Launch Ramp Fun

[bobofthenorth]

Where we live there are several fish derbies each year. One runs all summer with the object being to catch a tagged fish. The fish get tagged on "media day" each spring. Media day is a blowout for all the local (and not so local) media. Somebody rounds up a bunch of locals with fishing boats and sends the media out for a day on the lake. Some magic number of fish get tagged. The local politicians like to get in on the action too.

When we still had our I/O I used to get tapped to spend a day on the lake. One year I had the local EDO and our local MLA (member of the provincial legislature) in my boat. It was the first time I had the boat in the water that spring. We took off down the river and everything seemd OK. We stopped once and when we started up again I noticed that the boat was sluggish getting on plane. When we stopped to fish I noticed a lot of water in the bilge. Not wanting to alarm my passengers I said nothing but quietly flipped the bilge pump on. Over the course of the morning I noticed that I only got water in the bilge while the engine was running. When we went in for lunch my feeble brain finally figured out that I had left all the drain plugs on the manifold and block out.

[Faceplant409]

So a few years ago Mrs Faceplant, my brother in law and I go out to the lake for the first run of the year. I cranked the boat at home just to make sure it would start. I back it into the water and stop and the boat slides off the trailer perfectly drifting backward. There was another boat at the end of the long dock but Mrs Faceplant has done this many times and the ramp is wide enough to actually turn the boat around with another boat next to you so I figured this time would be no different. Boy, was I surprised!!!

When I get back from parking the truck I find My dear wife and her kid brother sitting in the boat mortified....

The boat did not start and they slowly drifted back and almost hit the brand new Donsi behind them. (They drifted back quite a ways before they realized they were close to the other boat) The boat would crank forever but never fire. No fuel pump noise either... So I look for blown fuses etc.. and eventually pull everything out of the trunk (SLXI) and the trunk liner looking to get a hot lead to the fuel pump. I had recently added a depth sounder and even pulled the dash apart to disconnect all my work thinking I may have caused a problem...... As I'm kneeling around the floor, I kneel on something with my full weight on one knee and scream cuz it hurt so bad AND I was so frustrated..... Turns out I knealt on a little red plastic thingey........

I inquired as to how this ended up on the floor instead of being on it's normal position on the EMERGENCY KILL SWITCH!!!!???? ( I had removed the lanyard.... don't tel the USCG...)

(in high-pitched-damsel-female-defensive-yet-guilty-voice) "well, when I went to start the boat I turned the red thingey thinking it was the key and it came off in my hand and then we were going to hit the new boat and I freaked and dropped it and I told Jake to grab the dock to stop us and then I turned the key and it would not start and then I thought I broke the boat and..........."

That's 2 hours of my life i will never get back!!!!

Patrick

Edited April 28, 2006 by Faceplant409

[Baddog]

About this time last year a guy in a new Escalade backs in what looks to be a new pontoon with all the whistles. Does an OK job backing down the ramp, floats the toon, loads half the population of some small towns (including a ~124 year old grandma, and proceeds to pull up the ramp toward the parking lot. Only problem is he forgot just how long those pontoon trailers are, cut the corner WAY too early, hit the concerete filled post and ripped off the fenders and bunks on one side. Not sure how the rest of the day went because I got the heck away from him.

[jklein]

I'm sure there will be plenty of launch ramp fodder at Folsom this weekend. Unfortunately, I'll be in that bunch.

[Moufoo]

Wow, here in SC i havnt seen any idiot launch ramp stories... We dont use transom tie downs... should we?

[GoldschlagerVT]

Wow, here in SC i havnt seen any idiot launch ramp stories... We dont use transom tie downs... should we?

I've heard that you don't NEED them. They're just a good idea. A big boat like a Malibu probably won't go flying anywhere. Now my jet ski's, we hit a pothole once and if they weren't tied down, they'd be gone.

A rule that some people use is if it's on a highway, probably use the straps. You're not going to hurt the boat by using them.

[BlastRlxi]

I think you definitely need transom tie downs when on the road. In an accident, you don't want that boat flying around. They aren't just for potholes.

[BlastRlxi]

Oh, and if you want to see some idiots at the ramp, don't take your boat to the ramp. Instead, take your lawn chair and a cooler on a beautiful saturday morning and watch for an hour or two. You will be amazed.