fiasco at the boat ramp

[sandm]

kind of a long story, but sure an eventful afternoon yesterday..

my buddy has a 94 boomerang that needed some work done after the winterization. took it to the lake yesterday to check out the pump and make sure the cooling system worked. we were sitting at the bottom of the launch, where there's only room for 2 at a time with a shared dock in the middle about 20ft out into the lake. we sat at the launch point and waited for the mechanic to show up. there were 2 guys in a small fishing boat waiting to pull out. the mechanic told me to put his boat closer to the dock, so I pulled up and started to back down and dump in the water. the guys in the fishing boat(obvious they had a few in them) thought I was pulling out so they proceeded to head toward the dock. as they saw me backing down again, they backed up and I watched them run into the buoy. didn't think much. was a mastercraft x-10 dropping next to me at the same time. 3 20-something guys and 3 girls. 2 guys in the truck and the other 4 in the boat. another guy in a brand new mb b-52 waiting to pull out with just him and his wife. went up and parked the rig along with the mastercraft guys. it's about 1/8mile uphill to park. as we are walking back down the ramp, I can see the guys that backed into the buoy still attached to it and the motor up. mastercraft guys are walking much faster than me and get to the dock first. once I got down there, the guy with the b52 was trying to leave. was his first outing, never owned a boat before and out there with no help. the m/c guys were giving him a hand trying to stabilize the boat, no one in it and the owner standing on the dock trying to get it on the trailer. m/c guys were giving him all kinds of crap for not driving it on the trailer, basically making fun of him. he ended up in the water, on top of the trailer trying to pull his boat up onto the trailer since his wife did not back down far enough. felt sorry for the guy and only imagined his experience spending 50-60k on a boat and having these m/c 'tards poking fun at him.. helped him get loaded then got on my buddies boat. putted out the 50-60 yards to the guys stuck on the buoy and we spent 10 minutes helping them get untangled..
it was a very eventful afternoon. gotta love the early boating season outings and all the fun you can see :)

[kaneboats]

Yup, gotta love the spring. Can't tell you how many times I've jumped in a newby's truck and backed their trailer down for them. You think they would go to a store parking lot at night and practice a little, but NOOOOOOOOOOO! They want to practice at the ramp on the first nice day.

Love my park b/c there are 4 ramps and I've never waited more than 5 min or so. Within about 2 min. there is an older park with 3 more ramps (but no docks and they are not long enough for our boats) that lots of the fishermen with smaller boats as well as jetskiers can use. I used to drop my 17 ft runabout there with no problems. Really takes the pressure off the main ramps.

[mmandley]

Our first day on the Hagg Lake was nice. Only fiasco there was when we were floating listening to tunes and enjoying the sun, we got flaged down by some fishermen in a North River boat. I was like they can be asking us to move out of there trolling path, we been here for hours.

Nope they killed the starter battery and were asking for a tow. From a Tow boat LOL.

Roped them up and off we went, dragging them back, i was tempted to crank up the tower LOL. They kept saying go slow because i don't want to hit you. I said don't worry about it, no way im letting you rear-end me, i got close to the dock turned sharp and it ran them nose first to the dock so they could steer it in and i tossed them the rope.

Malibu was sitting at the dock watching, i cranked up the tunes and rolled out nice and slow. It was great.

I can only imagine how much the fishermen hated asking the Wake Boat for a tow when they hate us so much already lol

[sandm]

makes you wonder why the fisherman "hate" us so much..
there's an area at our lake called the cliffs. it narrows up a little and the banks are a vertical drop. usually around 175ft deep. it's probably a couple miles long. fisherman love to fish there and most of us that recreate don't spend time there. most mornings, there's between 40-50 boats along that stretch.
when we camp, I have to go thru that area every morning on the way to the marina to get gas and ice, usually around 10am when the pumps open. I usually roll thru around 30mph and I get some real nasty looks. I've thought a couple of times about stopping and asking them if they would rather have my wake roll thru at 30, almost non-existent, or if they would rather I slow down to 15 or so and send some rollers around there.
I'm sure all they see is a boat, presumably filled with young kids(far from the truth :) ) and assume that we're going as fast as possible, and don't ever think that maybe we are trying to be somewhat courteous toward them..

[jester]

Early season is great. You just know you will be waiting at the boat ramp for 2 boats to pull in or out and it will take a good 30 min. A few weekends ago i gave another wakeboard boat a tow that New to them and it would start then die. Just as i was pulling up to the dock with them in tow a fishing boat cut me off since he wanted to get out of the water before the boat in need. It is good to be nice to other boaters and let them learn now because when summer hits there is all ready enough people out that have issues on the ramp.

[Grady]

I bought my first boat about 3 years ago, and all I knew was boats were fun. The dealership gave me a test drive and quick class, I was on my way. The first saturday me and the wife, were headed to the water. We pulled up to the boat ramp and there was a truck in the water about 30 feet from the ramp. The guy didnt put it in park all the way. So we found a spot and watched the show, and let all the other boats in line go first. I watched ever lil move they did so I wouldn't be the next one, making costly mistakes.

Of course being the a newby, I got a story. The wife, me, and some friends headed out to the water, been about 2months since we ran the boat. I unhooked the boat, got in, wife backed me in the water, and battery was dead. So there I was floating in the water, with everyone wondering why I wasn't coming to pick them up.lol A fisherman came by and gave me a jump. Another lesson learned.

[kaneboats]

I have a 42 min. ride to the ramp. I'm in the habit of checking the battery every time before I leave the driveway.

[skiyaker]

When I was out last Sunday my dad gave me a call- his house overlooks the lake and he noticed there was a pontoon boat with a few guys passing around a joint and drinking- so he just wanted me to know so I could avoid them. Well I get back to the ramp and there was a lady just begging me to go out and give this boat a tow that ran out of gas- you guessed it same boat. So what do I do? I know the guys are doped up and drunk but I couldn't tell the lady no so I went out and gave them a tow- and man these guys were smoked up out of their mind. Best part was they were somehow worried I was going to hurt their boat. So I got them to the dock then got the heck out of their way. Fun times.

[phospher]

When I was out last Sunday my dad gave me a call- his house overlooks the lake and he noticed there was a pontoon boat with a few guys passing around a joint and drinking- so he just wanted me to know so I could avoid them. Well I get back to the ramp and there was a lady just begging me to go out and give this boat a tow that ran out of gas- you guessed it same boat. So what do I do? I know the guys are doped up and drunk but I couldn't tell the lady no so I went out and gave them a tow- and man these guys were smoked up out of their mind. Best part was they were somehow worried I was going to hurt their boat. So I got them to the dock then got the heck out of their way. Fun times.

personally, i would be a lot more concerned with the alcohol as opposed to the pot.

[Razzman]

personally, i would be a lot more concerned with the alcohol as opposed to the pot.

I'd be even more concerned with the combination of both! ;)

[Razzman]

We don't hit the water on Memorial Day, July 4th (unless were at Shasta) or Labor Day due to all the freaking morons on the water at our local lake. Instead we show up at the ramp with an EZ-up, chairs, cooler and video cam to watch and chronicle the follies. It's hilarious to see some of the stuff that happens and without a doubt it's the twice a year boaters that please the best!

During those days the watercops are always right off the ramp, last year besidea all the normal follies a Mastercraft X-Star launches with a butt load of 20 somethings onboard. Well besides the fact that a few of the girls were transom riding while underway in the no-wake zone, one of the girls steps onto the swim platform, slides off and pees in the lake while underway! All this right in front of the cops not 50ft. away! :p What a bunch of morons!

Watercops immediately stop them, cite the captain, give them a 30 minute or so safety inspection, find some goods, arrest a guy and kick the boat off the lake! All because the captain didn't have control of his crew or his boat, what a dipshnit!

[jester]

Now Razz that is funny. What you should do is talk to the friends of that boat and see if they would like to buy the video or their friends on the bow or their friend using the swim platform of the friend being taken away. I think the last two would bring in the most money.

[Grady]

That's a good one!! lol

[cbboarder]

Headed to the boat ramp on Friday for the first time (ever)! I'll let you know how it turns out. Luckily it's a one way trip. Honestly, I'm more concerned with pulling it into the single slip with lift. Hopefully the wind won't be that bad. We only get cross winds in our cove.

[uttitanfan]

We don't hit the water on Memorial Day, July 4th (unless were at Shasta) or Labor Day due to all the freaking morons on the water at our local lake. Instead we show up at the ramp with an EZ-up, chairs, cooler and video cam to watch and chronicle the follies. It's hilarious to see some of the stuff that happens and without a doubt it's the twice a year boaters that please the best!

During those days the watercops are always right off the ramp, last year besidea all the normal follies a Mastercraft X-Star launches with a butt load of 20 somethings onboard. Well besides the fact that a few of the girls were transom riding while underway in the no-wake zone, one of the girls steps onto the swim platform, slides off and pees in the lake while underway! All this right in front of the cops not 50ft. away! :p What a bunch of morons!

Watercops immediately stop them, cite the captain, give them a 30 minute or so safety inspection, find some goods, arrest a guy and kick the boat off the lake! All because the captain didn't have control of his crew or his boat, what a dipshnit!

I say you put it on Youtube and send us the link

[philwsailz]

We don't hit the water on Memorial Day, July 4th (unless were at Shasta) or Labor Day due to all the freaking morons on the water at our local lake. Instead we show up at the ramp with an EZ-up, chairs, cooler and video cam to watch and chronicle the follies. It's hilarious to see some of the stuff that happens and without a doubt it's the twice a year boaters that please the best!

During those days the watercops are always right off the ramp, last year besidea all the normal follies a Mastercraft X-Star launches with a butt load of 20 somethings onboard. Well besides the fact that a few of the girls were transom riding while underway in the no-wake zone, one of the girls steps onto the swim platform, slides off and pees in the lake while underway! All this right in front of the cops not 50ft. away! :p What a bunch of morons!

Watercops immediately stop them, cite the captain, give them a 30 minute or so safety inspection, find some goods, arrest a guy and kick the boat off the lake! All because the captain didn't have control of his crew or his boat, what a dipshnit!

I love it... in Oklahoma, thunderstorms will make people scurry for the ramp. When storms are imminent, we pack a cooler and move from my place down to my buddies place, where we can watch the ramp... Guys in boats, yelling at girls in th tow vehicles, jack-knifed jet ski trailers, missed approaches, boas baning together out in the "que"....

Some folks need to find a quiet evening during the week after work and PRACTICE!!!!! Launch the boat, let the driver drive away, then re-set the trailer on the ramp. Drive the boat on, to the stop.... Then back off and repeat.... I have a boat mechanic buddy that I helped for years; I was the wheel man in the truck dumping the boat. We would be ready and he would be in the boat prior to getting to the ramp. I have never stop-watched it, but we can back down, launch, and be out of the way in less than 2 minutes, maybe only a minute.

Now I have my boat, and learned all that prep work from my mechanic friend... My wife grew up on a farm/ranch and she can back a trailer.... perfectly. She and I both love pulling up to the ramp, being as patient as we can while Joe Weekender loads his floaties, his cooler, and his big bag of towels, snorkels and all that crap.... THEN goes to put the plug in and tries 3 times to get the trailer straight...

While he is parking, (the parking lot has full view of the ramp) we whip in, back STRAIGHT up, the transom goes in the water, the motor fires and goes into reverse while the trailer is sill going backwards, the bow strap is already unhooked, the boat hits the water, slides off, she stops and immediately puts the truck in forward and drives away.... That rocks.

The biggest problem is when I am horribly impatient, and am turnning blue in the face resisting the urge to yell at the idiot three rigs in front to get his crap done PRIOR to blocking the ramp...

Phil

[philwsailz]

So you know.....

I have forgotten the plug once..... :oops:

[moombadaze]

So you know.....

I have forgotten the plug once..... :oops:


I thought that was on purpose-you know testing to make sure the auto bildge pump is functioning properly. One does that right next to the ramp so if its not working you can load the boat right back on the trailer-could idea is to check it once a year. ;)

[philwsailz]

I thought that was on purpose-you know testing to make sure the auto bildge pump is functioning properly. One does that right next to the ramp so if its not working you can load the boat right back on the trailer-could idea is to check it once a year. ;)

Hah, once a year. You check yours that way once a year? :rolleyes:


"nuther funny...

My boat mechanic gets a bass boat put back together for the owner, and takes him and the boat to the lake to do a test run. Everything ran fine, and they were not on the water that long, out, ran it full throttle, then back on the trailer, but apparently the owner about sunk it the next day. I do not recall which way for sure it went, but either on test day, or the next day, the bass boat owner mistakenly put the boat plug in the livewell drain... NOT the boat drain.... Since the bass boat owner had been around boats for years, I believe my mechanic never checked the drain plug...

[moombadaze]

Have not checked it on the new boat--the 03 worked just fine the couple times it got checked. The 08 is about due to be checked :rolleyes:

[kaneboats]

Yup, checked mine once on the OB. I distinctly remember the thought: "Hmmmm-- why is the bilge pump running? OH SHIIIIIIIIIIPPPP!!!!"

[philwsailz]

Here's to bilge pump testing......


I had a recirc hopse fall off / pop off of the starboard exhaust manifold... Put about 500 gallons of water in the boat before I knew it, and I run a go-fast stern-drive; No need for ballast!!!!


Needless to say, I put a starter in the boat the next spring; yes, it got quite wet....

[jmvotto]

Luckily I only do it twice a year, once at the beginning of the season and once at the end.:p

[jester]

Luckily I only do it twice a year, once at the beginning of the season and once at the end.:p

To me it sounds like you just wanted to clean out the bilge area. No better way then flooding it with lots of water from a little hole in the back of the boat.

[Razzman]

Never done it as the first thing my wife says every trip out is "Is the plug in?". Did i mention she says it 5-6 times before we launch?

I guess it stems from an incident about 25 years ago when launching on a buddies boat HE forgot his plug and almost sank the blasted thing right off the ramp. She NEVER forgot that!

[rc5695]

I felt bad for some guys last weekend. As we were loading up to go home in the early evening, a pontoon with 2 guys and a bunch of kids (all boys) were headed out fishing. He was cranking when we pulled up to the dock, and he was still sitting there by the time we left (got van, pulled boat out, unloaded ALL our stuff, wiped the boat down, etc.). Poor kids...

[Ian Brantford]

Never done it as the first thing my wife says every trip out is "Is the plug in?". Did i mention she says it 5-6 times before we launch?

For my first several years of boat ownership, I carried a pocket-sized checklist that I made for myself. It mentioned the bilge plug twice on non-consecutive lines, in capital letters. I never forgot that plug! I did miss some other random thing each of the very few times that I forgot the checklist. Eventually I wised up and had several copies distributed among myself, my alternate driver, my boat's glovebox and the truck's glovebox.

[DOCDRS]

i hate it when i forget to take the tape off the speedo at the beginning off the year as i see the trailer drive away

[kaneboats]

Daze actually used that speedo plug for the trip over to Clermont this past weekend. We got on the water and no speedo. He pulled it out and popped the paddlewheel plug in while we were on the water. Only took in a little bit of water. Pretty gutsy but we really wanted a calibrated speedo for testing and sure didn't feel like loading up again just for that one.

[walb0244]

I was reading this post and thought I would throw in my adventures from today. I have had my Moomba for about a month now. Before this I owned another boat but we are still pretty new to this whole boating deal. I will say that today we did really good I thought. My wife took the boat off the trailer and drove the boat for the first time today. Well we had the boat on the water pretty fast I thought. Got it out of the water pretty fast too. Don't like to stay on the ramp vary long.

Well while we were out today we pull up to one of the slips and another family was sitting there and they needed a jump. So I walk up to my truck and get jumper cables because I don't keep any in the boat. (Not sure if I should buy some to keep in the boat or not). Well on the way back to the boat with jumper cables I trip on a rope that is strung out across the boat dock walk way. I look and someone had ran a rope from the boat in the slip across the walk way to another tie off for a different slip. I was like WTF. The kid was that keeps the boat in the slip. I told him how to tie the boat off so it just used the two tie points for that slip. I get the family jumped off and going then take my boat out.

We get our boat out of the water and as we are getting everything ready for the trip home. I hear this really loud grinding sound. I turn and look and a guy was passing with the outdrive dragging on the concrete. We flag him and down and let him know. After he had drove 200 yards with it dragging. I felt bad for him.

[viking]

Just wait till next weekend - that'll be a circus for sure :)

[mmandley]

Ohh yes Memorial weekend in the NW is really a big event. Everyone seems to go out this weekend for the first time LOL. We plan to do like we did last year. Goto to the lake early launch early and then anchor off a couple hundred yards away from the boat ramp and hang out till noon just to watch the show LOL.

Its even better when you return tot he ramp around 5 and watch those same people now drunk reloading LOL.

[kaneboats]

Be sure to pack the video camera. Should be lots of fun. Great revenue day for the boat cops too.

[moombadaze]

that weekend is one of 3 weekends we stay home--way to many amature's out

[Razzman]

that weekend is one of 3 weekends we stay home--way to many amature's out

Same here, Memorial, the 4th and Labor Day is a no-no for us. The exception is July 4th if we go for our usual week away.

[moombadaze]

imagine that-its the same 3 holiday weekends :D. our little lake is overrun with , um how do I say this nicely.... donkey butts riding boat fleas at 60-70mph.

[kaneboats]

Horse's hineys believing they are in control of crafts for which they are unqualified to operate and for which someone else paid?:confused:

[jmvotto]

We sit on our porch at the lake house and enjoy the chaos, as it goes by. then usually find an opportune time to hit the water. then back to the porch to watch the crazies;)

ps got the boat in , no problems even had the jumper pack just in case. wife and i got the canopy up and secured and off to the bonefish grill we went. 1st launch made , 2nd one scheduled for october:cool:

[sandm]

i'm off to montana for the holiday weekend, so no boating, but that's a good thing. weather here is crap and probably won't be a chance to use it anyways..

[sailing217]

After 10 days of rain, Sunday hit sunny and 88 degrees record temp (easily the nicest day of the year by far). Not a parking space to be found at the boat ramps. We just tubed and did some swimming. Wow a lot of crazies on the water. Several times I had to shut the boat down and circle my towable as it was just unsafe with morons behind riders. My 7 yr old was mad, but he'll be alive for another day on the water.

After flipping them off they get the look like 'whoops I guess 50ft from riders is not good'.

Not even sure if we'll get out memorial day weekend, if we do it'll be tube only

[viking]

i'm off to montana for the holiday weekend, so no boating, but that's a good thing. weather here is crap and probably won't be a chance to use it anyways..

Where abouts sandm?

[MEDIC151]

Gotta love the first of the season. I love when people jack knife on the ramp, cross multiple lanes, launch a dead boat, etc. Last season there was a cop at the ramp watching for drunks I guess and a guy trying to back a jet ski in. I waited and waited since he was taking 2 lanes. He finally got it mostly in his lane and I shot forward, backed down, and launched in about 2 minutes and the cop was sitting there laughing it up. He gave me a thumbs up as I was parking the trailer. I mostly go during the week since my schedule allows me to. I try to avoid the weekends unless family wants to go.

[sandm]

Where abouts sandm?

hamilton.. might try to slip over on saturday to play the old works course in anaconda. if I was closer to your neck, I'd look ya up..

[kaneboats]

Gotta love the first of the season. I love when people jack knife on the ramp, cross multiple lanes, launch a dead boat, etc. Last season there was a cop at the ramp watching for drunks I guess and a guy trying to back a jet ski in. I waited and waited since he was taking 2 lanes. He finally got it mostly in his lane and I shot forward, backed down, and launched in about 2 minutes and the cop was sitting there laughing it up. He gave me a thumbs up as I was parking the trailer. I mostly go during the week since my schedule allows me to. I try to avoid the weekends unless family wants to go.

I patiently wait my turn. Occasionally I'll jump out and back somebody's trailer down for them. Nice thing about FL/GA is that it's always about half fishermen. Fishermen know how to launch and retrieve their boats. I'm always polite to them, even giving tows every now and then. You never know.