05/14/07 - a thin line of severe storms were rolling through north Texas that day. I watched the weather radar and noticed that behind the storms there was nothing, so I hooked the boat up and made the 5 minute drive to the ramp to go fish. I get there and could see the approaching weather, so I figured I'd kick back in my truck for a while and allow it to pass on by.
As I sat there, I was watching a group of kids roar back and forth by the ramp in a well appointed wakeboard boat. I presume it had the water ballast system, because the rear of the boat sat much lower and it created an ungodly wake. I always dread trying to launch or load my boat when there is another boat racing to and fro creating waves, so I was watching them with disdain. Within minutes, I noticed the 1st gusts of wind and thunder was clearly audible. In another 5 minutes, I saw a white sheet of rain moving in from across the neck. The kids in the wakeboard boat finally realized playtime was over and they raced in towards the ramp to drop a guy off to fetch the truck. He sprinted up the ramp in his flip-flops and fired up a really nice Chevy Avalanche. Someone's dad sure like to spend $ on the kids, I thought to myself. No 17 year old I know of could afford a 40k truck and 55k boat. Anyway, this kid backs the trailer into the water right as the full force of the storm hit. My truck was literally rocking due to the 50+ mph gusts of wind. Rain was pelting my window and I could hear ticks of hail mixed in with the rain. The lake transformed into a roiling maelstrom and I heard a crash as the port-o-potty blew over at the top of the ramp. In the boat were a couple girls, and they were absolutely freaking out. The kid driving the boat was having a hell of a time navigating in the 4ft swells and wind, but was determined to stab the boat on the trailer and beat a retreat. I saw where this was headed and regretted not having a digital camera handy. Sure enough, the boat pitched high and came down hard way off the trailer boards. The Avalanche jerked and the boat was up and stuck on something sideways. Full reverse was engaged, but the boat swung inwards towards the truck so it was now perpendicular on the trailer. Each wave pounded it on the trailer and the guy standing outside was furiously trying to push it back off. They finally freed the boat and he circled around to make another attempt. The trailer was moved up more and instead of trying to finesse the boat on, a decision was apparently made to bull through the waves and stick it. This time he hit the trailer pretty much center, but he struck it so hard I was almost sure the truck was going to be shoved up the ramp 5ft. The rear was still pitching up and down and it got sideways again. The boat was hooked on and the kid hopped into the truck to yank it out. The truck started to pull it out and clawed up the rain slick ramp almost to the top before the wheels started to spin. The boat was off the boards at the rear and I could see there was something odd about how the trailer was riding. Suddenly, someone in the boat remembered to empty the ballast tanks as water poured out of a couple drains ports. The inboard boat trailer had a cage built in it to frame the prop, and the prop was pushing against this as the boat was off-center. The rain had slacked considerably by now and there was a lot of interest being paid to the underside of the boat. It took 10 minutes for all the water to be pumped out. They backed it in the water again to straighten it on the trailer and as they drove back up, I could see some pretty decent gashes and punctures on the hull.
Oh to be a fly on the wall when young Chet tries to explain to dad how he damaged the boat.
As I sat there, I was watching a group of kids roar back and forth by the ramp in a well appointed wakeboard boat. I presume it had the water ballast system, because the rear of the boat sat much lower and it created an ungodly wake. I always dread trying to launch or load my boat when there is another boat racing to and fro creating waves, so I was watching them with disdain. Within minutes, I noticed the 1st gusts of wind and thunder was clearly audible. In another 5 minutes, I saw a white sheet of rain moving in from across the neck. The kids in the wakeboard boat finally realized playtime was over and they raced in towards the ramp to drop a guy off to fetch the truck. He sprinted up the ramp in his flip-flops and fired up a really nice Chevy Avalanche. Someone's dad sure like to spend $ on the kids, I thought to myself. No 17 year old I know of could afford a 40k truck and 55k boat. Anyway, this kid backs the trailer into the water right as the full force of the storm hit. My truck was literally rocking due to the 50+ mph gusts of wind. Rain was pelting my window and I could hear ticks of hail mixed in with the rain. The lake transformed into a roiling maelstrom and I heard a crash as the port-o-potty blew over at the top of the ramp. In the boat were a couple girls, and they were absolutely freaking out. The kid driving the boat was having a hell of a time navigating in the 4ft swells and wind, but was determined to stab the boat on the trailer and beat a retreat. I saw where this was headed and regretted not having a digital camera handy. Sure enough, the boat pitched high and came down hard way off the trailer boards. The Avalanche jerked and the boat was up and stuck on something sideways. Full reverse was engaged, but the boat swung inwards towards the truck so it was now perpendicular on the trailer. Each wave pounded it on the trailer and the guy standing outside was furiously trying to push it back off. They finally freed the boat and he circled around to make another attempt. The trailer was moved up more and instead of trying to finesse the boat on, a decision was apparently made to bull through the waves and stick it. This time he hit the trailer pretty much center, but he struck it so hard I was almost sure the truck was going to be shoved up the ramp 5ft. The rear was still pitching up and down and it got sideways again. The boat was hooked on and the kid hopped into the truck to yank it out. The truck started to pull it out and clawed up the rain slick ramp almost to the top before the wheels started to spin. The boat was off the boards at the rear and I could see there was something odd about how the trailer was riding. Suddenly, someone in the boat remembered to empty the ballast tanks as water poured out of a couple drains ports. The inboard boat trailer had a cage built in it to frame the prop, and the prop was pushing against this as the boat was off-center. The rain had slacked considerably by now and there was a lot of interest being paid to the underside of the boat. It took 10 minutes for all the water to be pumped out. They backed it in the water again to straighten it on the trailer and as they drove back up, I could see some pretty decent gashes and punctures on the hull.
Oh to be a fly on the wall when young Chet tries to explain to dad how he damaged the boat.
