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Comments
OK here's funny one.......
A few year back when I had a 19 foot Bayliner cuddy (I gave it to my daughter) a friend and I were fishing, trolling for strippers, when my friend said my lure was on top of the water flopping. I guess it had caught some sea weed. I stopped the boat to reel in, but before I could reel in a sea gull came down and grabbed the lure. When it flew away it must of set the hook in its beak. When I started to reel in the gull started flying in circles. It reminded me of flying a gas powered model airplane when I was a kid which was controlled and operated on a string. Around and around we went. After about 10 minutes I got the gull down and next to the boat. Not knowing what to do I reached down and grabbed the gull by the neck and picked it up and sat it in the rear seat. Looking at how he was hooked in the beak I got my needle nose and removed the hook. I told the gull all was fine but it did not want to leave the boat. We sat and looked at each other wonder what to do. We finally picked the gull up and put him back in the water.
That gull was the only thing we caught that day........
Len
You have to love the water....
Len & Robyn 342 FV Freebird
that 'crane' we called them, gave chase.. he ran from that thing like it was Lucifer himself, all the while still attached via pole and line.. it was quite a comedy for me to observe..
All I got say is....
Boating is just a wounderful thing.....
Len
You have to love the water....
Len & Robyn 342 FV Freebird
Nothing more interesting than the first few busy days at the ramp. The truly well initiated former ramp swimmers keep one clamped to the steering wheel or key switch (like I do) and, like yourself, tied at the drain plug hole.
Don't feel bad. Like Steve said every trailer warrior has his day at the ramp too.....no matter how OCD checklist crazy he is. Glad it wasn't the end of your 8week old boat. X_X
I left it tied to the dock... it had been heavily raining for several days straight, and there was standing water throughout the boat and it rode low in the water.. I managed to get her fired up, and turned on the bilge pump as I was slowly motoring out of my little cove.. I let my buddy take the helm and I reached back between the two 6gallon tanks and behind the battery box to snag the plug.. as we increased speed, and after a few minutes, the boat was cleared...
we got to our fishing hole.. it was a secluded cove w/ shale bottom and tons of downed trees all around it's shoreline.. it dropped dramatically- whereas a distance of five feet from the shoreline you were likely to be in ten feet of water.. I didn't have a depth finder on that rig, I didn't even know what one was at the time, but my 75' ski rope turned anchor rope swung worthlessly above the bottom... So, we would just float in that cove, and motor back to the center when we had to do so..
I was on the stern, my buddy took the bow.. I casted and retrieved many times, and while carrying on a conversation with my buddy- something gave me reason to look toward him, and I realized I was looking uphill.. yup.. I looked at the dash, and there sat the plug... oops..
I got her fired up and the next couple of seconds and jammed the throttle forward... it took a lot longer to drain out this time than it did the first... and this time, I put the plug back in the dang thing before we stopped moving..
that could have been ugly..
If I had a nickel for every boater I saw at the ramp that forgot their plug........
Mark
2019 MTX20 Extreme
drew, that story sounds familiar! I forgot the plug in my dad's old 17ft Chris craft. I thought I was a sly guy taking a girl out for a bit. Then I walked to the back, and oh, there was water just over the blue shaggy carpet in the back. We always had the plug in the boat, but that day I couldn't find it. I jumped in the water, put my finger in the plug hole while my girlfriend flirted with two guys that towed us in. The guys didn't even know I was there until we got to the ramp.
)
OK, another story.... here is a cool one that just happened last Tuesday. We were on way back into the bay coming from VA Beach heading towards the Ches Bay Bridge/Tunnel. I finally got some play time with my radar (I do radar for a living, you'd figure it wouldn't take me a year to mess with it) & I got things working fairly well. I had this boat that was heading toward me just outside the tunnel area and seemed locked on to my heading.
I put the tracker on him with the radar and it seemed he kind of aimed at me more. I was becoming a bit peeved cause he was really ruining my course. As he got closer I saw a blob on the radar behind him....hmmm, I thought. At this point he was about 2 football fields away. Closing in more I became concerned and all of a sudden noticed a big submarine behind him and he was a police escort! Holy Crap! I did a 90 deg turn to my port and told my kids to take a look cause they'll never see a sub moving in the water that close again.
Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express
Here's a couple good ramp stories from my fishing days. Brother and I partner on a Astroglas 16" Fish-n-Ski years ago. He reads in one of his bass fishing magazines that if you spray the bunks with silicone spray the boat goes on and off the trailer easier. We launch, he parks and sprays the bunks, we fish all day get our fill and load up. Now we are good at this launching thing so he backs me in and I pull off, like clock work. Next time out, we are all loaded, unhooked and backing down the ramp. Then I notice the boat seems to be going just a bit faster than the truck. I start yelling faster, he tries but to no avail. Thud the boat hits the ramp and since he is still coming the bow gets pushed up by the bunks to about 45 degrees in the air. Now I'm yelling stop!! YEP that silicone spray works great!! He pulled up a bit, lowered the bow and was able to get the winch on her. Backed down the rest of the way teetering on the trailer.
One other time we were out with friends all weekend. Same boat. Tough weekend on the lake. We saw a boat burn to the waterline mid lake. Saw another capsize when all aboard tried to get off at once at the dock. Again we are good at this launching/retrieving thing. Brother runs up hooks up the trailer, backs down between two others on a 3 lane ramp. While watching him come down I saw a guy put his boat on the trunk of his car. Blamed the wife for backing in too far. While they are working on that I slide by perfectly, brother gets me winched in, I jump off and walk alongside as we go up the ramp. Right where the ramp breaks I hear a thump, look down and see the hitch come off the ball. Some how he locked it down ON TOP of the ball not ON the ball. No chains either. Well there was this split second where nothing moved. I grabbed that little cranky thingy with the wheel on it in the front of the trailer. I had it for just a second and then gravity took over. I did my best to steer that thing down the ramp past the others loading their boats, barefoot, OUCH!! Once it made the lake I unhooked the winch strap to let the boat float away. Brother backed in again, we tied the winch strap to the ball hitch and he pulled up the ramp to reset the trailer. I swam for the boat. We did it right the second time that day.
Funny thing was a friend was talking with the ranger about how rough a weekend it was on the lake when the ranger says look there goes another dumbbutt chasing his boat down the ramp. A quick OH CRAP and he bolted to give us a hand.
PC BYC, Holland, MI
a few years back I had purchased a brand new regal at the boat show.
the dealer had 2 identical boats in stock...1 with a blue hull and 1 with a red hull,take your pick.
we gave the dealer a deposit on the blue hull and set up a water test for the day after the show ended.
the dealer shows up at the ramp and unhooks the strap and safety chain and proceeds to back down the ramp while my brother and I watched.
As soon as the trailer hit the pitch of the ramp...off flys my new boat all the way down the concrete ramp making the most godawful sound you've ever heard
after the initial shock wore off I yelled to the salesman who was still in shock at what had just taken place...
"I've changed my mind...I want the red one instead"
2007 rinker 270
"Julie Ann"
I thought for sure it was going to be........Regal with no keel and a crunched OD, Nah :-t . I think I want that Navy blue Rinker 270 instead.... and that's the rest of the story.
you're right tiki
they had sprayed the bunks prior to the show and off she went...
2007 rinker 270
"Julie Ann"
Five years ago we took a trip from our port Gig Harbor to desolation sound Canada. This is around 200+ miles one direction. Desolation is a great spot in the NW because the water reaches 75-80 degrees (unlike home where it's 40-45 degrees). You are actually at the base of very high mountains with 100's to 1000's of feet of water below your boat. Actually it's really not that far from Whistler/Blackcomb, so the mountains still have snow.
So back to the trip, after your reach the North end of the Gulf Islands you reach the Straits of Georgia. This is a very large body of water. West is Vancouver Island and East is the City of Vancouver. It's so big that in the center the horizon is mostly water, maybe a pin of land. Before you cross, you are to listen to the VHF to see if the Navy exercises are active or not. If active you must travel along Vancouver Island for many miles before turning East to go up the East side of Texada Island and then North to Desolation. On the way home the next week, I missed the call on the VHF but noted a large boat about a mile a head of me cutting straight across the Strait. I figured all was good. Well about half way into the straight (very little land in sight) A very small object was approaching me at a very high rate of speed from the sky! The next thing we knew we had the Canadian Navy Helicopter hovering just off our boat. One of it's crew held a sign with the VHF number I was to dial to. On the mic. I heard...(YOU ARE IN RESTRICTED WATERS AND IF YOU DO NOT TURN WE WILL IMPOUND YOUR BOAT!) Me... (Point your helicopter in the direction I need to travel sir). And then I proceed to follow until I saw the noted Islands I was to go by originally before I headed South again.
It may not sound like a big deal in this little story but my heart was in my throat as the guns on his helicopter pointing right at us 100 feet from the water. Turns out the navy ships that day were shooting torpedo's for war games with the US ships. Oooops... And the boat I was following a mile back was one of the smaller navy vessels performing in the games. Douple Oooops!
Sensor story for little kids....
A few years back my wife, son, in-laws and I took a loop around an Island in our area. I was cruise just on a plane moving quite slow. Maybe 20-22. The water was calm and no breeze. The weather was around 80 degrees. We were about 100 feet off shore enjoying the view of the homes and BAM! I hit something. It wasn't hard like a rock or a log. It was like hitting a soft flat tire so more like a big thug! I stopped the boat and we all looked back. In very slow motion about 25 feet back the water began to boil and foam. Then the boiling and foaming began to turn red and redder. HOLY you know what! I thought to myself.... ...I just ran over a scuba diver!!! As it was flailing about in dark shiny rubbery skin. I put the boat in full reverse and everyone is thinking the worst! The pool of churning red was about 5 feet round and as it began to calm.... My father-in-law yells back to me stop! It's just a seal!!!
We all just sat there in shock for another 5 min getting our sorts back as it's amazing what a Dou-Prop can do....
It took me about a week to shake the crappy feeling that lingered. After a few stories with other boaters, It appears the seal must have been ill or sleeping just on the surface and with it's dark skin matched the color of the water.
We continued the trip for another hour. At this point in time we trailered the boat. When we hauled her out, I checked the props. Nothing was bent but the short fur was still on the props..... Uug!
The year 1972 and my parents had a 38ft wood boat and my dads buddy had a similar older boat around 40ft. We cruised with them for many years and the stories that happened should have been in a best seller. That same year, I was around 8 years old and both boats were cruising at 6 knots in a 1/2 mile wide channel during gale-force winds and high seas. Not a good place to be if one were to break down. Well that's what happened to my dads buddy. See, some how a cotter-pin came out of something and he lost his transmission drive. No forward or reverse. So by CB he calls to my dad to stop and that he just needs to retrieve the pin to put it back into place. The engine hatch is about mid ship in the solon. The hatch is about 3X4 feet in size. The buddy is about 2X3X6`2" in size. Well what happens next goes down in the record books. He gets stuck! And his wife CB's my dad... OMG HELP!!! He is stuck and we are bouncing all over the place and the shore line is zipping by....!!!!! Now it's gets better. My dad pulls the dinghy in and he and I jump in leaving my mom to run the boat. Yeah that's right we get into the dinghy to go save this guy stuck in the bilge during a GALE!. Some how we get to his boat and manage to get on board in the heavy wind/rain and waves. We run up to the solon and his @$$ is sticking out of the hatch with one leg in and the other half out and head down! OMG my dad said, how the heck did you get in like that. (Apparently, as he was getting in the hatch the boat lunged and he miss stepped and fell in basically head first). The force of the fall wedge him in tight like a pickle! There was another hatch smaller next to him so my dad opened it up. To big for him, Soooo, I crawled in under him and over the transmission wiggled a bit more over to the broken pin. He could at least see me and tell me how to put it back in. All I could do was crack up during this entire 10 min process. In the meantime, my dad is yelling repeatedly we are getting very close to shore hurry the HE$$ up! OK I GOT IT, I SAID!!! I move out of the way of the shaft and into gear she went. Back up above, my dad handed the wheel to his buddy's wife. Then he and I spent the next 30 min getting him out the hole! Not to worn or tattered he had only a bump and a scratch and a slight limp for a few days. Needless to say, when we got to our destination, my dad and is buddy finish an entire fifth of scotch! And I got a great boating memory that my mom and I still get to share! Bless her 89 year old heart!
LG