Boat ramp antics....... Post your best stories
#1
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Boat ramp antics....... Post your best stories
We boat primarily on a flood control
lake, with all the recent rain, we have
high water, submerging one of the
major ramps.
with warm weather and less facilities,
the concentration of
"common sense challanged" people at the
ramps is higher than normal.
Yesterday I witnessed in a 10 minute period
a brand new mercury 4 stroke on a fish boat
being pulled up the ramp while still
running .
Then, it must have ben the first time out for this
one, boat battery dead, tie up the dock, park the
truck, remove battery from truck, install battery
in boat, start boat .
I have a feeling there are some good stories
here so lets hear some
jt
lake, with all the recent rain, we have
high water, submerging one of the
major ramps.
with warm weather and less facilities,
the concentration of
"common sense challanged" people at the
ramps is higher than normal.
Yesterday I witnessed in a 10 minute period
a brand new mercury 4 stroke on a fish boat
being pulled up the ramp while still
running .
Then, it must have ben the first time out for this
one, boat battery dead, tie up the dock, park the
truck, remove battery from truck, install battery
in boat, start boat .
I have a feeling there are some good stories
here so lets hear some
jt
#2
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Well. one day at bandcamp.............
Many, many years ago!! A friend of mine and I had 16' Checkmates (of outboard design, you see). We used to do a lot of water skiing on a local lake. We worked the 11-7 shift and would go mostly during the week, while others were working. This on particular day, we were about to launch the boats. He was first. He had a bad habit of backing his boat down the ramp, stopping just before the water. He would then set the parking brake, In neutral (1965 Chevelle SS 4 speed), leave engine running,then proceed to put the plug in and take the strap off. This time things would be very different. As he walked along the side of the boat, we heard a loud popping niose. Yep!! the parking brake cable broke.
All things said and done....... the only thing seen above water was the 125 Johnson and about two feet of the boat. Didn't even get the plug in either. By the end of the next week, He was back in action.
Many, many years ago!! A friend of mine and I had 16' Checkmates (of outboard design, you see). We used to do a lot of water skiing on a local lake. We worked the 11-7 shift and would go mostly during the week, while others were working. This on particular day, we were about to launch the boats. He was first. He had a bad habit of backing his boat down the ramp, stopping just before the water. He would then set the parking brake, In neutral (1965 Chevelle SS 4 speed), leave engine running,then proceed to put the plug in and take the strap off. This time things would be very different. As he walked along the side of the boat, we heard a loud popping niose. Yep!! the parking brake cable broke.
All things said and done....... the only thing seen above water was the 125 Johnson and about two feet of the boat. Didn't even get the plug in either. By the end of the next week, He was back in action.
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Threre has been several threads on this subject in the past
but here ya go....One time I saw a guy with a 30 some ft. cabin cruiser/roller bunk trailer back down the ramp with the bow strap unhooked, halfway down the ramp he hit his brakes....the rest was history.
Another time I saw a guy with a brand new Jeep Wrangler launch a jet ski and decide to engage 4x4 to get the big heavy pwc trailer up the ramp......well it didnt engage and he ended up launching the Jeep and trailer as well .....come to find out he had borrowed the Jeep from his friend
I once saw a guy trying to launch his bass boat and his wife was driving the truck.....the guy got pissed at his wife and stomped up the dock yelled for her to get out then slammed the truck into what was supposed to be drive, but he accidientally hit neutral....slammed on the gas and ended up having to swim out of his truck
I know guys who take a 12pack and lawn chairs to a busy ramp on sundays just to get their fill of entertainment
but here ya go....One time I saw a guy with a 30 some ft. cabin cruiser/roller bunk trailer back down the ramp with the bow strap unhooked, halfway down the ramp he hit his brakes....the rest was history.
Another time I saw a guy with a brand new Jeep Wrangler launch a jet ski and decide to engage 4x4 to get the big heavy pwc trailer up the ramp......well it didnt engage and he ended up launching the Jeep and trailer as well .....come to find out he had borrowed the Jeep from his friend
I once saw a guy trying to launch his bass boat and his wife was driving the truck.....the guy got pissed at his wife and stomped up the dock yelled for her to get out then slammed the truck into what was supposed to be drive, but he accidientally hit neutral....slammed on the gas and ended up having to swim out of his truck
I know guys who take a 12pack and lawn chairs to a busy ramp on sundays just to get their fill of entertainment
#4
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Know a guy who was launching his boat at his community ramp with an old station wagon, launching a 20 something foot boat. Station wagon could barely pull it up the ramp, and the wagon was no prize anyway. Parking gear let loose, everyhting went under water, except the boat.....it floated of course.
Guy called a tow truck whom instead of going way underwater to hook the cable to the cars frame, decided to put down the front windows of the wagon, and run the winch cable thru one side and out the other, and putting the hook back on the cable to winch the car out........needless to say, destroyed the car as he tore the front window posts out of the car, prior to pulling the entire roof and windowposts forward . Then he decided to hook to the frame after he destroyed the car.
Guy got a new truck from the insurance company, and we still ask him if got a depth/fishfinder on this vehicle as a factory option & when is the next car fishing trip. He just laughs.......
Guy called a tow truck whom instead of going way underwater to hook the cable to the cars frame, decided to put down the front windows of the wagon, and run the winch cable thru one side and out the other, and putting the hook back on the cable to winch the car out........needless to say, destroyed the car as he tore the front window posts out of the car, prior to pulling the entire roof and windowposts forward . Then he decided to hook to the frame after he destroyed the car.
Guy got a new truck from the insurance company, and we still ask him if got a depth/fishfinder on this vehicle as a factory option & when is the next car fishing trip. He just laughs.......
#5
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I know guys who take a 12pack and lawn chairs to a busy ramp on sundays just to get their fill of entertainment
........... I was thinking about doing that too,
maybe, take some large, numbered cards and
rate them on a scale from 1 to 10 as they load.
..........Do you think I'll piss anyone off ?
Last edited by jt29olhp500s; 05-19-2003 at 12:04 AM.
#6
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Saw a couple of bass fisherman trying to pull their bass boat up a fairly steep ramp with a Fairmont station wagon. The car just sat there and wouldn't move. Didn't even spin the tires. He "thought" that is just didn't have the power to pull the boat and trailer up the ramp. Enlisted a bunch of guys to help push it up the ramp. Wouldn't budge. When the tow truck arrived and he hooked up to the front undercarrige and winched it up the ramp. As I watched the car go up the ramp it was making a screeching noise. Yep, the parking brake was on, very tight. That's all was wrong, he thought he released the brake. Must of been a "Bud" moment.
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Without a doubt,the best one I have seen was when a new boater showed up at the ramp to take out his boat on a busy weekend. He watched as my wife jumped off the bow at the end of the dock and ran to get the truck. She backed down and I drove right onto the trailer. She hooked the bow chain and pulled me out . He had a friend get the truck for him, tried to copy what he had seen but hammered the gas ,missed the bow stop on the trailer and drove hie Celebrity Andretti 25 about 3 feet into the back of his Astro van tearing a huge gash into the side of the boat as it slid past the bow stop and winch handle. Feeling major embarrassment he quickly jumped from the boat to the van roof and then to the ground. He jumped in the van and proceeded to pull up the ramp,boat still running,drive down and still lodged firmly in the rear of the van. Well,it was a low-rider trailer so the drive dug into the concrete pulling the boat out of the back of the van and back onto the trailer. He jumped back from the van to the boat,shut it off and trimmed what was left of the drive up,hooked a rope through the bow eye and tied it to the trailer as the winch was now destroyed,hollered at his buddies to get in and drove off leaving a ramp full of onlookers laughing their asses off,me included.
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Found out this weekend what's worse than being behind a snowbird (I didn't think there was anything). I had to wait as a african american backed to the edge of the water right down the center of a ramp that should have been wide enough to launch 2 boats at a time. After tranfering his fishing gear coolers and assorted bags from his car to his boat he then decided to change his shoes before backing the rest of the way in. His friend then stood about knee deep in the water in the middle of the ramp holding the boat. He finally go the hint to move when I started backing down at a fairly rapid pace.
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Originally posted by florida gator
Found out this weekend what's worse than being behind a snowbird (I didn't think there was anything). I had to wait as a african american backed to the edge of the water right down the center of a ramp that should have been wide enough to launch 2 boats at a time. After tranfering his fishing gear coolers and assorted bags from his car to his boat he then decided to change his shoes before backing the rest of the way in. His friend then stood about knee deep in the water in the middle of the ramp holding the boat. He finally go the hint to move when I started backing down at a fairly rapid pace.
Found out this weekend what's worse than being behind a snowbird (I didn't think there was anything). I had to wait as a african american backed to the edge of the water right down the center of a ramp that should have been wide enough to launch 2 boats at a time. After tranfering his fishing gear coolers and assorted bags from his car to his boat he then decided to change his shoes before backing the rest of the way in. His friend then stood about knee deep in the water in the middle of the ramp holding the boat. He finally go the hint to move when I started backing down at a fairly rapid pace.
personally i don't think race has anything to do with it,some people just don't get it at the ramps,believe me I have been in the same situation as you,but their race never had anything to do with it.
#10
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I don't think race has anything
to do with it either.
In this day of political correctness,
there's a new class of people that are
usually always involved,
they are the: COMMON SENSE CHALLENGED
to do with it either.
In this day of political correctness,
there's a new class of people that are
usually always involved,
they are the: COMMON SENSE CHALLENGED