Yup...Drug the outdrive on the ramp

D

Daniel1980

Member
Jun 29, 2021
88
Boat Info
Sea Ray 175 Sport
Engines
Mercruiser 3.0
Gosh, an end to being skunked on the bay. As I pulled up to the dock, I thought "Atleast the boat ran like a champ!" Always consider it a win when nothing happens to the boat.

Until I drug the outdrive a foot on the ramp because I forgot to trim up. Geeze!

Thought this might helpful....put a small note on your steering wheel as a reminder.
 
I bought this very worn boat knowing, as my first, I would screw up. Strange as it may sound, it just keeps on going through my learning curve.

Odd as it may sound, I feel a certain attachment to it for this. Yeah, I scan boattrader and have considered putting a down payment on a new order....but I ask myself, does this old little boat give me the same experience as something new and shiny and perfect. Answer=YUP!
 
....and I have seen countless larger very nice boats enjoying a $1000 Sea Tow as I toodle on by. The crew on board without smiles.

Not gloating, just saying
 
True, and better to spend the learning curve on an old small boat, that way if you do upgrade down the road you may have fewer mishaps:)
 
Daniel1980 said:
Gosh, an end to being skunked on the bay. As I pulled up to the dock, I thought "Atleast the boat ran like a champ!" Always consider it a win when nothing happens to the boat.

Until I drug the outdrive a foot on the ramp because I forgot to trim up. Geeze!

Thought this might helpful....put a small note on your steering wheel as a reminder.
Click to expand...
Been there…..done that.
(So have MANY others here, even if they don’t admit to it!)
 
I now have a large note on my steering wheel - "Trim Outdrive Up".

I pulled out slowly and it lifted the back of the boat slightly when I discovered it. Not a full pull out. Other than a drag mark and some material lost, the trim seems to be working okay.

It was the first time I had gone out alone. Usually work as a team. Just forgot. Won't happen again. I hope everything is ok. Transom seems to be fine and no damage to the prop.
 
Previous owner had clearly done this on our boat as well. Cleaned right up with a few passes of the angle grinder. Everyone does it eventually. I’ve been boating since I was a baby and the second time out with my new to me boat I did the same thing. Haha. Luckily the trailer sits high so I learned I have a few inches of room.
 
Daniel1980 said:
I bought this very worn boat knowing, as my first, I would screw up. Strange as it may sound, it just keeps on going through my learning curve.

Odd as it may sound, I feel a certain attachment to it for this. Yeah, I scan boattrader and have considered putting a down payment on a new order....but I ask myself, does this old little boat give me the same experience as something new and shiny and perfect. Answer=YUP!
Click to expand...

Im gonna keep reading this.
 
Welcome to the club. But you haven’t made the big time until you’ve also left the transom straps on (I pushed for ten minutes wondering why the boat wouldn’t slide off the trailer), started the engine with the drive still in trailer position, left the plug out, and dropped a trailer wheel into that big underwater hole in the ramp that everyone warned you about.
 
@ZZ13- OH MAN! I sat hear visualizing that. Had a pucker moment just thinking about it.

Thank you for all the comments. I feel better knowing it happens and it will be ok. On a positive note, in assessing the injury, I located the very clogged hole that senses the speed....and doesn't work. Took a small 1/8 drill bit and lightly hand turned it to remove tge debris. Clean as a whistle and I may now HAVE A WORKING SPEEDOMETER NEXT TIME OUT. That was the last unfixed gauge!!!!!

There's my silver lining. My new baitcaster reel came today too. I've been getting skunked trying to catch Striped Bass. I've even seen them chase my lure up to the boat. Other than channel catfish, I have gone 0 for 4 in outings. I have single handedly kept a Bass Pro Shop open for the past month in purchasing lures and other tackle. This fishing thing is hard. I am dreaming of the day I catch a keeper Striper and can give my family and dogs a real nice fish dinner. Maybe this weekend. Please pray for me.
 
I’ve only actually witnessed one person take off out of the water with their outdrive down. But I’ve seen countless people launch without drain plugs. I saw a jet boat swamped this weekend up to the intake manifold before he got it back on the trailer. He panicked and was about to run it up into the ramp to keep it from sinking. My 8 year old asked him if he forgot the drain plug. My 10 year old told him that we don’t use the words he did. But it happens with big boats too. Last weekend my friends dock neighbor left with his anchor deployed because he pressed the windlass switch thinking it was his blower. Proves he doesn’t secure his anchor with a cable either. This weekend the same guy left without stowing his dock lines and got them wrapped in his props when he pulled forward.
 
Can't tell you how many times I've run around with my ladder down. There are just so many things to remember when it comes to being a weekend dock launcher. And on top off all that, there is the trailering aspect that comes with its pitfalls too.
 
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