This guy should have stayed home

sappington

sappington

New Member
Sep 6, 2009
63
federalway wa.
Boat Info
250 wekender
Engines
5.7 merc crusier alpha 1
Hey guys, I went to the taste of tacoma sat,moored at point defiance marina and on the way to the park,walking by the boat ramp I saw this.I asked if he needed help but he was pretty frantic,I dont know if the plug wasnt in or what but he did eventually get it on the trailier.Hopefully he had no damage. boat and marina 090.jpg

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I guess his bilge pump wasn't working at the time . :huh:
 
I'll bet 2 dollars that he's a Bayliner owner. :smt043
 
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That's a bummer!
Unfortunately I too have launched without the plug. I went and parked the car/trailer and noticed it was sitting funny as I walked back towards it. I knew what I'd done right away. I ran back to the car, backed it down and quickly cranked the boat onto it. Yeah, it was heavy... that trailer had a little curve to it after that exercise in 'oopsy daisy'.
I was lucky... luckier than that fella, that's for sure!
 
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That brings back some memories... it was a nice stock '67 Valiant 2dr post with a slant 6 and the boat was a 1974 12' Vanguard skibee with a similar vintage 4 cylinder Merc 65 hp... yes those were the good ol' days.
 
I saw a guy once launch his boat with the stern straps still holding the trailer up and pulling the boat down in the water. The funny thing was he was trying to reach/dive to loosen them up. He could not with all that pressure. Eventually he pulled forward out of the water and un-strapped. It was a very busy 4th of July weekend on the launch ramp and his wife was screaming at him. Poor fella,

Best,
Rich
 
My friend (who is actually shown taking a picture in my signature below) put his new boat in the water for the first time Saturday and forgot to put the plug in. I'd given him my 'Launch and Return' checklist which had that as one of the todo's but I think he was just too excited and overlooked it. Oddly he is one of the smartest people I know, so it happens to the best of us. Luckily no harm was done and he got a lesson in underwater drain plug installation.
 
beernutz said:
My friend (who is actually shown taking a picture in my signature below) put his new boat in the water for the first time Saturday and forgot to put the plug in. I'd given him my 'Launch and Return' checklist which had that as one of the todo's but I think he was just too excited and overlooked it. Oddly he is one of the smartest people I know, so it happens to the best of us. Luckily no harm was done and he got a lesson in underwater drain plug installation.
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Underwater installation..... been there done that. Heres my sign...:smt021
 
Looks like he had the nose unhooked!

Happened to me too. Now the Admiral reminds me! "PLUG IN?":smt021


How about this:

Who has backed down the ramp and found out your trailer can float?

Because you forgot to take the stern straps off!!!:smt009:smt013
 
re: still strapped on(but I did have the plug in!) - raises hand - on my old boat once. I think you do these things only once. The embarrassment after that is enough to make it to the top of your priority list when you're putting in from then on.

I also left my motor down (trim up only, not yet in trailer mode) once (again on my old boat, first or second year of owning it. Dragging it up the concrete ramp, I had folks standing near the front of my truck yelling at me, to stop!!! and waving towards the boat. Luckily, it didn't do much damage, but it did take a small chunk(1/4 high x1" long) out of the bottom of my skeg that I remembered forever. I now always check for "trailer mode" on motors before I pull them out.

-VtSeaRay
 
Back in about 1990, I made the mistake of letting an inexperienced friend help me. He was tending the winch while I backed down the ramp so he could push it off the trailer once it was in. It was a roller trailer and he removed the bow safety strap and clicked the winch out of the ratcheting mode. It was a steep ramp and as I was backing down, the boat rolled off the trailer and the bow went up and the boat came to rest on it's skeg on the concrete. Luckily, the engine was straight and the angle of the skeg matched the concrete and no damage was done. :smt038
 
There are a lot of little things to think about all the time in boating so stuff is going to happen. I've left the plug out (on an old 16' with outboard - plug went in from the inside so just ran at high speed until most all the water ran out and pushed the plug in) and on current boat I dragged the skeg first time I pulled it out of the water (just shaved about 1/16 of an inch off of it). The key is to do all these things only once and then have them engraved into your memory.
 
My guess is that he left the one port side stern strap connected then backed down. That would explain the tilt of the boat on the trailer. With the low transom, the weight of the trailer would easily pull that side down under water as he backed down.

I personally would NEVER leave out a drain plug. That would be really dumb. (leaving the outdrive down when pulling out of the water..... well, now that is more my style..... at least I noticed before I went more than a few feet up the ramp :smt013
 
Creekwood said:
My guess is that he left the one port side stern strap connected then backed down. That would explain the tilt of the boat on the trailer. With the low transom, the weight of the trailer would easily pull that side down under water as he backed down.

I personally would NEVER leave out a drain plug. That would be really dumb. (leaving the outdrive down when pulling out of the water..... well, now that is more my style..... at least I noticed before I went more than a few feet up the ramp :smt013
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Or starting the engine after anchoring or resting on a sandbar, with the outdrive in trailer position. Or backing too far into the garage and punching a hole in the drywall with the prop fins (luckily missing the studs). I've NEVER done those, either...
 
Creekwood said:
My guess is that he left the one port side stern strap connected then backed down. That would explain the tilt of the boat on the trailer. With the low transom, the weight of the trailer would easily pull that side down under water as he backed down.
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The boat is set back on the trailer a good number of feet. I'm not thinking it is a strap.

I'm going with Jetski swamping him. Pesky gnats...
 
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