched our boat and ready to leave the launch area at Camp LaCouplis, on lower Lake Pepin, when a car trailering a boat pulled to launch.
The ramp is fairly steep and when they finally get the trailer wheels in the water the passenger gets out and walks to the back of the car. It was obvious the passenger had been drinking. We decided to hang around and watch what turned out to be funny as hell.
The passenger proceeded to disconnect the trailer lights, un-hook the safety stap, connecting the boat to the trailer, and then pop the locking lever from the trailer ball coupling and lift up on the trailer tongue.
Gravity takes over with trailer and boat sliding out of his hands and into the water.
The driver then stumbles out and starts chewing out the passenger which escalates into a drunken fist fight. They roll around for a couple minutes and then get up and wade into the water.
The driver cuts the tie down strap so the boat floats free and the trailer sinks. They pull the boat up to shore and anchor it so it won't float away. They then proceed to man handle the trailer out of the water and reconnect it to the car.
At this point my friend and I go fishing, shows over.
A couple of hours later we see the two drunks trying to fish but they've run out of beer and head to Pepin Wisconsin to re-stock.
We fish until mid-afternoon and then call it quits for the day. We get back to the landing and find the drunks car and trailer sitting on the ramp. The boat is laying on its left (port) side with the driver sitting next to it. He was bleeding from a head wound and had a couple of broken fingers. An ambulance crew was patching him up.
We asked what happened and were told "The driver thought he could just run the boat up onto the trailer but gave it too much gas and hit the wench on the trailer which tipped the boat over on its side."
After we stopped laughing we asked the passenger why he had un-coupled the boat and trailer earlier and he said "I ain't no fisherman. He tells me to unhook the boat and get it ready and that's what I did."
Wish we would have had a camera.

[MuleSkinner]

Wow. These stories are hilarious. My gut still hurts.

My story isn't really funny, but was cool to see. We were leaving a lake north of Sauk Centre. 3 Amish boys ride up in a row boat, which was on a wooden trailer, pulled by a horse. They backed that horse right down to the landing, so they only had to lift and carry the boat a couple feet to get it in the water. It took them only about two minutes total time to launch. The horse knew the routine well, and was almost on automatic, going straight to a grassy spot to be tethered. Then the 3 boys rowed off, and they had spinners on for bait, so we asumed they were going trolling for northerns. I suppose some of you who live around the Amish see this pretty often. I would guess there is no catch and release practiced by them though, but that's OK, as long as they stay legal.

[Lunker]

Last year up at the cabin just trying to get to the landing. We were heading home so my brother took the boat to the landgin, I brought the truck. I get to the landing and hes not there. I wait 15min, still no sign. So I drive back to the cabin but hes not at the dock. So I drive back to teh landing but he's still not there. So I wait about 20min and I see him come slowly around a point. The boat is a cajun bass boat. He had run out of gas, so he used the trolling motor, which then ran out of juice, and he ended up paddling this big heavy boat across most of the lake. Then trying to get it on the trailer without any power was no fun either!

[vac1]

I have a painful story. I saw a guy cranking up his boat (about a 16 foot w/20 HP motor)and right about when it got to the top of the trailer the boat broke the crank and started going back into the lake. As the crank is going about 200 mph he stuck his hand in to stop it. His hand shot back out of the spinning crank and I can't imagine how many bones he broke.

[2dalake]

When we were kids Dad let my brother (age 10 or so) at the time pull the truck up from the ramp, he ran it into the wet ditch at the side of the driveway and it sank to the axles, effectively blocking the whole ramp access for over an hour. They tried pulling it out with 4X4's but eneded up calling a wrecker from Aitkin.

In high school a buddy and I tried to pull my little 14" rowboat and 9.9 Merc on a trailer up a ramp with his beat to heck Ford Pinto. Blue smoke, tires squealing, couldn't get the needed traction. Somebody, maybe one of you if this sounds familiar, finally offered to pull us up the ramp with his pickup.

Twice I've seen someone else with a new roller trailer drop their new boat on the ramp.

I don't know how many times I've seen guys come right back to the landing because they forgot to put the plug in.