Tower Near Miss

[Malibuzer]

23 hours ago, Chattwake said:

Worst I've seen is someone forgetting to lower the tower and smashing into a car wash/pressure washer stall.  It was bad.  Pretty sure alcohol was involved haha

Personal story? 

 

 

I have a friend who has a wonderful wife that was able to park a full size sport utility with a Thule cargo carrier on the top inside a 7ft garage.  It was about 8" to tall.  She came in hot!

Edited April 27, 2017 by Malibuzer

[MattMatt]

I was backing my boat into the storage unit while talking to my kids when I heard/felt the tower hit the top of the unit door. THANKFULLY I was going really slow so no harm to the tower and only a small dent to the door frame.

One other time my 6 year old was "helping" me back the boat into the garage when I hear her say "um dad I don't think it will fit." Thankfully she didn't give up when I told her not to worry cause I quickly realized the tower was still up.

[Monkeybutt]

4 hours ago, TallRedRider said:

Anyone notice the different color stucco just above the garage door on the right side?  That is where I tried to back a boat in with the tower up.  Nobody was around to save me from myself that day.  

At least the back of the boat was inside the garage so it could dry ?

Running over rope? Check

Forgetting drainplug? Check

fish talking on my iPhone? Check

Almost taking gutters off when backing up boat? Check

htting underwater post from an old bridge? Check (that one hurt)

Losing dog when taking off for a wakeboard set? Yup that too - glad he can swim

and last week unhooking trailer and driving car forward - except the breakaway cable was still hooked up 

[thejean]

3 hours ago, Malibuzer said:

I have a friend who has a wonderful wife that was able to park a full size sport utility with a Thule cargo carrier on the top inside a 7ft garage.  It was about 8" to tall.  She came in hot!

I must be your friend then because that's exactly what my wife did with our Thule carrier in a parkade!

[Badger]

I hit the driveway basketball hoop with the tower once....just once.

[JeffC]

Something comforting about reading these stories - guess misery loves company.   Reminded me that I forgot to remove the transom straps once - couldn't figure out where I couldn't get the boat off the trailer.   Im sure would have been entertaining for the ramp audience as I pushed, shoved, and swore until I figured out what was wrong, then waded into "April cold" water to remove them. 

[jtryon]

On 4/26/2017 at 11:17 AM, onwi said:

I've forgotten to put the mirror down (tower mounted) and made contact with the trim around the garage.  Still occassionally initially neglect that, but haven't completely forgotten again. 

i just did that last year with my windshield-mounted mirror.  shattered the window. doh!

[Badger]

3 hours ago, JeffC said:

Something comforting about reading these stories - guess misery loves company.   Reminded me that I forgot to remove the transom straps once - couldn't figure out where I couldn't get the boat off the trailer.   Im sure would have been entertaining for the ramp audience as I pushed, shoved, and swore until I figured out what was wrong, then waded into "April cold" water to remove them. 

Darnit....I've done that too.  I don't like that I've had to admit to two screw-ups in the same post.

Just nobody ask me about that time that I....

[williemon]

Guess i cant talk much myself. I pulled some siding off my barn where i did park the boat with the tower once while pulling it out at an angle. No real problem though. Now last night, i was putting new oil in the engine after draining and changing filter. Then realized that the drain hose was still out of the boat and draining the new oil. Lucky i only lost half a quart.

[oldjeep]

On ‎4‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 7:19 AM, Badger said:

I hit the driveway basketball hoop with the tower once....just once.

I did that once with the old boat, knocked it over

[NHolladay]

On 4/26/2017 at 7:56 AM, JoeFro said:

I am the proud new owner of a 2006 Wakesetter VLX with an illusion X tower.  I have been working to get everything up and running on the boat and we have had it out a few times.  

Last night I was returning it to the garage and was about to back it in with the tower up, which would have likely damaged both the boat and the garage.  If not for someone yelling out to watch the tower, I would have definitely hit.  Just curious as to any tips that you may use to remember to put the tower down.  I am actually thinking of attaching the garage key to one of the tower pins so I have to pull the pin to open the garage.  This would require that I carry the pin with me when I leave the boat.  

Other near miss - or this one may be a hit.  We had to do a quick winterization late one night due to a coming in cold front.  First time through the process and evidently we did not get the J hose connected up properly.  Probably forgot to tighten the clamp because it ultimately detached it on the other end.  I ran the boat across the lake and looked down to see my bilge pump was on and we were taking on water.  That was a little scary but had it fixed in a couple of minutes.  Incredible volume of water through the J hose.

Joe Fro

Wait to smoke a bowl until after the tower is down and the boat is in the garage.

[Fman]

On 4/26/2017 at 7:26 AM, minnmarker said:

Both rookie mistakes that many/most new owners go through. You'll likely never do either again. Enjoy.

Now just wait to do the following: Leave drain plug out; leave stereo on all night/week; forget to empty ballast bag(s) before putting boat on trailer or lift; forget to secure hatch before towing; not notice you're drifted forward on lift before putting boat in reverse; cut head on racks that are rotated in; etc.  Ask me how I know these things?  Many years of opportunities to screw up.

I can add another one, with my last boat I left a ski locker open while pulling boat out and it hit bottom threshold of garage door.  Luckily the garage door flexed, no damage....so fortunate it did not break the ski locker off the hinge.

It was my mulligan but I definitely felt like a rookie.

[dalt1]

20 hours ago, Fman said:

I can add another one, with my last boat I left a ski locker open while pulling boat out and it hit bottom threshold of garage door.  Luckily the garage door flexed, no damage....so fortunate it did not break the ski locker off the hinge.

It was my mulligan but I definitely felt like a rookie.

Done that.^^^

Hit top of Garage door frame backing in because boat was sitting up on one chine. Yes my clearance was that tight.

[Cole2001]

Well thank god for the nonskid swim platform.

Sunday we decided to go bare the freezing temperatures and head to the lake, got the boat all ready, pulled it our of the garage and put the swim platform on. once getting to the ramp (25min highway with 10% uphill grade) I notice my almost brand new iPhone sitting on the platform. let's just say the nonskid and a silicon case saved me a thousand. 

[Ndawg12]

7 hours ago, Cole2001 said:

Well thank god for the nonskid swim platform.

Sunday we decided to go bare the freezing temperatures and head to the lake, got the boat all ready, pulled it our of the garage and put the swim platform on. once getting to the ramp (25min highway with 10% uphill grade) I notice my almost brand new iPhone sitting on the platform. let's just say the nonskid and a silicon case saved me a thousand. 

Congratulations....for being able to go 25 minutes without your phone, you must enjoy conversing with your family and have a good job!!

[granddaddy55]

I now feel much better about the last 32 years! Needless to say not having a tower until last 3 helped my dumb *ss limit some problems. My most famous was the 1st year with my Checkmate outboard.  Converted trailer to more drive on friendly with bigger wider bunks.  Worked so well that when backing up at a very low grade ramp(the 1dt time after upgrade that when I unhitched the bow hook before backing down as usual and tapped the brakes too hard the boat slid off the trailer and on to the ramp, before the water!!!! the look of horror of my friends face in the mirror holding the dock line, priceless,  luckily the large crowd assembled at dock with intimate knowledge now of my embarrassment ran over and we all lifted the boat by hand (the bow was still leaning on bunks after impact) and walked it Back on to trailer to finish the launch, thank god it was a 16'9" boat and the smaller 140 hp instead of the 200 I eventually installed because one night as I took girlfriend home at after mid night from my mom's house I noticed the cover at rear of boat disturbed and off of the motor. Thought it might have been the non-existent wind.  When I came back motor was gone, the thieves heard us coming and left and when my dumb *ss left they came back and finished the job(a group of thrieves was doing it all over town but there were no forums to learn from then in 1985)!!!!  And I had to pay for the dead horse mortgage on the outboard cause I didn't have insurance that then the loan bank was not enforcing insurance requirements and their wasn't the same reporting system of today between insurers and banks

 

without a doubt this is the best thread I have read in this forum and I detected only ONE SNARKY COMMENT!

 

hey moderator you need to pin this permanently to the start of forum list as a great example of the kind human nature of even the most strident hard core members

Edited May 9, 2017 by granddaddy55