It my boat's maiden voyage (at least maiden after I bought it), after a gutting the interior, and replacing the engine.
We took it to the lake after stopping for some gas, drinks, and ice. My boat has a cooler with a drain to drip off the melted ice, and I hadn't re-connected the hose. The hose that was on there previously had split, so I cut off a little piece of old water hose, and threw it in the boat as we were heading out.
In the pre-launch area, I jumped in the boat and started installing the drain hose while everybody else pulled the cover and straps off.
Got the hose on, threw the drinks and a couple of bags of ice in the cooler, and headed to the ramp.
Backed down the ramp, and got the fenders under water. The boat looks like it's riding a little low on the trailer, so I back down a couple more feet, to get it up higher. My wife assures me they're floating.
I remove the safety chain, and winch strap, and give it a push. I can't budge it. She decides to fire the engine, and just back it off. Fires it up, puts it in reverse, and doesn't move. I back down another foot or so. Nothing.
She throws it back in reverse, and gives it some gas, and the boat and trailer just start moving sideways on the slippery moss.
All of a sudden, the wife says "Oh. The rear straps are still on!" :redface:
I thought they'd pulled those off while I was installing the hose, but I guess the only straps that got removed were the cover straps.
I pulled it up the ramp (luckily nobody was waiting), and we pulled the straps off, and backed it back down. The boat floated right off.
We got a laugh out of it. We were just glad nobody else was there watching us.
Of course, things only went down hill from there. Ended up stalling out, just outside of the cove, and having to get towed back in...
The rear strap mistake is one we'll only make once though...
We took it to the lake after stopping for some gas, drinks, and ice. My boat has a cooler with a drain to drip off the melted ice, and I hadn't re-connected the hose. The hose that was on there previously had split, so I cut off a little piece of old water hose, and threw it in the boat as we were heading out.
In the pre-launch area, I jumped in the boat and started installing the drain hose while everybody else pulled the cover and straps off.
Got the hose on, threw the drinks and a couple of bags of ice in the cooler, and headed to the ramp.
Backed down the ramp, and got the fenders under water. The boat looks like it's riding a little low on the trailer, so I back down a couple more feet, to get it up higher. My wife assures me they're floating.
I remove the safety chain, and winch strap, and give it a push. I can't budge it. She decides to fire the engine, and just back it off. Fires it up, puts it in reverse, and doesn't move. I back down another foot or so. Nothing.
She throws it back in reverse, and gives it some gas, and the boat and trailer just start moving sideways on the slippery moss.
All of a sudden, the wife says "Oh. The rear straps are still on!" :redface:
I thought they'd pulled those off while I was installing the hose, but I guess the only straps that got removed were the cover straps.
I pulled it up the ramp (luckily nobody was waiting), and we pulled the straps off, and backed it back down. The boat floated right off.
We got a laugh out of it. We were just glad nobody else was there watching us.
Of course, things only went down hill from there. Ended up stalling out, just outside of the cove, and having to get towed back in...
The rear strap mistake is one we'll only make once though...
