Which end first?

[cjac]

This week is the "calm before the storm", the last week of boredom, although I do have to say I've had fun bass fishing.

Here's one to think about to pass the time.........it seemed to entertain people at the Grad parties on Sunday.

You head out for a late afternoon bass hour or two, only to see a black sky that wasn't there when you left the house 15 minutes prior. Load up quickly and have the 2 mile drive home. 1/2 way the sky turns white......hail. So you bee-line it home and there is the dilemma. Open the garage door as the hail is increasing in size and amount.....which end of the rig goes in the garage??? What end do ya leave to take the hit?

[RK]

The truck. Duh

RK

[MUSKY18]

Boat first......easily boat first. Thing is, you can pull a boat with a dinged up unit, and you can get a loaner while your unit is being fixed, but if the boat gets wacked, then what do you do? Sitting pretty high and dry if you have to put the boat into the shop without a loaner.....

Luckily I have a 3 stall garage, so it isn't a problem.

[Nick Kuhn]

I agree with RK in the vehicle going in. I think the vehicle is more likely to take damage. Happened Memorial Day Weekend. Storms were expected so this was a day we had planned on working on the cabin interior. The boat had been in overnight and was still tied to the dock. With all the screwdriving and drilling and such we were doing inside (not to mention killing the power to do some wiring), severe storms really snuck up on us. Leave it to my mom to give us a call from home about 5 minutes before the storm hits. This was the same tornadic cell that hit Hugo and was still receiving tornado warnings. No time to pull the boat, so I grabbed some heavy rope and tied the boat to a huge (~5 ton) concrete block. So the only way it was going anywhere is if the rope broke or the bow eye broke. We then proceeded to take shelter in the boathouse (no basement in the cabin, the back wall of the boathouse is built into the ground. From there we got a great view of up to golfball sized hail bouncing off the boat. I thought for sure the windshield would break but the boat held up well and didn't take any damage.

One of the neighbors pontoons came free from their dock though, they had to go fetch it before the next line of storms hit.

[RK]

Hiya -

VT - I meant let the truck take the hail

[Nick Kuhn]

Hiya -

VT - I meant let the truck take the hail

Well, I suppose it depends what you have. If you have an 08 truck and a 93 boat you'll want to save the truck. If you have an 08 boat and a 93 truck you'd probably save the boat.

I just think the boat has a lot of surface area that can take a pounding from hail. You could probably buckle a life jacket over the motor and console to shield the valuables. Most of the stuff I watched hit the carpeted area and bounced out. Then again the truck was outside as well, but it was shielded by some trees. The boat was in the wide open.

[HugoBox]

I agree with you all. Based on my stage name you can guess where I'm from. A few miles from the bad stuff but we still caught some nasty hail. Base on the fact that the boat was sitting across my garage due to some carpet cleaning (thanks for the idea RK!!) - the 2007 Silverado caught heck and the 1997 Alumcraft was safe and sound. My wife may not always "understand" but I think my priorities are right on.

-erik

[cjac]

Funny part is that at the time I had to think about it for a second!!! Of course, the boat went in the garage..... Lot easier to deal with the truck than cracked cowels, tempered wrap-around glass, etc. Looks like the truck is OK too.....

Spinning the rig around in the hail was a treat, both with what was coming down and what was on the driveway. I'm sure the rig kind of looked like a cat on a waxed floor!

[markkstanley]

My boat has so many dings from hitting junk in the river etc, hail might actually smooth it out! My engine cowl looks like a grizzly took several swipes at it. I go where no sane fisherman would go. Advantage of aluminum single console over fiberglass wrap around. Not at all worried about messing up my gelcoated metal flaked party ride..

[50inchpig]

truck already has hail damage on the roof - boat is always covered when it's not in the water, i'd say screw it all and go in for a beer.

[setterguy]

I need a truck so the wife would understand getting that fixed. Her and the boat have never really seen eye to eye. The boat gets the garage, without question.

[dakotakid31]

That was the second hail storm my boat has survived. Atleat this time it was covered. Last time just broke my bouyes. She is still ding free.

[Rebel9921]

minor dents adds characters to the truck... so boat in the garage first!!! or build something like what Bret has and you wouldnt have to worry about it... although a 50' x 100' shed (fully insulated with all the electricity and concrete floors) with two sliding doors would be perfect... just drive right into there... unload the boat... and park the truck... walk out...

[Professional Edge]

Good choice Chris.

I was on Leech fishing my new favorite fish and watched the storm brew. We had a choice drive into the storm to get back to my place or sit where we were....keep catching fish and hope the storm passes to the south. We stayed and kept catching fish. Boy was that a good choice.

Keith

[cjac]

Quote:

I was on Leech fishing my new favorite fish

I think I know the fish and I couldn't agree more!

I have had fun chasing the bass this spring and will surely fish them more all summer than I did last year. Nice to catch 20 fish in a day instead of going 20 days without a fish.

[JRedig]

Nice to catch 20 fish in a day instead of going 20 days without a fish.

Sounds like a personal problem.... :-P