most common boat ettiquette violations at the ramp

[85scorpion]

Originally Posted by NoQuarter

I once put a boat in the water without the drain plug.

I was in college and the father of a girl I was seeing had about an 18' tri-haul Glastron. Her parents were out of town, and we thought we should try to 'sneak' it out on the water one day.

I had been driving boats since I was age 6, so I thought no problem. The thing is, the only boat I knew was a 14' Aluminum with a 9hp Johnson. And no drain plug. So we go to the boat launch in Wayzata on Lake Minnetonka, and I proceed to slowly and kind-of awkwardly back down the ramp. I roll my jeans up and start unwinding the winch.

I get the boat off the trailer about six feet and my girlfriend, Stacy, says "it doesn't look right". I say "what doesn't look right?" "The way its floating, the back end is too low, did you put the drain plug in", she asks? I say, "what drain plug?"

About this time we are starting to attract some attention and even more musing eyes. Stacy yells, "put the drain plug in, its in the back of the boat." I hurl myself into the boat and trip and fall over all this stuff her Dad has in the boat. I looked everywhere, but can't find anything that looks like a drain plug.

So I jump out of the boat and started try and push it back onto the trailer, but it's too heavy! Now you have to understand that her Dad was kind-of a rough dude, and I don't think he really liked me dating his daughter, and now I might very well have sunk his boat! Full panic mode sets in!

At this point about four guys come over and basically take over the situation. The oldest guy (I swear he looked like Capt Ahab) told us to push and he cracked the winch. We got it back on the trailer, but now the old truck we had wouldn't pull it out! Capt Ahab hooked his F-250 4x4 to the front of our truck and pulled the whole mess off the ramp.

The water drained for a long time. Capt Ahab looked things over and said everything was fine, so Stacy and I never mentioned the 'incident' to her father. He used the boat the following weekend and never said anything was wrong, so I guess no damage.

To this day I check the drain plug prior to launch even if there is no reason it would have been removed. A lesson well learned that day.

The fear a girlfriends dad can put in you! LOL....

I forgot to put my plug in once in my first boat, we went out camping on an island and luckily the tide went out that night so the water starting draining out as the boat was sitting on shore for the most part, just a small 14-15ft Grumman center console. I went to go "check" on our boats and see water is coming out of mine, I call my friends down so we decide to pick up the bow and help her drain, then put the plug in. Talk about lucky.....sorta lol...Gotta love the dumb mistakes everyone makes with their first boat.

[Rickster]

Years ago a friend was draining water and leaves out of the back of his boat when he inadvertantly threw a handful of leaves AND his drainplug overboard!!!!

The shoreline was pure rock. So he and I drove back and forth past the only sandy beach area which was full of people, yelling our heads off telling them to move out of the way.

After getting the last of the fall leaves and water out of the boat I gave him the wheel as he proceeded to run the boat up on the beach in front of 20 people who were on their backs laughing their heads off.

He was the butt of jokes around his summer home for years after.

I'll never forget how much we all laughed!!!!!!!

[rexmitchell]

I launch and retrieve my boat virtually everytime by myself. It is a 22 ft scarab and we only have 2 ramps. I am 95% quicker than people with 2 or more helping them even though I have to tie up and go park my trailer a block or 2 away, I can still do it quicker. The thing that chaps my as$ the most though is these "duck" tours. Its the tours that are a big bus that also goes in the water and puts around giving tours of the city/lake. Well these guys blow down the ramp about 20 miles per hour and into a no wake zone, putts a wave like 3-4 feet for all the boats tied up, I haven't seen the cops out there this year to complain but that is super annoying to have your boat banging around for that crap.

[beben4512]

Originally Posted by rexmitchell

I launch and retrieve my boat virtually everytime by myself. It is a 22 ft scarab and we only have 2 ramps. I am 95% quicker than people with 2 or more helping them even though I have to tie up and go park my trailer a block or 2 away, I can still do it quicker. The thing that chaps my as$ the most though is these "duck" tours. Its the tours that are a big bus that also goes in the water and puts around giving tours of the city/lake. Well these guys blow down the ramp about 20 miles per hour and into a no wake zone, putts a wave like 3-4 feet for all the boats tied up, I haven't seen the cops out there this year to complain but that is super annoying to have your boat banging around for that crap.

Any way, It 's a good forum for us to discuss . Thanks a lot !
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[Scooter B]

What about the dipchit in the Ford Ranger blocking a double backdown with his hippy girlfriend trying to load two plastic kayaks into the back of the truck! I was ready to crush those smelly kids with my 11,000 LB rig

[stevesxm]

Originally Posted by Scooter B

What about the dipchit in the Ford Ranger blocking a double backdown with his hippy girlfriend trying to load two plastic kayaks into the back of the truck! I was ready to crush those smelly kids with my 11,000 LB rig

i was surprised to see you there that day...

[rexmitchell]

Originally Posted by beben4512

Any way, It 's a good forum for us to discuss . Thanks a lot !
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A little confused what this post meant????

[LAriverratt]

Originally Posted by n20michael

I have a couple:

First one was "ME" being the "launch ramp idiot", luckily, we where launching at my cottage, so, it wasn't a public launch, had my 21ft Larson [previous boat] hooked to my 4 wheel drive Envoy, its POURING rain, but, it was 4pm Friday, and I was ITCHING to get out in the boat, so, I am backing it down the ramp, trailer gets back a fair ways into the water, I get out and undo the winch/strap and back a little farthur into the water, boat still isn't floating off trailer, hmmmmmmmm, decide to back a little FARTHUR into the water, STILL, not floating, it was at THAT point I realized that I hadn't undun the rear trailering straps! UGGHHHH!!!

No Problem, right? just pull boat out and undo the straps, jump into truck, put it in 4wd low, and sit there motionless as all FOUR tires sit and spin, unable to even MOVE trailer, much less pull it out of the water. On goes the scuba mask, and I "walk?" into water 6ft deep to undo straps, not the best way to Christan a new boat!

THE ALL TIME BEST!

A family are out boating and are having some "mysterious" mechanical problems, after 30 mins of so of "self diagnostic" they cant figure out whats wrong?

The family decide to pull into a local marina and ask if they can have a look at whats going on? The marina owner gets in the boat and starts it and notices it runs "fine", so, he attempts to go for a test drive, the boat will barely move?

The marina owner decides to stick his head over the side and have a look, he see's something in the water and leans over farthur and sticks this head in the water....

Comes up out of the water laughing so hard he can barely breath......He found the problem, get this!

The trailer was STILL attached to the bow eye!!!!!!!!

I cried when I heard the story, still cracks me up!

I did the same thing with my bay boat a few years ago when I backed into a private launch with a cousin from out of town...we talking about so much chit cuz we hadn't seen each other in awhile that I just got out unhooked the bow strap handed him the bow rope and told him to walk down the pier while i backed in...I hadn't been to this particular launch before so I kept slowly backing and thinking to myself...damn this is a shallow launch.... I stopped just as my back truck tires were about 1/4 way under water and looked back thinking... something is not rite here... then noticed the fenders ever so slowly rocking a little and started laughing my ass off at myself...pulled it out and unhooked the straps problem solved.

[rexmitchell]

Originally Posted by Scooter B

What about the dipchit in the Ford Ranger blocking a double backdown with his hippy girlfriend trying to load two plastic kayaks into the back of the truck! I was ready to crush those smelly kids with my 11,000 LB rig

Got to experience this last night. Guy left 2 kayaks in 1 of 2 ramps and went to park his car about a block away.....hes lucky someone didn't punch a hole in one while he was gone. All the guy had to do was put the yaks in the grass next to the dock, wtf was the point of putting them in the ramp?

[boatntrkr]

Gotta love Austinites..