Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

OK... I'll start...

Tonight, I backed the boat into the driveway and took it off the truck everything was good... I was excited about climbing into the boat to hear the new Stereo that was installed today... So I hop out of my truck after parking it on the street... Turn around and BAM!!! The boat starts rolling down my driveway towards the steet, so first instinct is to try to stop it, so I jump in front and start pushing backwards (amazing how the Gym doesn't prepare you to stop a 7000lb rolling object)... So It's scraping across the street towards the neighbors driveway on the plate of the jack and finally it slams into the lip of concrete and comes to a hault after bending the hell out of the jack... So then the boat is stretched all the way across the road, completley blocking it... The Jack is bent so bad that I cannot jack it up high enough to get my truck under it to get hooked back up... So I had to call my cousin to come over with a jack so we could get it up enough to get my truck back under it and push it back into the driveway... Of course by the time he gets to the house (only 10 minutes) I have cars lined up in both directions that have no where to go since I am blocking the only road to about 40 houses....

SO... It's been a good night... Anyone know where I can get a new Jack for theTrailer...??

I know I'm not alone so let's hear it... I'll even post a pic, since my lovely finance and cousin thought it was so funny they needed to take pics...

Moral of the story... Always use Wheel Chucks... :drink:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...9/DSC00798.jpg

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Could of been much worse... Thank your luck stars and buy and nice pair of wheel chucks. :drink:

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

THAT'S FUNNY !!! :p
Although....it sounds like something that would happen to me :rolleyes: :eek: :D :evilb:

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

My budy has jumped in the water several times after launching his boat, he always seems to forget the plug...LOL

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

After that ... I have the Jack you need!



http://213.139.217.67/spirit/Jack-Daniels-1Lt.jpg

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

lmao, sorry but great story thanks for sharing most wouldnt of shared it

needed a good laugh today


and have done it, not quite so embarrassing though only in gravel lot with very tongue lite boat

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Not related to a boat and no pics but even more stupid.....
When I was 21 I bought my first house, nice house but on a virtual ski slope (I had to wear cleats to cut the grass) The universal joint on the rear drive shaft of my truck was starting the clank so I thought I'd replace it real quick before I headed out one morning. Didn't think to choke the wheels.....when a truck is sitting in the drive way WITHOUT the parking brake do you know what is keeping it from rolling away? THE DRIVESHAFT!!!
Tapped on the universal joint several times because it was "stuck". When it popped loose the rear wheels started to move a little when the light bulb in my head went off!!!!! As I roll out from under the truck it starts down that driveway that I was just describing how steep it was. Luckily I left the passenger door unlocked. As the truck was 1/2 down the drive way I catch up to it, open the door and dive in head first to smash the brakes with my hands. Left skid marks about 15 feet long and almost made it to the street. (My neighbors yard across the street continued down the same hill and flattened out in their back yard into the woods)
After I cleaned out my drawers, I locked the hubs, backed the truck back up the driveway and finished the job. Haven't changed a universal joint since!!!!

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

damn dude . . . you coulda ran yourself over :eek:

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Bingo...

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

We all have been there some way or another but not everyone brings it up on a message board. Thanks for the chuckle, glad nothing but a jack was hurt.

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Would that be a first or second cousin, that y'all be fixin to marry there??

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

18 years old.....I'm idling out of the Kenosha harbor which is pretty long. First run of the spring. I'm in my Dads 18 Donzi and feel like a stud.

I'm approaching open water when it dawns on me the boat sounds about like a Ski Nautique. Pretty quit for thru hull exhaust.

I walk back and open the engine hatch and see I'm about to sink the boat. It's then I realize the exhaust petcocks are still open from the winter.

So much for feeling like a stud......

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

I'd buy some wheel CHOCKS (about 5 bucks a pair at WalMart):

http://www.action-ind.com/images/mat...nge-1Mn400.jpg

I don't think CHUCKS are gonna do much good.

http://sneakers.pair.com/s/chuck3h.jpg

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

the matco tool guy that serviced our dealership did the ujoint thng but couldnt get out of the way, the rear wheels of the tool laden truck ran him over and almost killed him! he was in the hospital for months and i dont know if he ever went back to work.

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

I was at Smitty's marine in Brick NJ waiting to put my boat in the sling.
Ed's son comes around the corner with a 38 Scarab being pushed with
a forklift that had a ball on the end of the fork. He hits a bump and the
trailer pops off .........headed straight for the front of my dually !!!

Well I wasn't getting in the middle that.......it rolled about 30 feet and
one of the guys who works there threw a 4x4 under the trailer wheels,
stopped that thing 2 feet short of planting 2 bravos in my grill :D

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

I had the slow motion thing happen to me in the driveway. Our driveway is nearly level (or so I thought). I had parked my new 22' cat with twin o/b's in the driveway, unhooked and parked the truck. I then was admiring my new toy and leaning on the trailer. It rolled slowly into my almost as new Mercedes parked in the garage. Of course the sharp cleaver prop had to hit the bulls eye right into the tailight and trunk lid. $$$$$ I did not know if I should laugh or cry. :D :(

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

You're pretty lucky. I stopped to visit a long-time customer a few weeks ago. He wasn't there. He was mowing with a tractor at home and stopped to open a gate. When he jumped down, he unlatched the brake. He reached to engage it by hand but it was too late- the tractor ran over him and he got caught under the mower deck. Dragged him quite a ways. They said it took several hours for him to bleed to death- they found him later that night.

You can always buy more stuff- but only if you survive.

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

About ten years ago I parked my empty 33' trailer on my very steep driveway. Chocked one wheel, thought that was plenty. I pull my truck forward about 100' down the driveway to the street. I hear a loud scraping sound. As soon as I realize what the noise is. The trailer slams the back of the truck. The winch hits the tailgate dead center. The tongue gets wedged under the rear axle! I forget now how I got it apart. But it wasn't easy.

My next house will not be on a hill!

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

One Of My Best Friends Told Me The Best New Boat Owner Story Ever. Just A Few Years Ago, His Condo Was At The 9mm At Loto When He Had The Pleasure Of Observing A New Boat Owner Taking The First Splash Of His New Pontoon. He Thought This Was Safe To Assume Because Every Child On Board Was Still Wearing The Orange Around Your Neck Life Jackets When They Got Out Of The Truck And Boarded The Boat On Land. The Owner Proceeded To Back Trailer Down Ramp And Into The Water. He Got Out And Proceeded To Looked Puzzled As He Had Forgotten The Lecture From The Boat Delivery On How To "unleash" The Boat From The Vehicle. It Was Very Amusing To Watch For Many As They Saw Him Pull The Receiver Pin On The Hitch Of The Trailer As The Means To The "unleashing". None The Less, The Boat Floated And The Man Parked The Vehicle In The Lot Across The Cove From Everyone. It Took A Few Seconds After He Got In The Boat And Continued To Put The Boat In Forward And Reverse To Figure Out That The Boat Would Not Go Anywhere. His Large Wife Yelling, The Man Finally Listened To Everyone From My Friends Dock Saying That He Had Made A Small Error In Launching, I.e. Launched Too Much Equipment Which Took Several Hours And Several Of The Audiences' Help To Retrieve Back To The Shore Where It Belonged. I Have Made Several "what The Hell Was I Thinking" Moves, Yet This One I Thought Was Worth Mentioning, Unfortunately At The Expense Of A Past Boater(1 Best Day Of Owning, Day Bought And The Day Launched With The Trailer Attached And Sold Same Day).

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

well last year one week before the Jacksonville poker run i was working on the boat in my garage had the hatch up. another board member from here called me on the phone so as we talked i decided to jump in my truck and pull the boat out of the garage so i could hook the water to it and crank it . well the hatch hit the top of the door and broke the hatch in half, i almost did cry but my brother came over and two more friends and on Wednesday night before we were to leave on Thursday we put it back on fixed like new

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

I had the boat shift on the trailer as I was backing down a steep ramp. I never undo the winch strap until I'm sure the boat won't slide anywhere but in the water. Well, I hop out and go to crank the handle and that MOFO is tight. I get to feelin my oats(you, know, 5 days in the gym) and give it a hard yank. It loosens enough to disengage the pin and flys out of my hand. It was spinning so fast it hit my wrist and forearm 3 or 4 times before I could get out of the way. My arm instantly swells and turns purple, I'm sure I have broken it.


Of course I re-attached the winch cable and pulled the boat out. Took it home and put the hose to it and washed it all off. I put the cockpit cover on and trailer locks and such. I did all that with ONE arm. I then went to the hospital and had it x-rayed and soft cast put on. I also drove in the Sarasota race the next weekend with the soft cast on. :eek:

On a side note, if the ER ever asks you to describe your pain on a scale of 1-10, tell them it's a FUKKIN 15 !!! I said it was like a 4 or 5 and they let me wait for 3 hrs until I went and screamed that it was now an 11 !!!!

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Oh yeah, Lucky Strike, jr. was there to witness the whole stupid event.....

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Not boating related, but still a towing incident.
Had just purchased a GSXR-1100 years ago, and was towing it back from the dealership using my friend's Bronco. Driving down Rt. 21 in beautiful Newark, NJ, I'm going around a bend in the road and glance over to see my own bike passing me, trailer and all.
Turned out my buddy had lost the pin to his receiver, so he just used a large nut and bolt in it's place...which wasn't as strong as it needed to be.
All turned out ok, since the bike and trailer slid along and slowly coasted over to the curb. Nobody hit it, the bike stayed on and upright, and the only minor damage was to the trailer.

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

I really like the launch the trailer with the boat story, damn near peed my pants. Hey Steve H. from Longview WA, are you gonna be watching when they do the implosion on the old nuclear power plant on May 12th (i think) ? Some of the buds want me to take the Scarab out that day to watch the festivities.What are you running?- Jeff

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Thats what I meant... Thanks for not making too big of a deal of my f up. :D :drink: Wallmart model is what I use and they work great.

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

I have a Bass boat story,, just got a email with it attached (Ag!) I cant even look at it Its pretty gory..But I guess the Guy is ok.
Here it is..> >

This is an actual emergency room photo of a fisherman who lost control

>of his high-speed bass boat in West
> > Virginia.
>
>
>
> Warden's believe that he was traveling at a speed of approximately 75
>mph at the time of the accident.
>
> He was unable to negotiate a curve in the narrow waterway.
> >
> > Unfortunately for him, upon striking the shoreline and being ejected
>from the boat, he landed back end first on an old fence post.
>
>
>
>You can probably picture what happened next, but the attached picture
>really says it all.
>
>The good news is that after about 6 months, this man made a full recovery

>after suffering a shattered hip, broken leg, several broken ribs, internal

>injuries and soft tissue damage.
>
>
>
>Doctors credited his recovery to the fact that the post lodged itself so
>tightly that there was little or no blood loss.
>
>
>
>Now that's got to hurt!!!

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Guy next door to me ,He thought he was pulling the hood release to hook up his electric winch to car battery.

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

This one has been going around awhile. I work for the phone company and this was used as an example to wear your safty lanyard when in a bucket truck. They said this guy worked for the electric company and he fell out of the basket onto a pole.

Here is the rest of the story....

http://www.snopes.com/photos/gruesome/splinter.asp

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Ok... I have a non boating one.

19 years old.
Brand new Yamaha Seca Turbo motorcycle.

Bring it home and park it in the driveway. Went for another ride. Put it in the garage.

Got it back out, but I had turned it around, facing down the driveway.

Didn't seem like the driveway was THAT steep.

Put down the kickstand, let go of the bike..... rolls forward, kick stand goes up... full fairing bike goes down on one side.

Yep... it left a mark alright. :D

(It's funny now.)

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Hell, I've done all the above except for the pole up my azz!

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

I have launched w/ out the plug, left the boat sitting at the dock while I went to park the truck... cut up my feet pretty bad running across the gravel parking lot in bare beet to get the plug,,, blub blub blub trying to reach under the swim platform to get the plug in and not drown...

I have launched a jet-ski without putting in the plugs,, rode around for about an hour came back to the ramp to get somethign from the truck and it sunk right on the ramp.

Used to keep the boat on the other end of my parents lawn, hooked the boat up and dragged it over to the drive way... got out and looked over at the lawn, :eek: ,,, oops forgot to lift the drive, could have planted a few rows of corn.. luckily I stopped before the skeg hit the drive way,, not a scratch..

I came home one day from a long day of boating, use to move the boat onto the lawn w/ my dads tractor, un-hooked the boat off the back of the truck, forgot to chock the wheel, boat starts rolling off the edge of the driveway directly toward a big tree at the bottom of the yard... luckily the trailer jack digs into the grass and stops it just before the outdrive is smashed into the tree, could have planted a few more rows of corn... :cool:

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

When I wass 16 I had a donzi regazza and left the plug in during a tropical storm. upon coming home the boat was filled with water but it was just below the carberator, almost got into the motor.... we were worried that it had seeped in but we replaced the starter and it ran fine for years... the thing literally sunk on the trailer

Ernie

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

years back when my friends and i were into jetskiis a buddy and i went out one saturday. Since there was only two skis we didnt bother with a trailer and stuffed them both into the bed of my pickup. So we get to the ramp and proceed with our routine of getting ready. Unhook the straps, gass up etc.....well i start backing down the ramp with my buddy sitting on my tailgate leaning up against the skii's. Now for those of you that have never been at the ramps at North Point marina in Zion IL....they very arent steep but they are NO WHERE near flat!!! So i'm just getting over the creat of the top of the ramp and the truck is now fully tiled downward when i see the skii's starting to slid out of the bed!!! :eek: (its amazing how fast your brain can work in panic situations!!) Throughs of my then new ski hitting the ground and causing fibeglass damage was not an option to me......For a split second i take my foot off the brake to stop the truck but i think crap its only goona make then slide more......so i floor the truck and go barreling down the ramp and drive the truck into the water covering half the rear tires.....my buddy goes flying like superman with the skii's.....fuel jugs....straps....and anything else that was loose right into the water!!! his ski gets some damage and has cracks on the bottom but nothing bad.....i lost some tools to the deep.....the DNR that was watching us was laughing his a$$ off saying its the best entertainment he's seen in a long time and actually comments on my quick thinking.....and the old couple that were launched in the bay next to us that were unloading were staring at us like we were insane!

Another time also when launching our ski's....we were at a launch ramp in Evanston where theres alot of sand covering the ramp.....dude in a newish vette with a waverunner in tow launches.....now on this ramp if you dont have help or a truck you have to do deep in the water to get watercraft off the trailer......so he backs in and his tires are in the water....sitting on the sand. HE gets out and pulls the waverunner off the trailer and goes to dock it. In the mean time we see the vette starting to slide backwards!!! it goes in the drink far enough that water enters the door opening and floods the rear of the car! DOH!!! he drove it out but i cant imagine how it must smell in that car now!!! :(

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Hi, my name is Rich, and I have commited a" boating screw up" .
I just read this post, and it's time to fess up. I just did the very same thing, last fall when winterizing the boat. I pulled the boat out of the garage to start it up,while the hatch was still up. Boat was just f-in re-upholstered earlier last year. Did not wreck the material, but pulled all the hinge screws and piston screws right out of its base. Been stewing about it all winter. Dumbass!! :drink: Now deciding on how to repair stripped screw holes, or bring it back to replace the wood base.

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Those orange chocks are ok, but I still wouldn't trust them.
The chocks I have are steel and have a flat plate that the tire has to roll part way onto before hitting the chock itself. This way the chock cannot be pulled, kicked, or knocked out from under the tires. The trailer has to be backed up and off the chocks/plates before they can be removed.
I bought these at PepBoys about 10 years ago. Don't know if they, or anyone else, carries a similar type.

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

LMAO! BTW, I saw you towing your boat through Waldorf this morning, It looks NICE!

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Thanks Dave M... That wasn't me though I had someone go get it and take it back to the Shop to get the Stereo Finished... I couldn't get it back on my truck with the Jack all bent up without a floor jack...

I had a new Trailer Jack Overnighted this morning, so I will be back in business tomorrow and might even have to go for a run tomorrow... If not then Sat. for sure...

Glad you all could enjoy this...

P.S. Only Cost $120 and a little embarressment... Not too bad considering what it could have been...

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Anyone with twins ever go to flush one motor but have the "ear muffs" on the other motor so you are running the motor dry in the process? Did it last weekend................20-25 seconds of dry running!

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Jeff,

I wouldn't miss that for anything. I drive by Trojan about one a week. It will be strange to see the old cooling tower gone. I visited it on a school field trip as a second grader during construction. Lets see that would be about 1970.

I will have a few people on board. We ought to hook up. Here is a pic of my ride. 42' Harley. Just got it back in the water after a one year refurb. Hoping to use it lot this summer. I'm taking it to the Astoria Seafood & Wine Festival on the 29th. I'm also headed up river to the Tri Cities Hydro Races in July. Now thats a boat ride. About six hundred miles round trip. Would be glad to have you along on either trip. Lets see a pic of your boat so i know who you are.

Steve H

Re: Biggest Boating "Screw Up"
 

Unless they are CHUCK NORRIS!!! :evilb: