notaz3
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2009
- Messages
- 33
If you where at lake Kaweah (East of Visalia, CA) today, I have some explaining to do?
My first post, as well as my first day being a boat owner (technically the bank owns it, but I?m making payments
).
The day started out great. Weather was hot and I was taking possession of my brand new boat. Get to the dealer early so all last minute papers can be signed, and everything can be taken care of. Expert sales staff helps me hook everything up to the truck. First oops, forgot to get the adapter for the five flat wire connector and truck has four or seven round. No worries I just go into their parts department and pick one up. Now it is off to the dealers ?on the water orientation? as I?m new to a boat that can be put on a trailer (or one that can be operated with less than a few hundred people).
Everything is connected and working so off we go. Get to the lake and start the pre staging. Second oops, there is no stern tie downs. Seems the dealer feels it is okay to tow with just the bow hooked to the winch. Should I be concerned with this (I?m getting straps tomorrow)?
Pull over to the launch ramp and it is long and steep (Did I mention I haven?t towed a trailer in a very long time?). Nice thing is it?s a wide ramp and there is no one on it. Takes me a few tries but I manage to get the trailer down without hitting anything but water. I came down kind of in the middle of a ramp wide enough for three and we are going to be practicing pulling on and off the trailer, so the dealer jumps in my truck to straighten it out and put it to one side. The wife and I jump in the boat and get ready for some education and practice.
We pull off the trailer without any problems, and head a little way from the dock. Take it back to the trailer and load back up again complete with connecting the winch without any problems. The wife and I both do this a few times (Wife got the hang of it quicker than expected making me proud). There was only one other boat that launched during this, and there was room for three so we didn?t take up any space. Once we felt comfortable with the trailer thing it?s time to get the boat off the ramp.
Did I mention that I had the dealer move my truck? Well here comes oops number three, seems I didn?t tell him that my truck will arm the alarm two minutes after the last door is closed. He said no problem I left the window down. Well the alarm also closes the windows and locks the doors. Now we have a truck sitting on the ramp (thankfully it was off to the side), with the keys locked inside. One call to AAA and a tow truck is on the way.
Decided, we had no way of moving the truck for a while so we head out a little and just keep the truck in view. After about twenty minutes we headed back over and practices some more with the trailer, as well as docking. The ramp started to get some business, so we just hung out connected to the trailer (this way we could explain to people that we where dumb not rude). During that time I got to watch some of the ramp follies. We saw a house boat launch with about eight people aboard. There was a nice wake boat doing the ?put up top, load everything? routine (not that I could judge seeing as I blocked the ramp for about 45 minutes).
Finally tow truck arrives and twenty second later we are able to move the truck and get it up the ramp to the parking lot (Thank you AAA). Sent the dealer home (he had done his part in training and helping us make our first mistakes). We spent the next two hours enjoying the lake and our new boat. Then we loaded up, pulled off the ramp, checked everything (I have got to get stern straps) and headed home.
Tow home was very uneventful (other than my lead foot does not like going 55 and neither does the truck). Got home and found out that ?yes my boat and truck will both fit in the garage? with minimal maneuvering of trailer to get it to one side.
For a day that started out great, it ended even better. Now I have a story to tell, along with my new boat. And we didn?t forget the plug or the out drive.
Oh and by the way an F250 four door, and a Glastron GLX 185 can both fit in a two car garage, with enough room to get in and out of ether (even though it?s not much), we just had to demote the van to the driveway.
My first post, as well as my first day being a boat owner (technically the bank owns it, but I?m making payments
).The day started out great. Weather was hot and I was taking possession of my brand new boat. Get to the dealer early so all last minute papers can be signed, and everything can be taken care of. Expert sales staff helps me hook everything up to the truck. First oops, forgot to get the adapter for the five flat wire connector and truck has four or seven round. No worries I just go into their parts department and pick one up. Now it is off to the dealers ?on the water orientation? as I?m new to a boat that can be put on a trailer (or one that can be operated with less than a few hundred people).
Everything is connected and working so off we go. Get to the lake and start the pre staging. Second oops, there is no stern tie downs. Seems the dealer feels it is okay to tow with just the bow hooked to the winch. Should I be concerned with this (I?m getting straps tomorrow)?
Pull over to the launch ramp and it is long and steep (Did I mention I haven?t towed a trailer in a very long time?). Nice thing is it?s a wide ramp and there is no one on it. Takes me a few tries but I manage to get the trailer down without hitting anything but water. I came down kind of in the middle of a ramp wide enough for three and we are going to be practicing pulling on and off the trailer, so the dealer jumps in my truck to straighten it out and put it to one side. The wife and I jump in the boat and get ready for some education and practice.
We pull off the trailer without any problems, and head a little way from the dock. Take it back to the trailer and load back up again complete with connecting the winch without any problems. The wife and I both do this a few times (Wife got the hang of it quicker than expected making me proud). There was only one other boat that launched during this, and there was room for three so we didn?t take up any space. Once we felt comfortable with the trailer thing it?s time to get the boat off the ramp.
Did I mention that I had the dealer move my truck? Well here comes oops number three, seems I didn?t tell him that my truck will arm the alarm two minutes after the last door is closed. He said no problem I left the window down. Well the alarm also closes the windows and locks the doors. Now we have a truck sitting on the ramp (thankfully it was off to the side), with the keys locked inside. One call to AAA and a tow truck is on the way.
Decided, we had no way of moving the truck for a while so we head out a little and just keep the truck in view. After about twenty minutes we headed back over and practices some more with the trailer, as well as docking. The ramp started to get some business, so we just hung out connected to the trailer (this way we could explain to people that we where dumb not rude). During that time I got to watch some of the ramp follies. We saw a house boat launch with about eight people aboard. There was a nice wake boat doing the ?put up top, load everything? routine (not that I could judge seeing as I blocked the ramp for about 45 minutes).
Finally tow truck arrives and twenty second later we are able to move the truck and get it up the ramp to the parking lot (Thank you AAA). Sent the dealer home (he had done his part in training and helping us make our first mistakes). We spent the next two hours enjoying the lake and our new boat. Then we loaded up, pulled off the ramp, checked everything (I have got to get stern straps) and headed home.
Tow home was very uneventful (other than my lead foot does not like going 55 and neither does the truck). Got home and found out that ?yes my boat and truck will both fit in the garage? with minimal maneuvering of trailer to get it to one side.
For a day that started out great, it ended even better. Now I have a story to tell, along with my new boat. And we didn?t forget the plug or the out drive.
Oh and by the way an F250 four door, and a Glastron GLX 185 can both fit in a two car garage, with enough room to get in and out of ether (even though it?s not much), we just had to demote the van to the driveway.
