Boat ramp mishap.

[Pete]

I watched a guy drop his 28' cabin cruiser off the side of his trailer last night. I was coming in around 8:30 and saw this large boat on a trailer in front of the ramp. It first caught my eye because it was so off center on the trailer. As we got closer I could see that the boat was sitting very high on the trailer. Like it was floating 2 feet above the trailer in mid air. While I was tying off my boat he started to drive around the parking lot and when he made a left turn over it went right off the side of the trailer. I went over to see if there was anything I could do, Knowing full well there was nothing I could do. He had one of those roller trailers where the rollers can pivot to match the hull. It was low tied and he had backed the trailer off the end of the ramp. I think this caused the roller bunks to float to one end and stick straight up. He then pulled the boat up with it setting on the ends of the rollers rather then down on them. I would have taken some pictures but did not want to embarrass him any more. I think the lesson learned is that if the boat is not on the trailer right put it back in the water and try again. If he had done that I could have helped him.

Pete

[delevi]

That should make for a very interesting call to the insurance company.

[Québec 1]

On My first retrieve with my M , I put her back in again cause her bow was over 2 feet from the from the trailer V and her aft was hanging out dangerously!
Q1
This is a little video that captures the spirit of the day at the Stockton Springs public boat ramp on may 13 2008.
http://s263.photobucket.com/albums/ii12 ... nt=b70.flv

[bastonjock]

the one time that i had trouble with retrieving the boat was when i went out to the mooring to get the boat,my wife had my truck and trailer,now she has seen me reverse down the ramp a few times and she tows her horses so i thought no problem,we got the boat on the trailer and off we went,i stopped after a while due to a tyre prob and i tried to unhitch the truck,thats when i found the tow bar hitch was all bent,she had forced the trailer side ways whilst reversing,just gunned the gas to get it round a tight turn and she managed to mangle the hitch,i am soo glad that it did not disintigeate whilst i was doing 60mph.

At times like that i think that we ought to bring back the old law that allowed a husband to beat his wife with a stick no thicker tha his thumb

[SkiDeep2001]

Yes Quebec1, Dock over there ramp over here and wind from who knows where VEDDY INTERESTING, NO Used to fish 100 mile House, Little Fort area in BC with 16' Four Winns or 20' Bayliner and when the wind got blowing even with 3/4' tall roller guides on the sides of trailer trying to speed into trailer was only way you could hope to get it on Also found out if you don't attach stern tie downs a boat fully loaded for 2 weeks and 4 peoples worth of fuel and gear the boat will float above trailer at 65+MPH. Good thing I looked in mirror

[skeedaddy]

I have an older Mac 26'. Thus, I have an older Mac 26' trailer. It has these nice arms that stick up from the trailer aftward that cradle the boat on the trailer. I'm sure you're all familiar. One of mine is now broken. The other is bent over about 45 degrees from straight. Both are old, and the broken one actually came apart in my hand due to rust. The other is another story all together.

I took some friends for an evening sail on Lake Lewisville a few weeks ago. I was running about 50% of my Genoa alone due to high winds. I didn't even attach the boom or main. We had a great time. After the BBQ and some Guitar playing, everyone went home except for me and two guys without sailing experience.

The wind was coming about 15 degrees off of the ramp and I have a brand new 9hp engine on the back and it was close to midnight. I have the trailer in the water, I'm lined up on it, about 50 feet away in the water. It's dark. My center board is up. The gust comes and blows me off center. It keeps coming and blows me off trailer. I have about 15 feet to go. I'm going to miss the trailer alltogether and land the concrete ramp. I roll the lever back to reverse and rev up the motor. I slow, but I don't reverse. The bow miraculously turns toward the trailer...specifically the part I mentioned before about the cradle arm that used to point skyward but now has a 45 degree bend in it. Well. there is now a 45 degree bend, and a black rub down the port side of the hull. My novices were no where in sight. They definitely weren't getting wet. I ran forward, jumped for the bumper (stupid, i know, but it worked), hooked the bow eye to the winch strap and gave her a crank or two. I boarded again to inspect for damage. Everything sounded and looked okay. I tried to raise my rudder, but it wouldn't raise. I jumped in to inspect, but couldn't figure it out.

Cold and wet, I pulled the rig forward up the ramp a bit to get a walkaround and to inspect the rudder. I neglected to think that the rudder was long enough to drag on the ramp and that the pavement has this wonderful sand paper effect on fiberglass. The damage was done, I just figured I'd deal with it later. Turns out, all that was sticking the rudder in place was the downhaul that I'd forgotten to untie. DOH!

I dropped the mast. I made the furled genoa fast. It was too windy to drop and stow alone in the dark. I drove home. I'll finally have some time this weekend to inspect the hull for damage. I'll aslo need to reattach the furler and genoa.

I love sailing.
Skeedaddy.

[Chinook]

One of the strangest things I ever saw at a boat ramp involved a run away boat trailer. I was derigging up in the parking area, after a week in the San Juans. While standing atop the cabin, getting ready to lower the mast, I heard a nasty crash. I looked over, and here was this empty trailer, all piled up into a parked truck (not mine, fortunately). That trailer had been parked in the grassy parking area for days, probably. There was a fairly good slope to the grass parking area, and the person who'd left the trailer had failed to chock the wheels. It just decided to choose that moment to take aim at something and go off on its solo trip.