Re: First boat outing this Saturday....need some loading tips?
Got to the lake at 9AM, an hour off schedule, but no big deal. Ramp was not too crowded when we got there. Parked in the lot and got everything ready, which took about 30 min. Launched the boat without incident. Wife pulled the trailer out of the water and managed to get it parked, which I was quite surprised by. It was her first time with a trailer.
Headed out and did some cruising for about 30 min and then beached for an hour and swam. Loaded back up and did a little more cruising, then headed back to the ramp. This is where the problems started.
The ramp was a little more active than when we arrived. The lunch crowd was beginning to show up and a good number of people were leaving. Beached the boat and headed up to get the truck. This was a 4 lane ramp with 3 slots open. Of course there is someone in the lane that I want to be in and they are taking their sweet time with doing things to the boat that should be done in the parking lot. I was wanting the outside lane that was nearest my boat so that I could just pull it on with a rope. I finally gave up on the guy moving and backed it down into the water in the next lane. Wife got in the truck while I backed away in the boat and attempted approach #1.
Found out pretty quickly that I should have practiced my low speed maneuvering while out in the open water. I made about 6 attempts at lining up with the trailer, but was never able to get it together. I got partially on one time, but ended up at about a 30 degree angle to the trailer and got the boat wedged in between the poles sticking up on the trailer. When I reversed out, it drug the trailer about 2 ft to the left. Of course everyone on the lake was now deciding to call it quits and there are half a dozen boats in the ramp area. I think I was getting confused when having the motor in reverse for some reason, possibly because all of the other boats were making me nervous.
Finally, a nice guy heads over to the truck to ask my wife if we need some help. He wades out into the water and guides the boat on as I approach. He said he was in the same situation (new boater) about 2 years ago and he just about tore his trailer up trying get his pontoon loaded. He suggested that I was doing too much wheel turning while trying to align myself. I thanked him, pulled up into the parking lot, got everything strapped down, and that was that.
It was an excellent first outing, but I have been beating myself up over the loading incident all day. Now I'm anxious about the next trip. I am definitely going to see if I can get someone from church or work to go out with me and practice before we go out again next weekend.
after reading your explanation of your preperation I figured you'd do pretty good, as you have alot more of that sense stuff than some people lol.
