Back in far enough!

[WaterWitch2]

Re: Back in far enough!

well if the clip and riging is to costlly wrap yourself in bubble wrap when working around the boat.

Do you mean like this?

 

[Rob454]

Re: Back in far enough!

I went fishing with my buddy one time. We were all the way down in Oceanside. ( about 80 mile drive) We loaded up everything we get there Im taking off the cover, getting the boat ready and I tell him
Me-Hand me the fishing poles.
Him- Theire in the boat
Me- No theire not theire in the truck
Him- Dude I put them in the boat
Me- Dude I put them in the truck.
I think you see where this is going. Called my wife and asked her to look outside. Sure enough they were in the front yard laying on the grass.
She just laughed at me on the phone and hung up. Wouldnt pick up the phone again. Probably too busy laughing. Loaded up hit the nearest wally world and got two cheapo saltwater fishing rods.
Funny thing was we hooked 12 yellowtails that day.

 

[Dudders]

Theres something I've forgotten I just know it.

Theres something I've forgotten I just know it.

My wife and I are on about our 3rd or 4th trip out. We think that we are just the ducks nuts driving down the road with our flash new boat. We turn up at the dock eventually (traffic jam on the freeway). Our friends are there to meet us (they got there 45 minutes earlier - via motor bike!!). So we get the boat launched no worries, load her up and we all jump in and get all comfortable. I reach down to turn her on and "hello - where are the bl**dy keys????"
Oh no, I have left them at home!! Usually a 20 minute drive but the traffic jam will make it a 1 hour turn around!
The daughter comes to the rescue.
While we are waiting and figuring what to do another boat pulls up to go home, we say we have a little problem and will get out his way right away. Of course he asks "Whats the matter?", and of course I have to say "The wife left the keys at home" - WHACK - I didnt know she was that close!
We ended up having a great day.
Wont be doing that again...

 

[jasonh]

Re: Back in far enough!

I drove from Dallas all the way to Lake Texoma one weekday to go fish. I get to the ramp and back her down into the water. As I hopped in to prime the fuel line bulb, I noticed there was no fuel line or bulb. That was the one thing I forgot - the damn fuel line.

Yanked her out, strapped it back down, drove 25 miles into town searching for a Walmart, parted with some unnecessary $, and schlepped back to the lake.

I remember thinking to myself the whole time, "gosh, I wish I was more like okanaganguy. Maybe if I was more like okanaganguy I would not have forgotten stuff and my life would be more rewarding and satisfactory. Oh well, we can't all be okanaganguy. Someone has to occupy the other end of the bell curve, may as well be me I guess."

 

[dave524]

Re: Back in far enough!

Ok, enough harasment ! Time for another story. Bought a new - used boat and could not wait to take my wife out on it. Got to bear in mind, my wife is 38, and has battled ovairian cancer and won, so moments together on the water have extra special meaning to them for me. Got to our favorite lake, Nockamixon, in SE pennsylvania, and went to launch the boat. I always prep the boat in the staging area as to not tie up the ramp. Well, I unstraped everything, and tied the ropes on to the boat, backed her in the water and it came off perfect. Next while my wife is holding the boat at the dock, I pull out the trailer. First show. I caught the corner of the ramp with the trailer wheel, and launched the trailer about 8 ft into the air. My wife is laughing hystericly as are others at the launch. Well we go out and had a nice 5 or 6 hour run with the boat and had a nice day. came in and loaded the boat, no problems at all. pulled into the staging area to tie her down and then realized I left all the straps, and the transome saver laying in the parking lot when I unhooked it. WOW !! What a expensive trip. After all of the bitching about how stupid I was to forget to put the stuff in the truck, my wife sugggests to check in lost and found. I politely said there is no such thing here. If you cant laugh at yourself and your own mistakes, who can you laugh at ?

 

[MikDee]

Re: Back in far enough!

Well, I can tell this is where I belong, somewhere that we can laugh at ourselves after our dumbass moments, causing frustration, embarassment, and, or minor injury, learn a lesson, or teach a lesson.

My Dad had a few boats as I was growing up, so I was familiar with them, & was hooked on them, Many yrs ago I bought my own first boat, it was a old, very worn, 68' Larson 16' with a 6cyl 70hp Merc outboard, quite an improvement over my Dad's 16' Thompson with a 40 Evinrude (non electric start), Anyway the first launch, I was so proud, but a nervous wreck, and after dropping the boat in, I parked the car, and walked back to get in, and start her up, as I stepped into the boat, I accidently dropped the keys in the water just beside it, and of course with no float on it yet! straight down they went, well I was over the side in a flash clothes, & all, without thinking (like a pearl diver), luckily the water was only 4ft deep, and they went straight down, I was able to retrieve them immediately, but that kinda calmed me down quickly, like throwing a wet blanket over me, and I was embarassed, and became very humble, couldn't get out of there fast enough,, lol,,, I wasn't used to having keys for a boat? it was always pull start,,, lesson for that day: Make sure you always have a floating key ring!

 

[PondTunes]

Re: Back in far enough!

Yeah,your local ramp is THE place for impromptu moments of perceptual dysfunction.

NO ONE is immune,no matter how seasoned and experienced they may be.

Don't want to advertise your foibles?
Understandable,but you have cheated us all out of a good laugh,and maybe,some wisdom.

I HAVE forgotten the drain plug.
I HAVE forgotten the bait.
I HAVE done the Bill Dance at the ramp,and,elsewhere.
Motor/fuel line/fuel tank/battery?
I have forgotten these as well!
Paddle?
Always forgotten untill you ARE up the creek.

Poles?
Tackle?
GUILTY!

Utter whatever expletives come to mind/mouth,then,LAUGH!

These things happen for a purpose(God needs a laugh,too. Maybe you have the top billing today? ).

Above all,LEARN.
If you have had to relearn an old lesson,PASS IT ON.
Chances are,SOMEONE out there needs it for the first time,or,just requires a refresher course.
That slight wounding to your pride could very well save someone thier life!

Speaking of forgetting things. How about forgetting the boat keys only to drive back to the house to get them and realize they were in your jeans you changed out of before you carried the cooler down!

Now both vehicles have a set of boat keys in them

 

[Hunky Dory]

Re: Back in far enough!

I'm with OKANAGANGUY on this, what's wrong with the rest of you?

Except perhaps that time when I was out walking on water and the wind was dragging the boat around the trailer guide by the painter and I desperately need a foot or so of slack to flip it over and I remembered all about parallax and refraction but the next step I took did not touch any part of the trailer toungue until my shin skidded along the I beam in the 46 degree water that took my breath away as I was attempting choose between obscenities and desperate cries for rescue but could produce neither. On Sunday, next to the packed picnic area. Big splash, but I'm sure nobody noticed so it doesn't count.

Or maybe it was the time I was standing on the bow preparing to alight like MacArthur while the boat aimer came in at 7 knots and I discovered how much more pleasant is free flight than uncontrolled landing. Big Crash, but the witness was not a boat owner so I don't count it either.

I haven't developed plausible excuses for other slight excitements (like leaving the cooling system plugs out so that water is pumped aboard). Twice. So I won't mention those events.

So maybe nevermind...

 

[Sig_Mech]

Re: Back in far enough!

My dad always had a boat back in NY and after 35 years I finally got my own to teach my son how to fish. One of my first times out I take the wife and kid to a mountain lake here in Colorado. Thank god there was no line for the ramp but there were plenty of people fishing from the shore. I load all the gear into the boat, get the motor ready to go, put the plug in and tell my wife to back it down. I've been married 19 years and never knew that she couldn't back a trailer. I back it down just until the trailer wheels are in the water then i jump in the boat and have her just roll the truck back. Before I know it the water is halfway up the tailgate on the truck, the boat won't come off the trailer and a good breeze from my port side has just blown my boat and trailer off the side of the ramp. Now the entire rig is at 90 degrees to my truck. I yell at my wife to pull forward but the rear wheels are just spinning and she can't get the truck locked into 4 wheel. I jump out of the boat and soak my only change of clothes and wade to shore. Some old guy looks at me and says" Ya gotta disconnect those tie down straps on the stern". Trying to be polite I yell out a hearty "Thank you" to which he replies " Did ya put the plug in Einstein"?
I got in the truck, put it in 4 wheel, pulled the boat and trailer up the ramp and just kept going.
It took a couple of hours to cool down but now I have a good chuckle every time I launch.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where ya going?
Fishin.
Ya got worms?
Yeah, but I'm goin' anyway!

 

[steve201]

Re: Back in far enough!

man...I feel for Okanaganguy.....I mean....ever since i got these damned holes in my feet...I haven't been able to walk on water either.....but I digress......we're all human...we make mistakes...and the best thing to do is laugh about it...and if you have a good story and feel secure enough in your man/woman-hood...then posting just makes for a fun time...if there is a sense of humor cell still in your dna, then post to let others laugh..........I've made a mess of mistakes...best thing to do is just laugh it off and don't do that again!!!..buuuuuuuuut ....that's just me!

 

[eriediver]

Re: Back in far enough!

I fell off my swim platform 2 weeks ago.



While the boat was sitting on the trailer in the marina lot, (mind you that's 6 foot in the air)
right after my wife told me I was gonna fall wearing those sandals

 

[KnottyBuoyz]

Re: Back in far enough!

A;ways have that paddle on board.... damn thing can be very very handy in sticky situations.

We've learned to carry a paddle after wrapping a mooring line around the duoprops 25' from the dock! It (the paddle) is appropriatly named!

 

[repoman]

Re: Back in far enough!

Myself and cousin took my 15ft bass boat out last night. As he is not familiar with boating, and i did it for 7 years in the army, he took my truck, and i took the boat. we only fished for about 45 minutes before the rain started. So back to the shore we went. As he backed the trailer to the slip for the 3rd time (first 2 were not any good). When he put the truck into park, it began to slip down the launch and into the lake. I was 40 feet off shore and just thought "Oh @#$%!" to myself. He stopped it just in time for the exhaust to touch the water, and i had him pull forward a bit, as i knew the slime would not allow the truck to get out with the boat attached.

 

[mrfixitman40]

Re: Back in far enough!

wow i am new to boating and thinking about selling now i have done some really stupid things but so far (knock on wood) they haven't been in the boat yet atleast i know where to come when i do them which i am sure i will just hopefully when i do they are painless so i can laugh along with the rest of the people

 

[KnottyBuoyz]

Re: Back in far enough!

Most Canadians are OK, eh?

Absolutely! I even have my credo(sp) in my signature....

============================
It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled sea of thought.
John Kenneth Galbraith {1908?2006}


JK Galbraith was my mother's second cousin. Wise man. Only met him once though. He had a brilliant career and was a great Canadian.

 

[kanai8238]

Re: Back in far enough!

as being a proud canadian don't throw away the whole barrel because
of one bad apple,it's all about having fun out there,thats why we do it,
good boating to all.

 

[sankanother1]

Re: Back in far enough!

"Next time I would suggest disconnecting all straps and cables before launching the boat. Then I have the wife loop the rope around the front and back of the boat on the dock side then just hit the brakes when I see that transum float then the boat gently floats off while she controls it with the ropes. We have launched it this way for about 2 years now and never have had any problems."

Now THIS procedure is prime for posting something on stupid human tricks!!! Unhooking all lines and cables before backing down the ramp is how some poeple end up with hearing a bit "THUD" as their boat lands on the ramp concrete.

When, not if....but WHEN that happens, please post your stupid human trick here, puullleeezzee!!!

You beat me to it..I just saw this happin on Sunday..BRAND NEW boat too..everyone is rushing to get those scallops

 

[mrfixitman40]

Re: Back in far enough!

What i saw yesterday fits right in here . I was sitting in line to back in to load my boat while in front of me a guys backs in to unload everything looks good. He continues back when he hit the brakes the boat comes off . OOPS noones in the boat and the ropes are all nicely tucked away . another boater decides to help and swims out to the boat to get in and drive it into the dock.OOPS again the keys are home on the kitchen table so back into the line and get towed to the trailer what a labor day adventure he had.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Back in far enough!

Mistakes ?? We have all made them and will continue to do so. Sharing them out here lets you know it is "not just me" LOL

 

[valkyr]

Re: Back in far enough!

Some old guy looks at me and says" Ya gotta disconnect those tie down straps on the stern". Trying to be polite I yell out a hearty "Thank you" to which he replies " Did ya put the plug in Einstein"?
!

Ohhh man that is soooo wrong, but very funny

How about pulling into the marina from the main channel and not adjusting for wind? I was idling forward toward the marina dock, not accounting for the strong crosswind. Seconds later, I hear....."Crrrrunchhh". The boat stopped right in the water. The wind had blow us over to the starboard bank (and the rocks just underneath the water). Luckily, THANKFULLY!, no damage done. But I was sick and embarassed as I had my sister and BIL on the boat. DoH!