sunk boat

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TarHeeLBoater

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when I arived at the boat ramp one of the ramps was blocked off. Seems A skie boat launched and then sank. I talked to the owner he says he put the plug in guessing bellowes must have had a big hole.
He was waiting on a crane all that was above the water was about 3 feet of the nose of the boat. I should have taken a picture
 
To completely sink, off the trailer is rare. He had the wrong kind of help it seems like.
 
Bummer. We came across a kid swimming to the ramp from his Wrangler in up to the windshield and whaler floating free in the lagoon-drunk & muttering about the 'e-brake' a few months ago. Ramps are still the best improv comedy on the planet.
 
quote:
Originally posted by JeffN

Bummer.... Ramps are still the best improv comedy on the planet.

Click to expand...


In my younger days I wanted a bar next to a launching ramp, with plenty of seating and security cameras so we could play back the best "episodes"...
 
A bar next to a launch ramp would be a great idea, right up to the point that the bar installs a deck and from the deck a bar patron starts to share opinions with those launching.

Once the lawsuit gets going and the bar is held partly liable for the murder of the bar patron by the frothing mess of an individual from the launch ramp, its all over.
 
People used to congregate at a local marina and hold up signs with numbers to judge the launches. Pretty funny. Not sure if they still do.
There was a restuarant/bar right next to the ramp as well.

At another marina, there is a restaurant next to boat slips with guest docks. A ski boat was on the guest dock for dinner. They had left the pump on for the ballast tanks (for wakeboarding) and did not know there was a leak. Before they were done with dinner, boat was sitting on the bottom. The wakeboard tower was sticking out of the water. I only saw it after it sunk. Not sure why no one noticed it from the restaurant before it went under
 
I used to have a slip near a popular boat ramp.. on a slow saturday afternoon me and the boys would bring our chairs and coolers and watch the fun from a bluff overlooking.. Hilarious to watch.. The best is the power loaders.. I watched many boats go half way into the beds of the pickups pulling them out when the operators used a bit too much power..
 
Then there are the "power launchers" who back the trailer down hard and slam on the brakes... and hope they don't hit a slick spot on the ramp and launch more than the boat.

When I had a sailboat I would unhitch the trailer and let it roll into the water till the boat floated off. Always caused quite a commotion amongst the watchers till they realized I had a line from the car to the trailer, to pull it out again. Worked like a charm.

Once deliberately "power loaded" an AIRBOAT... The guy in the airboat PUSHED the truck up the ramp. It worked, but I can't say I'd recommend it.
 
Nothing in this World of innocuous Humor beats Alaska's "Deep Creek" antics on memorial day.
I've posted some of them in the past, but Willies 'power loaders' beat all.

One guy drove his Old's powered Jet boat clear up over the trailer, over the bed of the pickup and dang near over the top of the Pickup. There it sat, crunched cab beneath it and the driver wondering what his next move should be.

It got so bad the State took the land and leased it to guys with big 4X4 John Deere tractors. Now they back the trailer out into the surf and you drive away in your boat. Call them, and they'll bring your trailer out to meet you. Expensive but safer.
 
I learned the rope trick as a kid, when we used to launch/retrieve smaller shrimp boats off the bank of the ICW. Sometimes we'd use another boat to pull the boat and trailer out into deep enough water for the boat to float off. Retrieval was the reverse, we'd push the trailer into deep-enough water, float the boat onto the trailer AND TIE IT DOWN, then use sometimes 2-3 vehicles and the boat's own engine to pull/push the trailer up the beach.
 
1. Put boat in water.

2. Check to make sure water is not coming in boat

no-continue launch
yes-pull boat and trailer out of water

The bilge pump running like a bandit might be your first clue.
 
quote:
Originally posted by getakey

People used to congregate at a local marina and hold up signs with numbers to judge the launches. Pretty funny. Not sure if they still do.
There was a restuarant/bar right next to the ramp as well.
Click to expand...

That was Orwood Resort near Discovery Bay. They have remodeled and the benches are no longer. Still a nice place to launch though.
http://www.orwoodresort.com/
 
quote:
Originally posted by Flutterby

quote:
Originally posted by getakey

People used to congregate at a local marina and hold up signs with numbers to judge the launches. Pretty funny. Not sure if they still do.
There was a restuarant/bar right next to the ramp as well.
Click to expand...

That was Orwood Resort near Discovery Bay. They have remodeled and the benches are no longer. Still a nice place to launch though.
http://www.orwoodresort.com/

Click to expand...


Yes, thanks - now I remember - Orwood.
 
I stored my first boat on land in a marina which would launch and retrieve boats with their 2-3 tractors. I really liked that system: load up the supplies on the boat with the car parked right next to it; flag the tractor driver and the loaded boat gets put into the water. Just the reverse when it was time to go home! They even offered a free service for year round customers where I could call ahead and request the boat be launched before I arrived. Really nice on a Friday after work.

One time in January a fisherman wanted his boat launched; the resort owner was operating the tractor.... He went too far down the ramp and the tractor fell into the water. The guy ended up in that ice cold water up to his chest. Oh boy did he ever get a ribbing! That story stayed around the whole year. Fun times.
 
I was patiently waiting to launch many years ago. The guy ahead of us had an OLD tri-hull with a rusty trailer. When he pulled up the ramp, the trailer broke in two right at the crest of the ramp. Glad I was patiently waiting.
 
There are two types of people. Those that have launched a boat and left the plug out, and those that will.

(Old Chinese Proverb)
 
I've been launched/retrieved by those tractors at Deep Creek. It should be part of every Alaska visitor's experience!
 
Amazing how builders don't install a loud buzzer on the bilge pump light, isn't it? And why trailer boat owners don't add them...
 
quote:
Originally posted by getakey

People used to congregate at a local marina and hold up signs with numbers to judge the launches. Pretty funny. Not sure if they still do.
There was a restuarant/bar right next to the ramp as well.

At another marina, there is a restaurant next to boat slips with guest docks. A ski boat was on the guest dock for dinner. They had left the pump on for the ballast tanks (for wakeboarding) and did not know there was a leak. Before they were done with dinner, boat was sitting on the bottom. The wakeboard tower was sticking out of the water. I only saw it after it sunk. Not sure why no one noticed it from the restaurant before it went under

Click to expand...

We almost do that when people come in to dock at our marina. There are some guys that after 4-5 years then having a bow thruster installed with twins that I have to look away before the crash. Thank the Lord I have become very used to reading the wind and letting the tide and wind work for me. I almost never use the thruster unless the winds are above 25 knots and pushing me off my dock. Most people can't figure out how I can swing a 40 plus footer 180 degrees with less then 45 feet between the marsh and my floating dock. It's nice to have twins and single electronic lever throttle/shift on each engine.
I leave the bow thruster on for when my wife gets her hands inside the cleat and the rope is tightening!
She still doesn't get my rule simply place the loop over the cleat I can set the ropes through the cleats after we are docked.
Bill
 
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