Thank god for the bow safety chain!!!!! oops!

[Polar_Bus]

Did my calm pre-ramp checklist :

1) PLUG IN ? yes
2) rear rachet straps off? yes
3) blower venting? yes
4) bow and stern lines ready? yes
5) got the dam boat keys ? yes
6) PLUG IN? yes again.

OK I am ready, I start to back up towards the ramp, and things are fine, I start to back down the ramp and all of a sudden I hear a loud clacking ratchet type noise, and I feel the trailer make a loud bang... WT...????!!!

The stupid ding-dong I am I left my winch in freewheel mode to buff around the bow eye this past spring.... (and I have a roller type trailer) ! So I almost lost my boat off the trailer, but the bow safety chain adverted disaster!

THANK GOD I RE-ATTATCHED THE BOW EYE SAFETY HOOK after I was done buffing the hull !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (You all can quickly figure out what the moral of this story is)

 

[MikDee]

Re: Thank god for the bow safety chain!!!!! oops!

Lucky for you! I'm glad it turned out okay I could see myself doing something similar

 

[Rowroy]

Re: Thank god for the bow safety chain!!!!! oops!

Good deal.

 

[cantaris]

Re: Thank god for the bow safety chain!!!!! oops!

Saw the result of something similar.As pulled my boat to the dock and saw a 28ft cabin cruiser sitting on the ramp and 2 big tow trucks trying to get it back on its trailer. Turns out the guy forgot to hook the safety chain when he loaded on to the trailer. As he was pulling up the ramp he gives it more gas and his winch strap broke. Looking at the damage to the transom and his outdrive was heart wrenching and probably going to cost a fortune. So you got lucky.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Thank god for the bow safety chain!!!!! oops!

Good save !!! and a great reminder to us all just how important that is.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Thank god for the bow safety chain!!!!! oops!

Did that a few years ago when pulling my boat out of storage. I had loosed the winch for the winter but luckily left the safety chain attached. The boat did pull back a bit on the drive by the chain coupled with the tie-downs in back mostly kept it in place.

 

[Navy Jr.]

Re: Thank god for the bow safety chain!!!!! oops!

I went boating alone today and, as a newbie last year, I'm still nervous with each outing.

It struck me this morning: when you think of all the things that can go wrong, and by golly there are a lot of them, one can only wonder why anyone in their right mind would even consider buying a boat.

Of course, those thoughts all disappeared as soon as I got the boat out on the water...

 

[lmannyr]

Re: Thank god for the bow safety chain!!!!! oops!

Good Save!! I always remove the safety chain at the pre-launch area. I will change that right now even though I have bunks.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Thank god for the bow safety chain!!!!! oops!

By golly, didn't I just post about the "Value of a bow safety chain!"