Boat Ramp Geniuses
Some of the best ones were recently released from the home. Feel free to
contribute.
1) Keuka Lake State Park (NY), two weeks ago: On the ramp adjacent to the
one I was using, captain pulls his 23-ish ft ship out of the water,
forgetting to first lift his outdrive. Interesting noise, and when the skeg
cleared the wet part of the ramp, sound followed by smoke, like if a highway
crew was etching the pavement but forgot to turn on the cooling water. Nice.
Then, he figured maybe he could back it into the water again. Not. Made more
nice sounds, this time a scary creaking sound from the transom. Pulls it
back out again. So....the guy next to me on the other side runs over and
says "Ya know...I have a couple of 2x8s - you could drive the trailer wheel
up on them, and then lift the outdrive". Captain says "Thanks, but I don't
see how that's gonna help". Without waiting for an explanation, puts truck
in gear again and proceeds 200 feet across the parking lot trailing smoke
and sparks. (It was dark - nice light show). No idea how he resolved the
problem.
2) Irondequoit Bay NY, this past Sunday: Two people in their 40s are
standing by their boat, waiting for person #3 to arrive with the trailer. He
arrives. He's the kind of guy who, when you see him on the road, you say to
your kids "When I'm that old, PLEASE take my keys away...please!" In the
process of making 15 approaches, he manages to put on wheel of the trailer
onto the dock, then puts the trailer at a 45 degree angle toward the
adjacent ramp, and other assorted amusements. All other vehicles pulled away
and the person taking $$ kept any newcomers from entering the hazard zone
for the moment. Finally, he was ordered out of his car and a park employee
backed the trailer in, over the objections of one of the 2 statues who were
still standing on the dock with the boat, offering absolutely no guidance to
great grandpa.
Amazing.
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