hooked or un-hooked

[Steve B.]

It's almost always just me doing the loading.

Hooked until winch is straight above where water starts. One or two dock lines out attached to dock. very gently then back in till she'll just about to float. Push boat out, tie up to dock. Drive trailer away.

Takes me more time than others but I hope people at ramp have patience.

Steve B.

[jkendallmsce]

Driving down W Lake Sammamish Pkwy near Vasa Park about 35 - 40 mph with a boat in front of me. As we go over some bumps in the road, I CLEARLY saw the truck between the boat & trailer.

So I tow with the bow strap & cable, and the stern straps all hooked.

We lost an X-star on the Mercer Island boat ramp (under I-90) one time. It was an AirSanta run, in like 1998. Freezing temps, I'm sure the bunks were iced up. Dealer unhooked the boat & it slid off the trailer before he ever got in the truck. We managed to winch it back on the trailer. Only scraped up the rudder a little bit.

I did not think about the ice...as it does not get that cold around the delta. Thanks Al Gore!!

ANd ya, i always strap the boat down...sections of I5 are like the Baja 500 with pot holes the sizes of VWs...always strap the boat down...thanks Jerry Brown and the CA legislature!!

[Indyxc]

I use a lift, so NA, but when I do use the ramp (once a year) it's hooked at the bow.

I will always remember when I was a kid, we'd camp on the Mississippi river near a busy boat launch. A wife was backing the boat down the ramp, with the husband in the boat. It was an inboard/outboard, with the outdrive down (mistake #1), he shouted at her to straighten up the trailer. She couldn't hear what he was saying, so she hit the brakes. The boat slide off the back, since the outdrive was down it fold inward and snapped off, and the boat grinded down the ramp til it hit the water.

It was ugly!

[Tory1340]

Winch strap connected until the engine is running in the water. Transom tie downs and safety chain come off while waiting my turn. In May. We're at the dock all season until haul out this coming Sunday morning.

[CRASH]

Unhooked! I pull my Bass boat out without being tied down during Tournaments thats how 100 boats can pull out in the time it takes 3 Gayliners to prep there tubes and snake down the launch ramp

[jkendallmsce]

Unhooked! I pull my Bass boat out without being tied down during Tournaments thats how 100 boats can pull out in the time it takes 3 Gayliners to prep there tubes and snake down the launch ramp

The old Malibu, I ordered with crash pads on the trailer. So all the driver had to do is back down, the boat powers onto the trailer til it bumps the pad, and the driver slowly pulls ahead....never have had a problem. Although I have always liked Mastercrafts bow hook/latch. I always said I would install that on the next boat.

[swankrides]

Hooked on the front and myself or who ever is driving leans over and unhooks it.. Dont want to be that guy that says I dont need it, then my boat is on the ground and I am eating my words.. It only takes two seconds so why risk it...

[-BS-]

Let me weigh my options, hmmmm....

1. Take literally 10 seconds every single time I launch to unhook the bow, once in the water

OR

2. Risk having my boat destroyed because a child walked behind me and I had to slam on my brakes (possibly killing/injuring the child).

I'm going to go ahead and choose option #1.

Why in the world would you risk it? Right now I moor my boat, but when I was trailering it I'd launch my boat 50+ times a summer. If I have a 1% chance of having to slam on my brakes that means it's going to happen once every 2 years!

Plus, what is the difference between taking 10 seconds at the top of the ramp to unhook it vs. taking 10 seconds at the bottom of the ramp to unhook it?

[swankrides]

Plus, what is the difference between taking 10 seconds at the top of the ramp to unhook it vs. taking 10 seconds at the bottom of the ramp to unhook it?

[Bill_AirJunky]

Plus, what is the difference between taking 10 seconds at the top of the ramp to unhook it vs. taking 10 seconds at the bottom of the ramp to unhook it?

Wow factor.

We used to use the Sammamish launch in Issaquah a lot. 6 ramps in a row, big long line of trucks & boats waiting to use each one. I've never sat there with a stop watch but most guys take 3 or 4 minutes to launch. We would be getting things ready in the line. Then when it was our turn it took us as much time as it does to stab the trailer in the water & drive away.... literaly 15 - 20 seconds. I can't tell you how many guys would stand there & watch us in amazement. We always thought that it would rub off on everyone else, but it was only a select few people who ever managed to get it done that quickly.

[Lance B. Johnson]

Has ANYONE ever seen their vdrive or dd slide off the trailer while loading or unloading?? I would think it would have to one pretty damn steep ramp to slide off.

HOw about traiilering down the hiway??? DO you strap the stern of the boat down?

I have seen it a few times with my own eyes now. Combined with the pics that were posted on this site thats enough for me.

[pennery]

If the I know the ramp Unhooked. My wife drives the boat and I back her down and push her off the trailer... When I see the front of the boat pass the rear of the trailer I pull the trailer out.

If I load the boat and I have my brother driving the truck we have it down so I don't have to hook the front up. Alot of it depends on the trailer as well and I am a BIG Fan of Boat Mate trailers.

[skyskier]

Unhooked is tempting. I am sometimes ridiculed for not unhooking, but once you are past a certain age that stuff has no effect. I think about the time I saw it happen. Smashed running gear, crunched glass, and that hollow look a boater gets when he realizes his ride will soon be at the back of the line for repairs............in June........at the local dealership......where he did not buy the boat new. Not no how, not no way.

I stop just after the trailer wheels are in the water and mosey my rusty butt back there and unhook. Nice and dry. Takes about 20 seconds. It took longer when I was younger because I would take my shirt off and kinda strut my way back to the trailer while keeping a keen eye on the beach chicks from behind my dark shades. Cool takes as long as it takes.

[rmarch]

We always get ready in the parking lot, unhook the stern straps and always back down the ramp with the bow hooked. I back the rig down with my wife behind the wheel and whom ever else is with us in the boat. I get out walk to the front of the trailer, she fires the boat up When I hear the motor running, which gives me a big smile, she gives me a big smile back and I unhook the winch and safety strap and I push them off. Takes all of 30 seconds. Doesn't seem worth the 30 second less on the water to not to do it this way.

[shawndoggy]

I've had a dead battery on the ramp before. Don't really want to push my wife off the trailer and then find out she can't start. ALWAYS hooked for me.

[MARiley]

depends on the ramp for me. one ramp I always go down unhooked, another is WAY too steep and I leave it hooked.

[nyryan2001]

I did unhooked once ....have never since and likely will never do it again. The boat went rushing off the trailer into the water very fast at a shallow depth, the rear tires of the trailer were barely under water... I think because the 247 is so long, as soon as the transom gets some..ANY lift back there it'll come sliding off, and depending on the angle of the ramp, it can start to get lift back there in knee deep water. Funny thing is I wasnt backing it in fast....Then it took the driver about 20-30 seconds to power on and unlock the MTC code, as the boat was drifting unpowered towards rocks... scared the crap out of me, wont do it again.

I'm not in that big of a rush, when I go down hooked I might occupy the ramp for a total of 60 seconds, and thats with me backing the truck in, getting out, unhooking, climbing in the bow, powering up, backing off and the wife driving the truck and trailer off the ramp.

[WoodyBC]

I agree, I never unhook the bow until the motor is running and everything is ready to go. It takes just an extra few seconds to do it safely. Imagine the phone call to the wrecker service explaining what you did and what you need. Pay that bill, and then the same conversation with the insurance company, the boat dealership, and the time its gonna take to get your boat put back together. It'll never be the same, always a "repaired boat". The embarrassment, down-time, and expense isn't worth 10-15 seconds to time it takes to leave it hooked until you are ready to go. Launch safely and have a great day on the lake!

[Soon2BV]

Unhook all but the front winch before pulling onto the ramp.

Front unhooked once boat is in the water and running.

Front winch, front strap and 2 rear transom straps latched down before driving anywhere.

It ain't worth the risk to not have boat and trailer connected.

In fact, just last week my Dad and brother say a vehicle next to the guard rail, trailer hooked to the vehicle, and the boat in the ditch.

[Michigan boarder]

How could this thread NOT have pics?!?! I scrolled thru 3 pages - nuttin'. I was looking forward to the carnage.

I always have everything else 100% ready and unhooked, except the bow eye safety chain. After fenders are submerged, the driver (wife) fires it up, unhooks the chain, and I pull the trailer out. My boys are standing on the pier holding the tower and side of the boat. I've seen way too many boats on the pavement over the years.

[jkendallmsce]

I've had a dead battery on the ramp before. Don't really want to push my wife off the trailer and then find out she can't start. ALWAYS hooked for me.

Keep a trickle charger on the battery. Terrible to go thru the work week anticipating the weekend and time on the boat, to find out the battery is dead.

When I drop my boat in, I know it will start 100% of the time.

[windy1]

Bow strap hooked until the motor starts. the boat driver starts the boat as soon as it touches the water. this gets fluids moving before it goes in gear. I unhook the bow get in the car and put in N, roll into the water another foot or so and hit the brakes as the boat driver puts it in gear. I would be a nervous wreck if I ever backed down our steep ramps unhooked. I am still the fastest one at the ramp by far.

[JTech]

Hooked.

[jk13]

Hooked always.

HOw about traiilering down the hiway??? DO you strap the stern of the boat down?

Yes.

I've had a dead battery on the ramp before. Don't really want to push my wife off the trailer and then find out she can't start. ALWAYS hooked for me.

Hooked for me, too.

We always start the boat at home first with a water supply. Even then, we start the boat in the lake before unhooking (wife in the boat, me in the truck and I do the unhooking. Kids on dry land for safety.) I don't want to have to figure out how to get it back on the trailer and winch it back on by hand. And we'll be in and out in about a minute every time.

[Jab31169]

Hooked, Front strap and safety chain.