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Author Topic:   How not to launch your whaler

Chuck Tribolet posted 05-10-2009 09:17 AM ET (US)
Seen at a California Ramp: http://diver.net/bbs/posts002/78574.shtml

Chuck
Marlin posted 05-10-2009 09:34 AM ET (US)
They're going to need to go a few feet further if they want to get the boat off the trailer.
Newtauk1 posted 05-10-2009 09:38 AM ET (US)
Nice boat...not so nice truck.
wezie posted 05-10-2009 10:02 AM ET (US)
Next, the Californians will demand that we all launch that way; new legislation being drafted for immediate introduction.
Frank O posted 05-10-2009 10:29 AM ET (US)
Another, slightly earlier view before ... uh, the tide came up?
http://www.inkbox.net/misc/badday2.jpg
deepwater posted 05-10-2009 10:51 AM ET (US)
I wonder what took so long to pull it back up the ramp,,Hook a danford to the trailer and pull
PeteB88 posted 05-10-2009 10:58 AM ET (US)
IS there an explanation about this incident?
jimh posted 05-10-2009 11:19 AM ET (US)
There has to be a story here.
Tohsgib posted 05-10-2009 11:39 AM ET (US)
I bet they go a fine for being "tied" up longer than 15 minutes.
At that depth it should be still running, does not make much sense to me unless pick #2 is actually after it was towed up the ramp some.
Frank O posted 05-10-2009 12:03 PM ET (US)
Yes, actually pic #2 was taken later, as it was being pulled up.
The diver friend who took pic #2 said he was mystified how they managed to get into the situation. His buddy who arrived earlier, and who took pic #1, gave only the explanation, "Teamwork: not every husband and wife should work together to launch their boat."
fishgutz posted 05-10-2009 12:14 PM ET (US)
So what's his/her user name?
Frank O posted 05-10-2009 01:17 PM ET (US)
Here's some additional explanation from people on the scene as relayed by the guys who took these two pictures:
Apparently they backed the boat down into the water, but the boat was strapped to the trailer and the trailer was hooked to the truck. As a result, it dragged the truck into the water. The vehicle floated around the boat, and in the end they managed to pull it up by the trailer so that the truck came to be pointing out to sea.
Tom W Clark posted 05-10-2009 01:24 PM ET (US)

quote:
...boat was strapped to the trailer and the trailer was hooked to the truck. As a result, it dragged the truck into the water.
Why would that be?

quote:
The vehicle floated around the boat...
I have personally witnessed vehicles with trailers rolling into the drink at launch ramps on three separate occasions. That truck would not float.
jdizzie posted 05-10-2009 02:59 PM ET (US)
How?
Wait. . . .Wait. . ..
Really, How the. . .?

wow.
Kingsteven18 posted 05-10-2009 04:12 PM ET (US)
Maybe he thought he was James Bond?
Chuck Tribolet posted 05-10-2009 05:07 PM ET (US)
Two wheel drive pickup. Back in too far, boat lifts truck
wheels enough that it looses traction, drivers sets hand
brake (rear wheels only), still no traction, truck goes deeper yet.
Why is truck pointed downhill? We with the above scenario,
the back of the trailer is still at the surface, so the tow
track hooks to that to pull the rig out.

Chuck
Waccamaw Whaler posted 05-10-2009 05:34 PM ET (US)
WIFE - "Well you told me to get the trailer's wheels just past the water's edge!"
Bella con23 posted 05-10-2009 05:39 PM ET (US)

Waccamaw Whaler - Even on Mother's Day?
towboater posted 05-10-2009 07:33 PM ET (US)
Parking brakes have nothing to do with running a boat honey.

Tom W Clark posted 05-10-2009 10:05 PM ET (US)
For the boat to float the rear axle of the truck off the pavement, the truck would already have to be well into the drink.
Chuck Tribolet posted 05-10-2009 11:43 PM ET (US)
Pickups are notoriously light in the back. The boat will
start to lift the rear axle a bit as soon as the boat would float
off the trailer, which right about where we normally stop.
The problem with my theory is that there are no transom straps
on the boat.

Chuck
deepwater posted 05-11-2009 03:53 AM ET (US)
Some where in there I bet a pretty girl is involved ^@^,,
johnhenry posted 05-11-2009 07:41 AM ET (US)
Hah, ha. I will try not to laugh to hard. That could be my wife and me! Looks like someone forgot to put it in park. They were probably arguing when they got to the boat ramp.
fishgutz posted 05-11-2009 09:06 AM ET (US)
Whoever's boat that is, they have to be a member here. They are just being quiet. Looks like the registration number is from Arizona? Definitely an Arizona plate on the trailer..
Any ideas?
No Respect posted 05-11-2009 01:00 PM ET (US)
That's the ramp at Marina Del Rey. The weekend crowd is usually good for some great launch ramp follies. I just wouldn't expect to see this from a Whaler owner. Makes us all look bad.
johnhenry posted 05-11-2009 01:33 PM ET (US)
If I were him I would blame it on the truck, the wife, or the meds, or something.
SC Joe posted 05-11-2009 01:46 PM ET (US)
The biggest problem is the truck facing the wrong way.
There is just no logically explainable reason it should be that direction, with a boat behind it at a boat ramp.
efduffer posted 05-11-2009 02:06 PM ET (US)
Unless it was just an unfortunate series of "d'oh!" moments. Most of us have had one or more of these happen to us probably, just not all at te same time.
"D'oh! I'm not from around here, THERE'S the ramp, I'm gonna hafta turn around"
"D'oh! I'm not gonna make the same mistake again, I'm gonna take the transom straps off BEFORE I get it in the water. I'll just do it at the top of the ramp here"
"D'oh! Why is everything moving?"
"D'oh! I musta left it in neutral/forgot to set the parking brake/whatever else could go wrong"
"D'oh! You CANNOT stop a truck/boat/trailer combo ala Fred Flintstone one foot in/one foot out while idling down a boat ramp"
"D'oh! My whole rig is taking a swim"
"D'oh! My cellphone is in the truck. Can some one call a tow truck for me?"
GreatBayNH posted 05-11-2009 02:54 PM ET (US)
I'll admit, I forgot to take the transom straps off once. I kept backing up until water was at the front doors of the car before I realized why the boat wasn't coming off the trailer. Unfortunately it got worse from there. The trailer was floating under the boat and the driver side trailer fender got wedged under the dock in a swift outgoing tide. The more I tried to rock the trailer loose it kept getting wedged in tighter under the dock. With the outgoing tide I was in fear that several tons of dock was about to make removing the traler impossible with every passing minute.
Here are the steps it took to get out of this pickle.
Step 1) Get get the boat off the traler and tie up to other side of dock.
Step 2) Disconnect the trailer from the tow vehicle and get the vehicle up on dry land.
Step 3) Lower the trailer tounge jack completely so the traler is as low profile as you can get.
Step 4) Get you and your wife in the 40 degree water, angle the trailer 90 degrees of the dock, and rickshaw it out of there.
Step 5) Buy a new fender as the one under the dock was now crushed.
Lucky for us there was NO ONE waiting for the ramp, nor was anyone around to sit and laugh at us. We lucked out and it was a lesson I will NEVER forget.
Buckda posted 05-11-2009 03:32 PM ET (US)
I don't imagine that truck is really going to be reliable ever again. There will certainly be long-term electrical problems after having all that salt water in there corroding components, etc., not to mention if he left the motor running.
I can understand launching the truck by accident in reverse - though it is a knuckleheaded thing to do. I'm still puzzled by the circumstances that lead to an obviously otherwise smart individual (he owns a Whaler with Evinrude power and a Ford pickup, after all!!) could end up in this unfortunate situation.
The guy is from Arizona, so it couldn't have been a guy from the Upper Midwest blinded by all that sunshine when on vacation for the winter....
....but since he's from Arizona, perhaps it was a VERY dry, bouyant Whaler...
pglein posted 05-11-2009 04:47 PM ET (US)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=marina+del+ ray,+ca&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.544155,53.613281&ie=UTF8&ll=33. 97746,-118.441527&spn=0.00222,0.006845&t=h&z=18
Looking at the aerial photo of the launching ramp where this occured, I can imagine only two likely scenarios:
First, and I think most likely, is that someone, perhaps an inexperienced driver, accidentally gunned the engine while approaching the ramp from one of the parking rows or perhaps was driving too fast and had to make a sudden evasive maneauver to avoid another driver, or a pedestrian or something like that.
Second would be that the entire rig went in the right way, as suggested, with no parking brake. The truck would have to have been COMPLETELY submerged, leaving only the floating boat and trailer to attach the tow line to. The truck would then have been swung around and pulled up the ramp backwards.
However, given that the truck still appears to be relatively clean, and that the windshield wipers have been pushed up to be vertical, I feel that it its much more likely that it went in forward, and that the first picture posted is about as deep as it got.
A few things to note: The wobbly rollers under the transom are not properly supporting the hull. Something is wrong there. However, It looks more to me like the trailer is set up improperly, and the rollers are seized in that position. There are no tie-downs. One might take this to mean that they were prepared to launch, or had just retrived, the boat, but it could also be that they just don't use them. The tilt-lock is engaged on the engine. Also, the fishing rods are stored in a way that I doubt they would be left for highway travel.
Chuck Tribolet posted 05-11-2009 06:54 PM ET (US)
A second hand version of the story has been posted at
http://diver.net/bbs/posts002/78574.shtml . See
the post titled "as related to me". The poster is a regular.
It's pretty much as I suggested.

Chuck
hauptjm posted 05-12-2009 09:32 AM ET (US)
If I had to guess, I would say it was nothing more than a truck with a boat on a trailer that someone forgot to put into Park (transmission). Daddy walks away to do whatever, and Mom is somewhere else and the whole rig simple rolls down the ramp. Now why it's facing this way, may be because it rolled across the parking area from afar.
Of course, the "eye witnesses" say differently, so maybe it's what they say!
Tohsgib posted 05-12-2009 10:43 AM ET (US)
Uh Buckda...that is clearly a 1985 Johnson, not an Evinrude.
ossnap posted 05-12-2009 05:16 PM ET (US)
That really bites! You gotta feel for whoever that was. I doubt that truck will be recoverable. That is some monster of a boat in the background though!
Nantucket Sleighride posted 05-13-2009 02:41 AM ET (US)
Launching a Boston Whaler (Option #2)
They should have secured the boat to the trailer, disconnected the trailer from the truck, and let it launch itself !
On "Myth Busters" they proved that a 13' Boston Whaler is capable of motoring around the harbor with it's trailer still strapped beneath it.
http://s389.photobucket.com/albums/oo336/Nantucket_Sleighride/ ?action=view¤t=TrailerWhalerMythBusters.jpg
Bill
towboater posted 05-13-2009 03:12 AM ET (US)
Aluminum boats will handle a trailer as well. Long story, no pics, Refs avail.
mk
RichL posted 05-13-2009 05:37 PM ET (US)
It's a Ford truck. I'm just sayin'
RichL posted 05-13-2009 06:04 PM ET (US)
Okay, a little true confession here:
I have launched at that particular ramp numerous times and once even forgot to undo the transom tie-downs at there. The most embarrassing part was that my ex-wife and her husband were there launching at the same time (at my invitation). MDR is a particularly slick ramp.
I only realized my error when I tried to power off of the trailer and noticed the truck bouncing around a little and the boat going nowhere, even with a considerable amount of power applied.
This did not involve a Whaler. The boat was my old 21’ Campion Victoria.
I initially thought I’d forgotten to undo the strap to the towing eye. Nope, that wasn’t it. Then I noticed that the trailer was floating. It was then that the facts of the situation became clear to me.
The boat was floating normally even though the trailer (aluminum) was strapped to it. The truck was an ’06 Tundra.
Solution? Get back in the truck, pull forward, undo the straps and launch. Simple and not a lot of brain power required, although it was a bit more brain power than was required to get IN to that situation.
I’m having a REALLY hard time believing that the truck was lifted so much as to lose complete traction and then just float around the boat. Particularly since I have launched at that ramp with the boat strapped to the trailer.
Somebody just goofed big time.
Nantucket Sleighride posted 05-14-2009 12:31 AM ET (US)
On the topic of boat launching follies.
This is a creative way of launching a PWC
[url]http://s389.photobucket.com/albums/oo336/Nantucket_Sleighride/?action=view¤t=launchingaPWC.jpg[ur[]
Bill
Nantucket Sleighride posted 05-14-2009 12:32 AM ET (US)
Lets try that link again.
http://s389.photobucket.com/albums/oo336/Nantucket_Sleighride/ ?action=view¤t=launchingaPWC.jpg
Sal A posted 05-14-2009 05:58 AM ET (US)
I don't comment on these types of threads. Not because it is beneath me and catty. Because there for the Grace of God....
It would be like me giving fishing advice.
johnhenry posted 05-14-2009 07:53 AM ET (US)
I think everyone has had at least one of those moments. And I thought leaving the drain plug out on my 13 was bone headed.
I have found that slowing myself down once I get to the ramp helps. Go thru the check list, walk around the boat, take a deep breath-hah. Always anxious to get it in the water. I hate it when the ramps are real busy. Thats when most of the follies happen.
I have never left the tie downs on, but I will now put that in the definite no-no column along with leaving the engine in the down position while pulling up the ramp. I saw a guy scrape the bottom of his skeg off after forgeting to tilt up. God awful noise it was scraping along the concrete.
wezie posted 05-14-2009 10:29 AM ET (US)
These are all learning and reminding moments. Most of the comments really are directed towards knowing and understanding what really took place.
I have had my moments, and like John Henry, am more prone to mistakes when pressed and pushed.
Watching a grown man take his ramp mistakes out on his wife and 13? year old daughter at the beginning of a weekend, still remains with me.
He was under no time pressure, had the private ramp and rigging dock to himself with only one observer, me off to one side. There was no reason for him to get mad, but he did. The only thing I could think of was that he did not want to be there in the first place. (His daughter was going to race a sailboat all weekend). Great beginning!
I try to learn and yes, Sal, we all laugh because we have been or are going to be in that pot.
And some of those that we laugh at deserve it for past transgressions!
RLSmith posted 05-14-2009 10:58 AM ET (US)
My ramp story... I started up and backed off the trailer. Before I got too far I started wondering what the loud rushing water sound was. I then noticed water pouring out of the rear of my engine. I had forgotten to replace the flushing cap on my Suzuki DT115S. Panic. Fortunately I was singled handed so the trailer was still on the ramp. I changed directions and loaded onto the trailer, trying to look like everything was planned. Nobody asked me why my trip was so short.
gnr posted 05-14-2009 11:52 AM ET (US)
Sure enough he started it up for me and off we go. Launched like we've been doing this forever. Him in the boat, me backing the truck. Stopped on his signal, he fired it up, waved me back and boat slid gracefully into the water. I parked the truck and made my way to the boat, gently pushing it away from the dock as I stepped aboard. We're idling away from the ramp, warming up the motor and chatting when I feel some cold water on my toes. You probably guessed by now that the plug was still sitting in the cup holder. Sigh... turned it back around with the plan being to quickly pull it out of the water, let it drain and get back out. I hit the dock running and when I reached the truck realized that I had left the keys in the locked truck. Sigh....
Plan B was to beach it on the little patch of sand that was available while waiting for the Calvary to come with the spare keys. 20 minutes later the Calvary arrived and we yanked the boat, drained it and put it back into the water. Of course now it wouldn't start. Sigh.
Back on the trailer it goes and we're sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves when two guys in a brand new Ford F150 (still had the window sticker) and little aluminum boat pull in. Driver backs the boat down the ramp and gets out and tries to push it off the trailer. It's not quite in far enough so he yells to his buddy to back the truck down a bit more. The buddy gets out of the passenger seat and staggers around the front of the truck using the hood to balance as he is clearly drunk. He gets in the drivers seat and backs the boat in until his buddy yells for him to stop. Which he does. He then gets out of the truck and walks back to the boat. Just then the truck moves back just a bit. Both guys freeze and just as the sober (or maybe less drunk) one starts for the cab the truck rolls quickly back until it was completely submerged. The bow of the boat was still hooked to the trailer by the safety chain and was pulled under. Anyone approaching the scene at this point would have wondered why this 12' aluminum boat had it's bow buried 20' from the shore. The truck had completely disappeared.
Suddenly our situation didn't seem so bad.
gnr posted 05-14-2009 11:53 AM ET (US)
Ooops,
The first paragragh should have been...
"Way way back when.... I towed my buddy's boat to the ramp. This was the third time in a week I towed his boat to the ramp, the first two trips ended without the motor ever being started. This time I told him I wanted to see the thing running before I backed my truck up to it."
That's what I get for spell checking ii my email...
JLW posted 05-17-2009 10:15 AM ET (US)
The only thing I can see wrong is they haven't driven down the ramp far enough. Just a little Texas humor-very little huh? JLW
Bobalong posted 05-29-2009 02:47 PM ET (US)
I think we're all missing the obvious. There are some folks who are just afraid to back up with a trailer attached.
Chuck Tribolet posted 05-30-2009 02:11 AM ET (US)
Bobalong, thanks for a good chuckle at the end of a LOOOOONG
work day.

Chuck
rborroto posted 05-30-2009 09:25 AM ET (US)
Maybe this is a frame from the movie "The Great Outdoors" with John Candy.
sapple posted 06-02-2009 07:28 PM ET (US)
This person had a problem launching because of interferance from gulls.
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc264/sapple2/Birdonboat.jpg
Nantucket Sleighride posted 06-08-2009 03:58 AM ET (US)
Removing a 350 pound SeaGullosaur from your boat is a simple task,
if you carry the correct safety gear aboard your Boston Whaler!
"Oops, I seem to have accidentally discharged my 12 gauge flare gun.... Again!"
queenfish posted 06-08-2009 09:24 PM ET (US)
None of the above. The guy is from Arizona....look at his plates. He mostly uses his boat in fresh water and didn't want to get the trailer wheelbearings submerged in salt water. Makes sense to me.
Mark, San Diego (The summer home of all of Arizona)

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Author	Topic: How not to launch your whaler
Chuck Tribolet	posted 05-10-2009 09:17 AM ET (US) Seen at a California Ramp: http://diver.net/bbs/posts002/78574.shtml Chuck
Marlin	posted 05-10-2009 09:34 AM ET (US) They're going to need to go a few feet further if they want to get the boat off the trailer.
Newtauk1	posted 05-10-2009 09:38 AM ET (US) Nice boat...not so nice truck.
wezie	posted 05-10-2009 10:02 AM ET (US) Next, the Californians will demand that we all launch that way; new legislation being drafted for immediate introduction.
Frank O	posted 05-10-2009 10:29 AM ET (US) Another, slightly earlier view before ... uh, the tide came up? http://www.inkbox.net/misc/badday2.jpg
deepwater	posted 05-10-2009 10:51 AM ET (US) I wonder what took so long to pull it back up the ramp,,Hook a danford to the trailer and pull
PeteB88	posted 05-10-2009 10:58 AM ET (US) IS there an explanation about this incident?
jimh	posted 05-10-2009 11:19 AM ET (US) There has to be a story here.
Tohsgib	posted 05-10-2009 11:39 AM ET (US) I bet they go a fine for being "tied" up longer than 15 minutes. At that depth it should be still running, does not make much sense to me unless pick #2 is actually after it was towed up the ramp some.
Frank O	posted 05-10-2009 12:03 PM ET (US) Yes, actually pic #2 was taken later, as it was being pulled up. The diver friend who took pic #2 said he was mystified how they managed to get into the situation. His buddy who arrived earlier, and who took pic #1, gave only the explanation, "Teamwork: not every husband and wife should work together to launch their boat."
fishgutz	posted 05-10-2009 12:14 PM ET (US) So what's his/her user name?
Frank O	posted 05-10-2009 01:17 PM ET (US) Here's some additional explanation from people on the scene as relayed by the guys who took these two pictures: Apparently they backed the boat down into the water, but the boat was strapped to the trailer and the trailer was hooked to the truck. As a result, it dragged the truck into the water. The vehicle floated around the boat, and in the end they managed to pull it up by the trailer so that the truck came to be pointing out to sea.
Tom W Clark	posted 05-10-2009 01:24 PM ET (US) quote: ...boat was strapped to the trailer and the trailer was hooked to the truck. As a result, it dragged the truck into the water. Why would that be? quote: The vehicle floated around the boat... I have personally witnessed vehicles with trailers rolling into the drink at launch ramps on three separate occasions. That truck would not float.
jdizzie	posted 05-10-2009 02:59 PM ET (US) How? Wait. . . .Wait. . .. Really, How the. . .? wow.
Kingsteven18	posted 05-10-2009 04:12 PM ET (US) Maybe he thought he was James Bond?
Chuck Tribolet	posted 05-10-2009 05:07 PM ET (US) Two wheel drive pickup. Back in too far, boat lifts truck wheels enough that it looses traction, drivers sets hand brake (rear wheels only), still no traction, truck goes deeper yet. Why is truck pointed downhill? We with the above scenario, the back of the trailer is still at the surface, so the tow track hooks to that to pull the rig out. Chuck
Waccamaw Whaler	posted 05-10-2009 05:34 PM ET (US) WIFE - "Well you told me to get the trailer's wheels just past the water's edge!"
Bella con23	posted 05-10-2009 05:39 PM ET (US) Waccamaw Whaler - Even on Mother's Day?
towboater	posted 05-10-2009 07:33 PM ET (US) Parking brakes have nothing to do with running a boat honey.
Tom W Clark	posted 05-10-2009 10:05 PM ET (US) For the boat to float the rear axle of the truck off the pavement, the truck would already have to be well into the drink.
Chuck Tribolet	posted 05-10-2009 11:43 PM ET (US) Pickups are notoriously light in the back. The boat will start to lift the rear axle a bit as soon as the boat would float off the trailer, which right about where we normally stop. The problem with my theory is that there are no transom straps on the boat. Chuck
deepwater	posted 05-11-2009 03:53 AM ET (US) Some where in there I bet a pretty girl is involved ^@^,,
johnhenry	posted 05-11-2009 07:41 AM ET (US) Hah, ha. I will try not to laugh to hard. That could be my wife and me! Looks like someone forgot to put it in park. They were probably arguing when they got to the boat ramp.
fishgutz	posted 05-11-2009 09:06 AM ET (US) Whoever's boat that is, they have to be a member here. They are just being quiet. Looks like the registration number is from Arizona? Definitely an Arizona plate on the trailer.. Any ideas?
No Respect	posted 05-11-2009 01:00 PM ET (US) That's the ramp at Marina Del Rey. The weekend crowd is usually good for some great launch ramp follies. I just wouldn't expect to see this from a Whaler owner. Makes us all look bad.
johnhenry	posted 05-11-2009 01:33 PM ET (US) If I were him I would blame it on the truck, the wife, or the meds, or something.
SC Joe	posted 05-11-2009 01:46 PM ET (US) The biggest problem is the truck facing the wrong way. There is just no logically explainable reason it should be that direction, with a boat behind it at a boat ramp.
efduffer	posted 05-11-2009 02:06 PM ET (US) Unless it was just an unfortunate series of "d'oh!" moments. Most of us have had one or more of these happen to us probably, just not all at te same time. "D'oh! I'm not from around here, THERE'S the ramp, I'm gonna hafta turn around" "D'oh! I'm not gonna make the same mistake again, I'm gonna take the transom straps off BEFORE I get it in the water. I'll just do it at the top of the ramp here" "D'oh! Why is everything moving?" "D'oh! I musta left it in neutral/forgot to set the parking brake/whatever else could go wrong" "D'oh! You CANNOT stop a truck/boat/trailer combo ala Fred Flintstone one foot in/one foot out while idling down a boat ramp" "D'oh! My whole rig is taking a swim" "D'oh! My cellphone is in the truck. Can some one call a tow truck for me?"
GreatBayNH	posted 05-11-2009 02:54 PM ET (US) I'll admit, I forgot to take the transom straps off once. I kept backing up until water was at the front doors of the car before I realized why the boat wasn't coming off the trailer. Unfortunately it got worse from there. The trailer was floating under the boat and the driver side trailer fender got wedged under the dock in a swift outgoing tide. The more I tried to rock the trailer loose it kept getting wedged in tighter under the dock. With the outgoing tide I was in fear that several tons of dock was about to make removing the traler impossible with every passing minute. Here are the steps it took to get out of this pickle. Step 1) Get get the boat off the traler and tie up to other side of dock. Step 2) Disconnect the trailer from the tow vehicle and get the vehicle up on dry land. Step 3) Lower the trailer tounge jack completely so the traler is as low profile as you can get. Step 4) Get you and your wife in the 40 degree water, angle the trailer 90 degrees of the dock, and rickshaw it out of there. Step 5) Buy a new fender as the one under the dock was now crushed. Lucky for us there was NO ONE waiting for the ramp, nor was anyone around to sit and laugh at us. We lucked out and it was a lesson I will NEVER forget.
Buckda	posted 05-11-2009 03:32 PM ET (US) I don't imagine that truck is really going to be reliable ever again. There will certainly be long-term electrical problems after having all that salt water in there corroding components, etc., not to mention if he left the motor running. I can understand launching the truck by accident in reverse - though it is a knuckleheaded thing to do. I'm still puzzled by the circumstances that lead to an obviously otherwise smart individual (he owns a Whaler with Evinrude power and a Ford pickup, after all!!) could end up in this unfortunate situation. The guy is from Arizona, so it couldn't have been a guy from the Upper Midwest blinded by all that sunshine when on vacation for the winter.... ....but since he's from Arizona, perhaps it was a VERY dry, bouyant Whaler...
pglein	posted 05-11-2009 04:47 PM ET (US) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=marina+del+ ray,+ca&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.544155,53.613281&ie=UTF8&ll=33. 97746,-118.441527&spn=0.00222,0.006845&t=h&z=18 Looking at the aerial photo of the launching ramp where this occured, I can imagine only two likely scenarios: First, and I think most likely, is that someone, perhaps an inexperienced driver, accidentally gunned the engine while approaching the ramp from one of the parking rows or perhaps was driving too fast and had to make a sudden evasive maneauver to avoid another driver, or a pedestrian or something like that. Second would be that the entire rig went in the right way, as suggested, with no parking brake. The truck would have to have been COMPLETELY submerged, leaving only the floating boat and trailer to attach the tow line to. The truck would then have been swung around and pulled up the ramp backwards. However, given that the truck still appears to be relatively clean, and that the windshield wipers have been pushed up to be vertical, I feel that it its much more likely that it went in forward, and that the first picture posted is about as deep as it got. A few things to note: The wobbly rollers under the transom are not properly supporting the hull. Something is wrong there. However, It looks more to me like the trailer is set up improperly, and the rollers are seized in that position. There are no tie-downs. One might take this to mean that they were prepared to launch, or had just retrived, the boat, but it could also be that they just don't use them. The tilt-lock is engaged on the engine. Also, the fishing rods are stored in a way that I doubt they would be left for highway travel.
Chuck Tribolet	posted 05-11-2009 06:54 PM ET (US) A second hand version of the story has been posted at http://diver.net/bbs/posts002/78574.shtml . See the post titled "as related to me". The poster is a regular. It's pretty much as I suggested. Chuck
hauptjm	posted 05-12-2009 09:32 AM ET (US) If I had to guess, I would say it was nothing more than a truck with a boat on a trailer that someone forgot to put into Park (transmission). Daddy walks away to do whatever, and Mom is somewhere else and the whole rig simple rolls down the ramp. Now why it's facing this way, may be because it rolled across the parking area from afar. Of course, the "eye witnesses" say differently, so maybe it's what they say!
Tohsgib	posted 05-12-2009 10:43 AM ET (US) Uh Buckda...that is clearly a 1985 Johnson, not an Evinrude.
ossnap	posted 05-12-2009 05:16 PM ET (US) That really bites! You gotta feel for whoever that was. I doubt that truck will be recoverable. That is some monster of a boat in the background though!
Nantucket Sleighride	posted 05-13-2009 02:41 AM ET (US) Launching a Boston Whaler (Option #2) They should have secured the boat to the trailer, disconnected the trailer from the truck, and let it launch itself ! On "Myth Busters" they proved that a 13' Boston Whaler is capable of motoring around the harbor with it's trailer still strapped beneath it. http://s389.photobucket.com/albums/oo336/Nantucket_Sleighride/ ?action=view¤t=TrailerWhalerMythBusters.jpg Bill
towboater	posted 05-13-2009 03:12 AM ET (US) Aluminum boats will handle a trailer as well. Long story, no pics, Refs avail. mk
RichL	posted 05-13-2009 05:37 PM ET (US) It's a Ford truck. I'm just sayin'
RichL	posted 05-13-2009 06:04 PM ET (US) Okay, a little true confession here: I have launched at that particular ramp numerous times and once even forgot to undo the transom tie-downs at there. The most embarrassing part was that my ex-wife and her husband were there launching at the same time (at my invitation). MDR is a particularly slick ramp. I only realized my error when I tried to power off of the trailer and noticed the truck bouncing around a little and the boat going nowhere, even with a considerable amount of power applied. This did not involve a Whaler. The boat was my old 21’ Campion Victoria. I initially thought I’d forgotten to undo the strap to the towing eye. Nope, that wasn’t it. Then I noticed that the trailer was floating. It was then that the facts of the situation became clear to me. The boat was floating normally even though the trailer (aluminum) was strapped to it. The truck was an ’06 Tundra. Solution? Get back in the truck, pull forward, undo the straps and launch. Simple and not a lot of brain power required, although it was a bit more brain power than was required to get IN to that situation. I’m having a REALLY hard time believing that the truck was lifted so much as to lose complete traction and then just float around the boat. Particularly since I have launched at that ramp with the boat strapped to the trailer. Somebody just goofed big time.
Nantucket Sleighride	posted 05-14-2009 12:31 AM ET (US) On the topic of boat launching follies. This is a creative way of launching a PWC [url]http://s389.photobucket.com/albums/oo336/Nantucket_Sleighride/?action=view¤t=launchingaPWC.jpg[ur[] Bill
Nantucket Sleighride	posted 05-14-2009 12:32 AM ET (US) Lets try that link again. http://s389.photobucket.com/albums/oo336/Nantucket_Sleighride/ ?action=view¤t=launchingaPWC.jpg
Sal A	posted 05-14-2009 05:58 AM ET (US) I don't comment on these types of threads. Not because it is beneath me and catty. Because there for the Grace of God.... It would be like me giving fishing advice.
johnhenry	posted 05-14-2009 07:53 AM ET (US) I think everyone has had at least one of those moments. And I thought leaving the drain plug out on my 13 was bone headed. I have found that slowing myself down once I get to the ramp helps. Go thru the check list, walk around the boat, take a deep breath-hah. Always anxious to get it in the water. I hate it when the ramps are real busy. Thats when most of the follies happen. I have never left the tie downs on, but I will now put that in the definite no-no column along with leaving the engine in the down position while pulling up the ramp. I saw a guy scrape the bottom of his skeg off after forgeting to tilt up. God awful noise it was scraping along the concrete.
wezie	posted 05-14-2009 10:29 AM ET (US) These are all learning and reminding moments. Most of the comments really are directed towards knowing and understanding what really took place. I have had my moments, and like John Henry, am more prone to mistakes when pressed and pushed. Watching a grown man take his ramp mistakes out on his wife and 13? year old daughter at the beginning of a weekend, still remains with me. He was under no time pressure, had the private ramp and rigging dock to himself with only one observer, me off to one side. There was no reason for him to get mad, but he did. The only thing I could think of was that he did not want to be there in the first place. (His daughter was going to race a sailboat all weekend). Great beginning! I try to learn and yes, Sal, we all laugh because we have been or are going to be in that pot. And some of those that we laugh at deserve it for past transgressions!
RLSmith	posted 05-14-2009 10:58 AM ET (US) My ramp story... I started up and backed off the trailer. Before I got too far I started wondering what the loud rushing water sound was. I then noticed water pouring out of the rear of my engine. I had forgotten to replace the flushing cap on my Suzuki DT115S. Panic. Fortunately I was singled handed so the trailer was still on the ramp. I changed directions and loaded onto the trailer, trying to look like everything was planned. Nobody asked me why my trip was so short.
gnr	posted 05-14-2009 11:52 AM ET (US) Sure enough he started it up for me and off we go. Launched like we've been doing this forever. Him in the boat, me backing the truck. Stopped on his signal, he fired it up, waved me back and boat slid gracefully into the water. I parked the truck and made my way to the boat, gently pushing it away from the dock as I stepped aboard. We're idling away from the ramp, warming up the motor and chatting when I feel some cold water on my toes. You probably guessed by now that the plug was still sitting in the cup holder. Sigh... turned it back around with the plan being to quickly pull it out of the water, let it drain and get back out. I hit the dock running and when I reached the truck realized that I had left the keys in the locked truck. Sigh.... Plan B was to beach it on the little patch of sand that was available while waiting for the Calvary to come with the spare keys. 20 minutes later the Calvary arrived and we yanked the boat, drained it and put it back into the water. Of course now it wouldn't start. Sigh. Back on the trailer it goes and we're sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves when two guys in a brand new Ford F150 (still had the window sticker) and little aluminum boat pull in. Driver backs the boat down the ramp and gets out and tries to push it off the trailer. It's not quite in far enough so he yells to his buddy to back the truck down a bit more. The buddy gets out of the passenger seat and staggers around the front of the truck using the hood to balance as he is clearly drunk. He gets in the drivers seat and backs the boat in until his buddy yells for him to stop. Which he does. He then gets out of the truck and walks back to the boat. Just then the truck moves back just a bit. Both guys freeze and just as the sober (or maybe less drunk) one starts for the cab the truck rolls quickly back until it was completely submerged. The bow of the boat was still hooked to the trailer by the safety chain and was pulled under. Anyone approaching the scene at this point would have wondered why this 12' aluminum boat had it's bow buried 20' from the shore. The truck had completely disappeared. Suddenly our situation didn't seem so bad.
gnr	posted 05-14-2009 11:53 AM ET (US) Ooops, The first paragragh should have been... "Way way back when.... I towed my buddy's boat to the ramp. This was the third time in a week I towed his boat to the ramp, the first two trips ended without the motor ever being started. This time I told him I wanted to see the thing running before I backed my truck up to it." That's what I get for spell checking ii my email...
JLW	posted 05-17-2009 10:15 AM ET (US) The only thing I can see wrong is they haven't driven down the ramp far enough. Just a little Texas humor-very little huh? JLW
Bobalong	posted 05-29-2009 02:47 PM ET (US) I think we're all missing the obvious. There are some folks who are just afraid to back up with a trailer attached.
Chuck Tribolet	posted 05-30-2009 02:11 AM ET (US) Bobalong, thanks for a good chuckle at the end of a LOOOOONG work day. Chuck
rborroto	posted 05-30-2009 09:25 AM ET (US) Maybe this is a frame from the movie "The Great Outdoors" with John Candy.
sapple	posted 06-02-2009 07:28 PM ET (US) This person had a problem launching because of interferance from gulls. http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc264/sapple2/Birdonboat.jpg
Nantucket Sleighride	posted 06-08-2009 03:58 AM ET (US) Removing a 350 pound SeaGullosaur from your boat is a simple task, if you carry the correct safety gear aboard your Boston Whaler! "Oops, I seem to have accidentally discharged my 12 gauge flare gun.... Again!"
queenfish	posted 06-08-2009 09:24 PM ET (US) None of the above. The guy is from Arizona....look at his plates. He mostly uses his boat in fresh water and didn't want to get the trailer wheelbearings submerged in salt water. Makes sense to me. Mark, San Diego (The summer home of all of Arizona)