We've all had bad days and embarrassing experiences at the launch ramp. You
can't really apologize for another's actions and it never makes sense to
raise your voice at your wife!
I learned that if I leave about the top 3" of my trailer tires showing above
the surface of the water, my boat will get within 2"-6" of the winch stop
and center itself on the bunks. I can give it a little power, but usually
use the winch for those last couple of inches.

"Genius? Not!" wrote in message
. ..
Ok, so I'm new to boating and I've got an 18 foot boat with which to get
my feet wet. Here's the first couple of dumbass things I've done with or
to my new boat. Let's hope that I start learning from other people's
mistakes and don't make the same one's twice. In fact, I wish that for
everyone!

Did you know that when you raft up with a friends taller boat that
someone's fender is going to rub the decal off your boat? No worries,
it's a small blemish (I'm sure it's not the last).

Did you know that the Sherriff doesn't like it when you create a wake in
the no wake zone? Oops; seriously, it was a definition glitch (a wake is
not defined by the presence or absence of white water - a wake is a wake
is a wake). I got off with a warning, but had to suffer a prolonged
discussion as I was used as training material.

Did you know that when you tie your boat up alongside the open water side
of the dock, and you tie it tight to the dock, that even with fenders,
your protective rubber trim will get knocked out of its track? In defense
of my boating buddy, he told me not to tie it tight to the dock. The
problem was, from a distance, it sounded like he told me to tie it tight
to the dock. Sigh. I did learn that those orange pfd's make great
fenders.

Not last and not least, did you know that you should put the prop into
trailer mode the second you tie up to the launch dock? No damage on
pulling up the ramp, but plenty of embarrassment.

Now for the piece de resistance. A writer I'm not, but I'll try to convey
the scene for you boat ramp sadists. We pull up to the dock and squeeze
in behind a boat that was just launched. The boat in front is ready to
go, but the boss went to park his trailer and the rest of us are stuck (at
least those of us that aren't quite ready for the delicate task of driving
the boat onto the trailer) waiting for his boat to move out of the way.
Well, I had a great parking space so I was ready to back the trailer down
as soon as the just launched boat found it's owner so it could pull away
and let us move our boat forward. My wife, an impatient woman, god love
her, decides she isn't going to wait for the boat to move, unties our
boat, jumps in the water with the boat and walks it to the middle of the
ramp. The first thing I know about this is when I look back (remember,
still waiting for an absent owner to move his boat) and see my wife chest
deep in water not even holding a dock line as the boat begins to turn
sideways. Yeah, this is where I start yelling at her 'cause I'm an ass
and don't know what else to do. Now I have to back down (remember, I'm
new to backing trailers) to the middle of the ramp (sorry folks, I know
I'm taking up two spaces, but .... To make matters worse, we can't agree
on whether the boat is on the trailer correctly (I'm worried about is to
far to one side or the other and hitting the wheel well. Enough is enough
and I pull the damn boat out of the water and out of the way only to have
my kids run up and tell me the boat ain't right. Ah crap! It probably
wasn't as bad as it seemed, but it was cockeyed on the trailer. I didn't
realize that lined up means nothing if the blasted thing is still floating
when you start yanking it out of the water. It gets even better. For some
crazy reason (it's 5pm on a Sunday night), there's a line a block long
waiting to launch (someone's got to explain this to me). I figure I'm not
going anywhere until I reload my boat, but the next guy in line with the
sea doos, says hell no get in line. And so on. Anyway, we got the boat
reloaded, correctly this time, but we're not speaking to each other for
awhile (at least not anything nice - I'm dying from the embarrassment of a
wife who won't do what I tell her to do and a hundred witnesses to that
and to me not knowing what the hell I'm doing with the boat. Maybe you
can picture this; maybe not. It was actually the next trip where I
figured out why the boat didn't stay where I thought I had put it.

Hey, I'm sure there's more to follow, but I hope not!

Marty