Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

[mike64]

Last weekend, me & a friend had trailered my boat and were ready to go when his brother called him. His brother had just bought a boat and was heading out from a slip he rented. We told him to cruise by the public launch so we could get a look at his new boat.

...so we're hanging out at the launch keeping an eye out for his brother when we we see this: a kid (17?) in a good-sized (21'?), brand-new expensive looking boat coming up to the dock. A girl is with him and a guy (his or her dad?) is waist deep in the water guiding them in.

The kid guns the motor and I thought he was attempting a ridiculously fast power load. He realizes he's way too fast too late and turns, and I thought he was going to take the pier out! He does clip the pier. The dad yells for him to back up and try again. So the kid backs up too fast, going sideways, and clips the pier AGAIN from behind. He starts coming into the dock again, too fast and at an angle, the dad is yelling SLOW! SLOW! and goes in further, so he's chest-deep, and grabs the bow eye, trying to wrestle the boat in himself (no tie lines to be seen). Now, the girl I figure is the girlfriend of the kid and the daughter of the guy in the water, because she's screaming back at the guy, defending the kid. He yells "put it in neutral!" And she yells "it IS in neutral! Leave him alone" ...when I can clearly see the prop spinning. So the guy in the water is chest deep, holding the bow eye, and says "now put it in forward SLOWLY!" and I think he's going to get run over, but somehow they do finally manage to trailer the boat.

It's been bugging me since then that I didn't offer to help somehow. I told my wife the story and she thinks I should have done something. I didn't because one, I'm new to launching and trailering myself. I didn't really feel qualified to step in and try to take charge of their Big Expensive Boat. Two, it was an ugly family situation with yelling and screaming. Three, I didn't want to get hurt myself! Maybe I could've offered to guide the boat in while the dad took over piloting the boat from the kid.

So when do you guys mind your own business, and when would you step in and try to help in that kind of situation?

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

The problem in situations like that is that the good-hearted helper can become just an additional voice, confusing the issue even further. It sounds like the situation was confused enough to begin with.

I see similar things at the launch a lot. The experienced boater is out of the boat, leaving an inexperienced boater to handle the boat. Sadly, such situations often end in tragedy.

In this case, it sounds like there wasn't much experience anywhere near that boat. The blind leading the blind, more or less.

Since there was a dock there, the boat owner should have docked the boat, tied off, gotten his trailer, then dealt with loading. Standing waist or chest deep in water with an inexperience boater driving a boat towards you is just folly.

I doubt you could have helped much, since the situation was pretty much out of hand already. I'm just glad nobody got hurt.

 

[markh28]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

Well if it were me, I would have left them be. Getting a boat back on a trailer isn't the time for a teenager to learn how to maneuver a boat around. He obviously needed some more experience. The guy should have took the boat back in a cove or some out of the way place and let the kid pilot the thing around a little bit to get used to the "feel".

I sympathize with them though, as last weekend was my "first time" at trailering a boat (14' fishing boat). Its not as easy as it looks.

Still, I wouldn't have intervened. Some people have to learn things the hard way. Hopefully next time they will be a little more prepared. Glad no one got hurt.

 

[xxxflhrci]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

Common sight at the public landing I use. It is a heavily used landing on the weekends, so I rarely go out on a weekend to avoid the crowd. However, it is sometimes fun to just go sit and watch the "show". I've seen tow vehicles roll into the lake, boats ran completely up on the concrete, boats put in with the trailer still strapped to it, boats nearly sink from no plug, and so on. Sometimes, I will off a guy if he looks like he is wanting help. However, there are times when you can just tell that the owner already knows it all and doesn't need or want help from an outsider.

 

[darylfw]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

You could easily just yell out can I give you a hand. sounds like the dad would of welcomed you taking over for the kid.

 

[KeyWestBoater]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

Having been on the receiving end of getting help, my wife was having trouble backing up the trailer while I was in the boat and a nice guy backed it up for her, I think someone struggling would be glad to have assistance offered. It could be something simple such as holding a rope, etc. Of course you should only offer if you think you are qualified to help. Of course you wouldn't want to drive someone's expensive boat onto the trailer if you're still learning yourself. If someone's in danger then sometimes you have to jump in anyway. Don't beat yourself up, it ended up ok and you will have plenty of other opportunities to help someone.

 

[mike64]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

Well, this wasn't a case of someone having a little trouble. In that case I think I would have offered help for sure. This was a scary, messy situation-- the kid either had no clue what he was doing or was actually trying to mess with the older guy-- revving forward, revving back, not really paying attention to what the older guy was telling him. Meanwhile the girl is screaming at the older guy to leave the kid alone. The older guy in the water between the trailer and the boat, trying to wrestle the boat to a stop. It would have been more of an intervention than a simple offer of help.

 

[obezag]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

Similar thing happened to us last time we were out. After boating we were slowly cruising up the creek to the launch to trailer. A nice new boat passed us going to the ramps. I'm watching him, keeping a safe distance, to see which ramp he was going to choose. He swings out pretty wide so I figure he's taking the left ramp but I hold back just in case. He comes to a stop and starts drifting then hits reverse and gets turned all the way around and is backing into the ramp! People on the boat jump in and are trying to muscle the thing into position while he's piloting. I just kept throwing mine into reverse to keep clear. Luckily we were the only ones at the ramps. My wife made a good observation. "At least you know you adjusted the new shift cable right!"

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

I always offer help when I see those situations. If it is accepted then I take a calm and relaxed attitude to the boat recovery to the trailer. If it is refused (and sometimes with insults) then I sit back and watch the show !!!!!
Always interesting to see !!!!!!

 

[eaglejim]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

When the yelling starts I just break out a chair and a cold bottle of water and injoy the show,shows with whole familys are the best

 

[mike64]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

Thanks for the input, guys. Next time I will offer help in that kind of situation. I think looking back, if I had just grabbed a couple tie lines and had the kid shut down the motor I could have helped the older guy guide the boat in without much trouble.

 

[jennis9]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

i wonder why the older guy didn't have a gaff/oar or lines on the dock, sounds like neither of them had an abundance of common sense. you can load a jet ski on a trailer from the water - not a boat grabbed by the bow eye, he could have been pinched between the dock or slipped on algae and fell under the boat... sounds too heated for my taste. and if you are questioning your skills, you might have been too nervous trying to help. and getting orders from a clueless guy would have made it worse. trust that you made the right choice.

sometimes it's good to just be an observer - don't beat yourself up. what would you have done if there was an injury? cell phone 911 takes longer to connect - you should have a local emergency number keyed in as a backup. keeping an eye on the situation is helping too. just be ready and aware of a situation in case it turns ugly. in your case - you might have been the only adult who could think to act accordingly.

a few weeks ago, we saw a storm and high winds suddenly roll in and knew there would be a few nervous people at the dock. we had secured our craft earlier and went back to help. we grabbed a few extra lines, wheel chocks and a gaff -- and our cell phone. when we did approach people, we told them our boat was already secure and asked if they wanted help so they didn't think we were dock freaks and they knew we had experience with dock lines. people were quite thankful to have a few extra hands that day.

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

It never hurts to offer help.

Just be ready for the fact that a lot of people won't want it even if they need it.

My brother used to say the easiest way to deal with people at a crowed ramp is to bring the biggest jerk with you so the other jerks don't know what's coming.

Not my theory but it's a theory.

I don't know but it seems people tend to make the ramp a stressful thing when they don't need to.

My friend who taught me how to back a trailer for long distances around different objects really just taught me to relax even make fun of it.

He'd always say things like "whoa where ya going " or "whoa don't do that" being silly while backing.

So if you combine backing a trailer, putting a boat on a trailer and the risk of wreaking it. With people around.

People just stress till they can't think no more.

 

[mike64]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

Jennis9--That's what I thought-- where were the tie lines??

I think the older guy wanted the kid to slowly power load the boat onto the trailer and winch it from there (never mind the big NO POWER LOADING sign). Then, when the kid starting getting out of control he panicked and grabbed the bow eye. But that boat had to be north of a ton-- if he had gotten between boat & dock or boat & trailer it might not have ended well.

 

[mike64]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

I don't know but it seems people tend to make the ramp a stressful thing when they don't need to.

Yeah, I was pretty stressed the first few times I launched. But between the "best practices" on launch etiquette and safety I've learned on this forum, and plain old common sense, it seems I'm already better than half the people I see at the launch.

...another thing I've seen almost every time I've launched (the public launch can accommodate 4 at once at this lake) is someone getting their boat in the water and finding out they have a dead battery. How hard is it to check that before you head out?

 

[Nandy]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

I always go by my gut feelings. If there is any type of screaming and hot heads I wont do anything especially when dealing with frantic spouses.

 

[eli_lilly]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

If there are no dock lines then it's difficult to safely assist. If the guy is neck deep in the water and some kid is whipping the boat around it's an accident waiting to happen and I would be staying far from it.

-E

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

...another thing I've seen almost every time I've launched (the public launch can accommodate 4 at once at this lake) is someone getting their boat in the water and finding out they have a dead battery. How hard is it to check that before you head out?

No kidding...

I always start my boat up and run it in a blue barrel before I leave the house that way I just drop the boat in, park my van and start up and go.

In and out baby clear the ramp for others to use it, cause I'm out of here.

 

[mike64]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

No kidding...

I always start my boat up and run it in a blue barrel before I leave the house that way I just drop the boat in, park my van and start up and go.

In and out baby clear the ramp for others to use it, cause I'm out of here.

Yeah, that's what I do-- run 'er on muffs, get good and warmed up, then head to the lake.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Watched an ugly trailering. Should I have offered help?

Of course, if you have a Johnson outboard on your boat, you never have to worry about it starting.