New boater picking up his new boat.

[gregpro50]

This happened a couple weeks ago. There was a middle aged gentleman and his wife picking up his new boat at the marina where I stopped for gas to fill mine. He got the trailer hooked up with the lights and chains and everything and gently pulled out into the road then all of a sudden a huge crash with a dragging sound followed by another huge crash. I looked just in time to see what I thought was the trailer falling off the hitch and dragging on the ground. When the guy realized it, he slammed on the brakes and the whole boat then whent through the back window of his Toyota Highlander to say hello to him in the front seat.

What happened was he forgot to put the pin in the reciever and the whole thing pulled out of the hitch. He must have only been going about 15-20 mph when it happened but I couldnt believe the damage to the boat and the SUV.

 

[Labman]

Re: New boater picking up his new boat.

Ouch, I wonder if that will affect his 50+ (old Guy) insurance discount?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: New boater picking up his new boat.

My boat passed our car twice. Once for me and once for my father. Lesson learned that even though the boat ramp is only a 1/4 mile away you should still attach the safety chains and make sure the hitch isn't merely sitting on top of the ball. DULP! My uncle said members of our family have to learn things the hard way and that apparently all must be present for the lesson to stick

 

[srothfuss]

Re: New boater picking up his new boat.

I kind of feel bad for the guy in this situation.

 

[240sx4u]

Re: New boater picking up his new boat.

I am shocked it took so long to fall out.

Bummer, that was an expensive lesson.

 

[ne7800]

Re: New boater picking up his new boat.

Man i have had nightmers about that kind of thing

 

[olehoggvalley]

Re: New boater picking up his new boat.

No kidding same here!

 

[Uraijit]

Re: New boater picking up his new boat.

What a bummer!

Generally, when I hook up, I like to make sure that two people have checked it, in case the first guy misses something. There's been many-a-time where I've walked back to double-check someone's hookup, only to discover the hitch not being latched, or a safety chain still sitting on top of the tongue.

We always do a full light check too.

Of course, if these people were both unfamiliar with towing, it's unlikely that neither would have noticed.

It only takes 1/2 a second of negligence to undo a lifelong perfect track record...

There's no shame in asking someone who knows, but sometimes it feels that way.

I'd imagine that it was much more embarrassing to put his boat through his back window, than it would have been to ask a salesman to check to see if he'd hooked up properly.

I've never seen a story posted on here about some "Loser who asked for advice", but this forum is chock full of stories about that "retard who was too proud to admit he needed help".

I hope his insurance covers all the repairs, and that he goes on to learn all about, and enjoy boating and towing safely.

It'd be a shame for them to write it all off because of a single uneducated mistake.