Trailering the Boat :(

I recently purchased a new 08' Outback V so naturally with it being new I am incredably paranoid of anything happening to it for now. I Had a 1997 closed bow boomerang before this boat that i traded for this one, My G/F was never really all that great at trailering the boomerang but I never thought much of it b/c it was old and had a few black marks here and there but now this boat is much larger and more difficult for her to handle...... Any suggestions out there that could keep a good day on the water from going bad? Also she has no experience backing a trailer down a ramp.... I know sucks to be me....LOL

I learned how to tow the hard way; I hooked it up and started driving!

Maybe take her to a big parking lot and practice. Its always easier (for me at least) to back-up a tandem trailer, as compared to a single axle. The main thing is just don't rush. The people behind you on the ramp can wait, safety first and take your time.

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Originally Posted by ian ashton

I learned how to tow the hard way; I hooked it up and started driving!

Maybe take her to a big parking lot and practice. Its always easier (for me at least) to back-up a tandem trailer, as compared to a single axle. The main thing is just don't rush. The people behind you on the ramp can wait, safety first and take your time.

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I'll second the notion of practicing in a parking lot. Take some cones to make a "ramp" if you have to.

I do the trailer backing up and she does the driving of the boat onto the trailer and thats my concern because from time to time she would come in sideways with the boomerang and there is nothing more exciting than watching your boat play plinko on the way up the trailer :? either way I think the solution is definately to get her in an open parking lot, i really like the cone idea for a "ramp" thank you for the input.

You could take your boat over to the boat ramp sometime during the week and let here practice backing it down the ramp when there's hardly anybody out there. This will give her more confidence when it comes time to launch on a busy Sat./Sun. when boats are lined up.

Just change the way you load and unload the boat. My wife is super helpful in the way we load and recover the boat. This is due mainly to the fact that she NEVER has to dirve the trailer backwards or load the boat. Here are our steps.


1) I back the trailer down into the water to unload boat.
2) Get out and start unhooking things. Wife moves to drivers seat and only has to backup 3-4 feet straight.
3) Boat slides off of trailer and wife parks the truck and trailer, still only driving straight.

4) a fun day is had many beers consumed, a few faceplants and some good natured ribbing at the people that are worse than we are!!

5) Head back to marina and get wife to hold boat at dock.
6) I back the trailer into the water and put the truck into 4 wheel low and place in park.
7) Wife gets into the truck and I put the boat onto the trailer.
8 ) She pulls the boat out slowly until clear of the ramp and parks the rig still only driving straight, turns are easy.
9) We both do tie downs and inspection to make sure all is clear.
10) I back the boat into the dry storage slot.

We are both happy and neither one of us had to do something that was scary or made the other uncomfortable. She does NOT like to back the rig up so I do not make her. If she ever asks if she can, I will let her, until then the above steps will be used. Hope this helps. Do no force her to try something that will only ruin the day for both of you. Yelling at the wife because men are smarter than they are and they should read our minds only makes the day awful and as many of you know if they are unhappy there will be less days on the water!!! Just be patient and let her step up when she is ready.

Still being new to this Forum I have certainly put some time in reading other posts before I came home with my new baby, and of all the forums I am a part of this I can tell will be the funnest, looks and sounds like there are just a bunch of helpful people that share the same interests across the board thank you for the insight and Jesse NICE post your right on the money. Thanx

Ditto Jesse. I would love for my wife to be able to handle the trailer completely, but we do it exactly like Jesse and it works out well, unless I have one of the guys with me who is better at backing up..

We have discussed the parking lot, but time never makes itself available for training!

One funny... last summer, we took a quick friday after work trip. Storm blew in and the ramp we put in is NOT conducive to wind. There is a protected harbor 1/4 mile away. We had to motor into the protected harbor and let her off to go get the truck.. supposed to be an ALL forward deal til she got to the other ramp... time elapsed and never saw her drive up.. i got worried and started walking towards.. found her stuck on a single lane street between a HUGE dropoff on one side and the harbor on the other. They are redoing the harbor and had closed the road.. she was stuck. Poor thing... she was quite relieved to see me come running up! HAVE NOT addressed the driving issue since!

See that is the type of situation that I would not like to put her in..... However I'm sure it is a situation where you can now look back and laugh, But both you and Jesse make a lot sense in what you say.

My wife has/had the same problem...what we did was go out early when there was no one around and I would have her practice backing the trailer down with me sitting next to her and I would do my best not to laugh or yell...also with bringing the boat up on the trailer, I would sit next to her and tell her to pretend she was going for goal and just shoot the middle...she is doing really well now, but still gets nervous if there are a bunch of people around...just gotta keep practicing!

I taught my wife last year. She does a great job. It took her a few tries to get the hang af the trailer. I can hardly wait. all this talk about trailering, getting ready. Its like Xmas all over again,\. Theonly thing wrong is Im 38 and feel like a 5 year old. OPEN OPEN OPEN OPEN.
Tazz :D :D :D :lol: :lol: :lol:

Guys!!!! What are you doing to me!!!!! My wife reads this post!!!!
Now she is going to Stop backing the trailer down to the water, she is going to stop driving the boat off the trailer. She is going to stop loading the boat on the trailer. She is going to stop pulling the trailer up and off the ramp!!! All because she reads that you guys do this!!! Now I am going to have to do something rather than stand there and watch her!!!! :cry:

Honestly she does do this but she wanted too and she practiced, she drove slow and she has many years experience. And I do love watching, not her but the men waiting inline to launch their boats, they watch her then glancing over to their wives with a mean look!

Thats classic but not all of us have it that great :lol: Yet anyways.

Personally, I wouldn't care if all my wife did was go stand at the end of the dock and wait for me to get everything ready. You guys are missing the important part.....you are at the lake and your wife is letting you go!!! Anything else like a helping hand is just icing on the cake if you ask me!!! I am just glad that she comes with me, we always have such a good time on the water. Don't get me wrong though, I do appreciate how helpful she is at the ramp.

You're kidding me? She's the one that got me interested in boating! My wife WANTS to get good at backing it in. Usually, she leaves me with the boat and she goes to get the rig and backs it in. It takes her about 10 tries, but she gets it! The kids cheer her on, make fun of her etc. It's all good!
:p

Funny story about my skillzzz at the ramp;

One of the last days of the summer I took my buddies 23' Yahama SX230 out with a couple of other friends. It was a windy October day, and we were in Lake St. Clair. The launch we used had quite a current as I was trying to dock, and the twin jet drives were not making things easy. As I approached the dock (about 4 feet out) I got grabbed by a gust, next thing I know we are at the dock BACKWARDS! There were a good 10 or 15 people watching, I felt like such a tool, lol. I played it off cool, jumped off to go grab the truck/trailer, and my buddy flipped it around while I backed down the ramp, haha.

Jessec

You're right man. I'm just thrilled she wants to go to the lake! We too have a blast. Plus she's pretty cool when it comes to me wanting to save up & buy more toys for the boat.

Ian, way back in the day, I lived on W. George Street in Hazel Park, Mi.
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We've cruised Woodward Ave more times than I care to admit. Do they still have the weekend cruise in around 14 mile rd?
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B

We are a 2 boat family, my wife has the MasterCraft she is the skier. I have the 25 foot Proline, I am the fisherman.
When we go skiing I drive the truck down the ramp and she drives the boat off and on. When we go fishing she drives the truck down the ramp and I pull the boat on and off. Now the smaller trailer is HARDER to back up than the big boat trailer, it reacts faster. And she does not want to deal with 2 throttles/engines that the fishing boat has. And actually the big boat is easier to handle because they are twin outboards and it WILL go where you want it to when you back up. So last year we go to the Dealer in Atlanta and test drive an outback V. At the end of the test drive with me at the controls I bring the boat back to the trailer (which incidently was backed into the water by the FEMALE owner of the dealer). And what do I do, I get all sideways and just completely mess up the approach!!! Should have let the inboard operator, in this case my wife, do what she does best! Yeah I had to look around to see who else was watching! :oops:

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Originally Posted by Buttafewcoe

Ian, way back in the day, I lived on W. George Street in Hazel Park, Mi.
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We've cruised Woodward Ave more times than I care to admit. Do they still have the weekend cruise in around 14 mile rd?
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B

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I live right at 13 & Woodward, lol. During the summer there are all sorts of cars (muscle cars, imports, street rods, you name it) out every night of the week, they usually cruise from 11 mile up to Maple (aka 15 mile.) On the weekend groups congregate all up and down the road in various parking lots, its wild. They also have marketed 'The Woodward Dream Cruise' which is a huge event that spans from Detroit to Pontiac in late August that they claim draws over 1,000,000 spectators and cruisers.

I definately live in the motor city, and its evident when you get anywhere near the famous "Woodward Ave" :lol:

I get to teach the girl to back the trailer and drive the boat this summer too. She wants to be able to pull me when I wakeboard so looks like I'll be giving driving lessons all summer. She's only driven a boat once, and she's never driven a trailer! EEK! :shock: But she's a quick learner so I'm not too worried I think. haha

Not to give away my age, that was 1975 / 6.
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My how the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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Funny, ain't it?
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B

You could go by 457 W. George and say....
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Dang, Butta used to live there. It's almost like walking on hallowed ground!
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jk
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:P
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B

Guess I am really the lucky one here, My soon to be wife hooks up and then backs the trailer down the ramp so I can drive the boat on. Our ramp will let three trailers load at a time with about three feet between each. if two are loading she will split the middle and we will be out of the water and putting away before they are even loaded. She has even helped guys on two diffrent occasions back there trailers down for them so we can get oursout of the water. Of coarse I do get (instructions) occasional when I get a bit crooked.

Have the ladys put one hand on the bottom of the steering wheel (6 o colock position) If they want the back of the boat to go right move there hand to the right, left is left. A friend of mines wife told me this trick (She pretty good with a trailer too)

seems like a simple yet effective trick :)

If my 'ol lady wants to help, I let her. Ifn she don't, I make her stay home.
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That's not true. Sometimes she's just along for the trip. Sometimes, the best 1st mate a man could ask for.
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(that's why she's not pissed at me S).
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8)
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jd

Everybody's got ideas, but I'm tellin you the best thing to do is just take her over to the boat ramp in the middle of the week, when nobody is there and let her practice. You don't have to launch just let her back up and down the ramp a few times. Go sometime soon before we get closer into the season and nobody will be there.

I always seem to get stuck behind those guys that use the entire ramp to launch and seem to spend hours right there loading gear, people, and pets. And on the other side, I wait and wait to back down to load the boat on people who just seem to barely get the trailer tires out of the water after loading their boat to drain the bilge, unload cargo and WIPE DOWN THEIR BOAT!!!!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Some people shouldn’t be allowed to breed!

I wonder what they say about me!?!?!?!

I know what you mean man! I don't like the ramp & dock hoggers. I've actually seen people wait till they get on the ramp to even start taking there cover off and load there boat. Ugh!

Ha, you know how us Texans can be! I like to squeeze myself right in there to where they can’t even open their vehicle door to get in our out! I would suggest having several people with you if you attempt this sometimes very critical and difficult manuver! Also, good idea to check on your vehicle once in a while in the parking lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sailboats are the worst. They'll suck up a ramp for hours. It's like they talk about how to load it for an hour and then it's another 2 hours and 8 people later before it gets loaded! Of course the 8 people are usually already "loaded"! As far as the wife goes, I'm lucky she's better at it than I am (almost!).

Yea, and their keel is always bigger than mine!

Great post! I have to share this one. WAY TRUE STORY. Columbia river,Portland Or. 33rd ave boat ramp. Warm day, O.k. I will get to it!!
I just backed the boat in,Wife in the driver seat, I am un-hooking the boat, herd screams, Looked up to see 4 HEADS sticking out of the water with wakes coming off there necks!!. Alot of steam and noise and next thing they ran the boat right up the boat ramp!. I swear this is true. Right out of the movies. The boat was a 70's Glastron model, James bond version. The one with a half hard top and inclosed motor compartment. They forgot to put the drain plug in and thankfully made it back. I can't tell you how funny this looked. the good thing is they had the bright orange neck presservers on. All fun aside I am glad there safe, Way kool to see that!

I agree with Jesse. I like to take care of things when we go camping. I really love it when the wife pitches in. She was the one that wanted to help out. We really have a great time. If we work together, we can have things ready in a nick of time. This gives us more time to enjoy the trip.

There is a state park here (St. Andrews State Park) everyone is pretty good, unload it and either drive it or pull it over to this holding pen. I mean you might have 20 boats lined up to use the 2 ramps. My last trip out into the Gulf last year a couple unload their kayaks onto the ramp, not in the grass to the right??! Ok no problem I have kayaks. But they left them on the ramp and walked off!!! Where did they go??? I am waiting to put my boat back on the trailer but my wife can't back over their boats. And there is a small grass area right next to the ramp!!!!! They went to go change their clothes in the bathroom and showed up about 15 minutes later. Not only did we give them the dirty look about 15 other people got out of their trucks and were standing around in disbelief too, staring at them!!! yes there is a bell curve in life and someones got to take up the lower end!!!

That’s funny! I would have moved them!!! I would have hid them behind the porta potties!!! Then sit in my truck to see their faces when they couldn’t find their little boats! HAHAHA

You know I should have just moved them too but I didn't think they were going to be gone more than a minute. The problem is that the locals kind of know the unwritten rules of this ramp. But the people who come from out of town haven't a clue. There is a large concrete walled pool, sort of like a little pond that is sheltered from the bay adjacent to the ramps. This place will hold about 15 boats so you launch your boat and imediately move it over there then go park your truck and trailer. There is also a narrow dock right between the ramps. This is used to get on and off the boat as soon as you launch it, it is pretty long due to the length of the ramps and the tide. But you use this to get into the boat from the shore and move the boat. Locals will pull into the pond find a parking spot get the trailer and then move from the pond to the ramp. Out of towners will drive right up to the ramp (this is a busy, busy pair of ramps) park at the dock tie off and go get their trucks. The parking lot is a huge field about 1/8 mile away so you have someone with their boat sitting over the ramp tied to the dock and they leave. Now what they don't know is 2 to 3 people have parked in the pond and are already on their way back with their trucks and trailers. Now you have a narrow 2 lane road blocked because the guys with their trailers can't get to their boats as some idiot has left it and the guy who owns the boat can't get his trailer down there because of the guys waiting in front of him for him.

Its all about respect. I agree that they my be from out of town and do not know the rules of the lake, ramp. But on the other hand, they should of seen everybody on the ramp in line to launch their boats. Common Sense. That stuff is not hard to pack. Its usually with you all the time.