I fished Texoma on Tuesday with Roger. Fishing was kind of meh for both of us, but we still stayed most of the day. I got two, a 29" and a 9" (maybe..). So I loaded the PA back on the trailer and headed home down US75.

Traffic was weird with a lot of people in a hurry and driving aggressively. There were also a few rapid slow-downs for no apparent reason. The last slow-down was really dramatic, probably from around 70 mph to 20-30 mph in a very short distance. I managed to get it shut down and checked my mirror. The car behind me hadn't tapped the brakes yet and was HAULING! I watched as she locked them up too late and just hammered my trailer and PA. Young girl, driving home from college... She was really upset by it all, and I actually felt worse for her than I did for me.

The pictures tell the story on the trailer. It's toast. The PA went up on her hood and I can't really see any damage other than a real loose rudder. I contacted Mariner and Aris filled me in on what they can do to inspect and test it for damage. I'd hate to miss a little crack that opens up in the middle of Texoma! The trailer is a converted jetski trailer with bunks and a long tongue added. I never really finished it off once I got it functional, but I liked having it. So easy to just hook up and go...

After the accident, I put the PA in the truck bed and decided to try to limp on home (another 10-11 miles). I called Jerry since I was in his town. He was out to dinner but had some good thoughts on the situation. Thanks for the help offer and suggestions Jerry! With the way the tongue joint crushed, the trailer tracked about 4' right of the truck. If I kept my left truck tire on the center line, the right trailer tire would barely stay on the pavement.. Good enough, so I slow rolled on home.

Here's some pictures. The last one is the most interesting, IMO...

Wow! I hope the kayak turns out to be OK.

Wow! I worry about those rapid slowdowns on the interstates every time I'm towing. Glad to hear you're ok and no one was hurt!

- Steve R.

So is her insurance buying you a nice new trailer?

Wow. That sucks but it looks like your yak may have been spared what could have been much worse damage. The pic of the tow hitch says it all.

Wow, the trailer is a total but the yak looks ok, hope it is. Can imagine what her front end looks like after bending that hitch.

Good your ok dude. Um i smell custom trailer for the pa.

So glad no one was hurt...the other stuff is replaceable.

Make sure you get your hitch receiver checked out...there was a lot of force applied to bend the hitch that way.

One of the things I learned from commuting on a motorcycle for years was the value of keeping a gap in front of you. It wasn't for me on the bike (I could stop much faster than just about any car), it was so that I could "feed" space to the knucklehead behind me that wasn't leaving enough room. It's tough to do in a stop and go situation like that because you'll get a lot of people cutting in front because the space is open but it saved me from being run over a number of times as well...

Hope it all works out with the trailer replacement and there wasn't any hidden damage to your PA.

Craig

glad your ok Henry looking at the trailer one would think this did not come out as good as it did for you,
glad your safe

Glad you're ok, Henry. Everything else is just stuff.....of course, when you put much of it together your self, it still kind of stings. Hopefully it all works out well.

The ball mount is really surprising. I have several, and they are very tough.

All I can add is O U C H ! ! ! and glad that you are OK.

Oh man that sucks! Glad your okay. I hate driving down 75 with all the construction it has traffic screwed up everywhere. I hope the PA turns out fine.

She was probably texting her bff..as a motorcycle rider its getting scary out there, no one thinks there is a need to devote that much attention to driving anymore, 75% eyes on phone 25% on road. I was riding beside a young lady the other day and we traveled for about 1/8th mile and I never saw her look up. Glad everyone was ok

I don't think that'll buff out!

Glad no one was hurt and the damage wasn't worse.

My wife and I try to not drive on Interstates and/or 4-lanes if possible. We like living in the country.

IslandJim

Thanks y'all. I've probably been on the phone for 2-3 hours with Allstate since this happened. Hopefully I will get everything back up to snuff soon and be back on the H20. If Mariner doesn't find anything wrong with the PA, I'll probably just haul it in the truck again for a while. And if they do, I'll replace it...