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Boat fell off trailer
I have to back in to the water until the rear tires of my tow vehicle are
right at the waters edge. No way to get to the tongue of the trailer without getting wet feet. So, I usually wear hip boots in the winter, bare feet, sandals or booties in the summer and climb up at the trailer fender to board my 19" runabout. The docks are no where close to the ramps, so I have to hurry to tie up the boat and get back to the ramp to move the tow vehicle out of the way. It's a luxury when I'm not solo and I can get in and out of the boat on land, letting someone else back the trailer into or out of the water. W" wrote in message ... Here's another way to get a boat off a trailer. After hurricane Alicia, my daughter way bringing our 25' sailboat back from a friends house on "high ground" when the trailer decided to part company with her truck. The trailer ran down into the water logged drainage ditch and at @50 MPH the tongue dug in and the boat neatly leapt over the front of the trailer, skidded 100 yards merrily down the ditch and came to rest with the bow of the boat half way across the next intersection. This happened about a mile from our house and my nearly hysteric daughter came to get me before making any attempt to move the boat. By the time we got back, there were two sheriff deputys there trying to figure out how in the hell this boat managed to get there as the trailer was nearly out of sight back down the ditch. The boat was completely unharmed except for one small scratch on the bow. "jchaplain" wrote in message ... I would have to say that what you have been doing is unsafe, but you have been lucky enough to get away with it until now. Why would you think that putting thousands of pounds on an inclined surface without restraint is ok to do? Just because it hasn't slid of before? Someone could get seriously hurt. It would be the smart thing to do to keep the safety chain on until you get the transom in the water. This is why they call it boat ramp antics, because people don't use common sense. Sorry to be so hard on you, but you really need to think about doing what makes sense rather than what has worked before or worked for other people. On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 04:55:34 GMT, bb wrote: More often than not I take my trailerable fishing boats out by myself. I have a routine where I get ready back down the ramp, unhook the boat, tie the boat to the trailer with a 20' or so line, then back down the ramp. Usually, once the boat is partially floating, I have to stiffly brake a couple of times to get the boat off the trailer. If the transom of the boat is not partially in the water, the boat just doesn't budge off the trailer. Well, today, I went through my normal routine at a ramp I've used many times before. About half way down the ramp the boat just slid off the trailer. The skeg of the ob took the brunt of the impact, but the boat slip at least half way off the trailer. I stopped he truck and cranked the boat back up the trailer, then proceeded to back the boat into the water and launch successfully. My trailer has bunks with indoor/outdoor carpet, not rollers. The ramp was one I've used before and not unusually steep. I was backing down the ramp slowly and did not even tap the brakes. When I put the boat back on the trailer I have to give it a pretty good shot of power to run it into place. On this particular day I was going with another person who has launched trailerable power boats for years and says he goes through the same routine as I do and has never seen anything like what happened today. Like I said, my normal routine for years has been to stop out of the way in the ramp area, check the boat, unhook the crank and safety chain, attach a 20' rope then move to the ramp area. I'll then back down the ramp and get the boat free from the trailer by stiffly braking a couple of times when the boat is partially floating. After this incident, from now on, I'll back down until the boat is right at the waters edge before disconnecting the safety hook. I can't say I see others doing what I'm describing, but I'll be damned if I'll have the boat slide off on the ramp again. What are other folks experiences in launching their boats? Do you stop just as the boat reaches the water and then disconnect the safety chain? I can't say I've notice anyone else doing this, but maybe I'm missing someing. bb |
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