getinmerry
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2007
- Messages
- 211
Every year I trailer my uncle's 2007 Sea Ray Deck Boat (24" or so) to launch and retrieve. It's our spring and fall ritual since he doesn't have a vehicle capable of towing that kind of weight.
The cottage community he lives in has 3 roads out. All going up hill to the same main road. 2 of the roads are brutally steep where they join the main road- 1 is not quite as steep and wider. All have stop signs right at the top of the hill.
I'm always nervous driving his boat to the ramp because it means tackling the hill- stopping at the top- then restarting to pull onto a two way highway. This boat weighs about 7000 lbs with trailer and fuel. Typically I have someone up on the highway watching for cars- they then radio me the all clear and I gun it up the hill, blow off the stop sign and turn onto the highway.
This year there was a problem. 2 of the 3 roads out of the community were blocked due to pipeline construction. I had no choice but to use the steepest one with a large hump where the road meets the highway.
We did the same system. My father sat on the highway and radioed me when there was no traffic so I could get a running start and pop up onto the highway.
All was going well. I crested the hill with the truck, started to make the turn....all of a sudden, there was a blood curdling sound. The sound of metal meeting asphalt. My truck went from 15 mph to a dead stop in less than a second. Talk about whiplash!
I quickly assessed the situation and realized that the trailer hull support in the center under the bow had caught the hump in the road. It dug in about 8 inches into the road bed. The trailer sides were now also laying on the road and the trailer was basically teeter-tautering on the hump.
My father suggested that I quickly try to back up and dislodge the trailer because my truck was now blocking a lane and a half of a highway. sooner or later someone would come whipping around the blind curve up ahead and kill us all.
I tried to back up. Gave her all I could. It wouldn't budge an inch! At that point we had to call 911 and get a patrol there to take care of traffic. They quickly arrived and controlled the traffic. They called a tow company for me. The driver showed up and quickly realized there was nothing he could do. The trailer was dug in too deep and needed to be lifted out of the crater it created.
The tow driver called someone he knew and arranged a large forklift. The forklift arrived about 1/2 hour later. He lifted the the back of the boat/ trailer and I pulled forward onto the road....smooth as silk.
Once dislodged, the policeman asked me how this happened. I explained to him all the details leading up to the calamity. He laughed. I was expecting a ticket for admitting to blowing off a stop sign. No ticket- in fact, he was writing in his report that all road damages, and towing expenses are to be billed to the gas company for not taking into consideration the needs of the community and the ability for emergency response crews to get in and out.
We launched the boat (2 hours late). The boat was unharmed. The trailer sustained pretty minor damage. I had to replace 2 U bolts and straighten the center support. All in all, it could have been much worse!
The cottage community he lives in has 3 roads out. All going up hill to the same main road. 2 of the roads are brutally steep where they join the main road- 1 is not quite as steep and wider. All have stop signs right at the top of the hill.
I'm always nervous driving his boat to the ramp because it means tackling the hill- stopping at the top- then restarting to pull onto a two way highway. This boat weighs about 7000 lbs with trailer and fuel. Typically I have someone up on the highway watching for cars- they then radio me the all clear and I gun it up the hill, blow off the stop sign and turn onto the highway.
This year there was a problem. 2 of the 3 roads out of the community were blocked due to pipeline construction. I had no choice but to use the steepest one with a large hump where the road meets the highway.
We did the same system. My father sat on the highway and radioed me when there was no traffic so I could get a running start and pop up onto the highway.
All was going well. I crested the hill with the truck, started to make the turn....all of a sudden, there was a blood curdling sound. The sound of metal meeting asphalt. My truck went from 15 mph to a dead stop in less than a second. Talk about whiplash!
I quickly assessed the situation and realized that the trailer hull support in the center under the bow had caught the hump in the road. It dug in about 8 inches into the road bed. The trailer sides were now also laying on the road and the trailer was basically teeter-tautering on the hump.
My father suggested that I quickly try to back up and dislodge the trailer because my truck was now blocking a lane and a half of a highway. sooner or later someone would come whipping around the blind curve up ahead and kill us all.
I tried to back up. Gave her all I could. It wouldn't budge an inch! At that point we had to call 911 and get a patrol there to take care of traffic. They quickly arrived and controlled the traffic. They called a tow company for me. The driver showed up and quickly realized there was nothing he could do. The trailer was dug in too deep and needed to be lifted out of the crater it created.
The tow driver called someone he knew and arranged a large forklift. The forklift arrived about 1/2 hour later. He lifted the the back of the boat/ trailer and I pulled forward onto the road....smooth as silk.
Once dislodged, the policeman asked me how this happened. I explained to him all the details leading up to the calamity. He laughed. I was expecting a ticket for admitting to blowing off a stop sign. No ticket- in fact, he was writing in his report that all road damages, and towing expenses are to be billed to the gas company for not taking into consideration the needs of the community and the ability for emergency response crews to get in and out.
We launched the boat (2 hours late). The boat was unharmed. The trailer sustained pretty minor damage. I had to replace 2 U bolts and straighten the center support. All in all, it could have been much worse!
