If there is anyone from the panhandle here,
you probably know how steep the ramp is at
Fritch Fortress on Meridith. I saw a boat
sitting on the concrete due to a
bad strap. Not a good situation to be in.
MO

I always leave the chain hooked until I get to the water.Straps break more often than you think. I saw a 25' Grady White with twins sitting on the ramp at BB&T in Freeport. We slid her back in the water and then they put it back on and took it to the glass shop!

I launch a 20' pontoon by myself. I have a 25' rope tied off to the end fo the trailer and the front of the boat. I just ease down the ramp til the boat floats off then ease back up the ramp and let the rope bring the boat back to shore. Usually I can justr let it sat there til I go park the truck. Then just walk back to boat, push off, start the mrtor and off I go. I prestart the motor before I back down the ramp. If the water is not quite deep enough to start the motor then I have boat hook I use to push off to deeper water. At least that way boat is not being backed off a trailer without a line attached.

While camping on an island on Texoma a couple of Memorial Days ago, we were rocked by storms all night. The wind kept blowing my boat on to the beach (22 foot WA). In the morning the wind shifted and the boat dragged anchor out to "sea". I had to paddle out 200 yards on my inflatable matress to get my boat back, and to avoid being stranded!

At lighthouse, a sandy beach next to the boat ramp on Texoma, I take the anchor and set (dug-in) it on the beach then gently back down the ramp until the boat floats off the trailer (back angled towards the direction of the beach). Then go around and pull the boat up to the beach.

Then pull the truck up and park. This is much quicker than getting in the boat, starting the motor, unhooking from trailer...etc.

However, I have had situations where the motor would not start (unrelated to the kill switch, and I have plenty of those problems as well). Then I had to go back, get the truck and manually put the boat back on the trailer. If the boat was still on the trailer, I would simply pull the boat out and back to the shed. But those problems are al behind me, and all my future boat launches will be "trouble free".

MacAttack,

I try and anchor in the cut/"Stump Pass" (go slow and watch out for stumps) where you will get very little wind action, or wakes from a passing boat. If the water is high, I even take my 22 WA into the little pond on the North Island,enter through the Stump Pass side. Open up the front hatch, and catch the wind, but not the waves. Currently there is enough room on the beach for the Ringling Bros. Circus to pitch a tent.

mstewart,
Thanks for the heads up. I have my boat on Lewisville now, but I do take it back to Texoma a couple of times of the year. I will camp where you said next time. I did get the family back in the saddle and camped on a different island the week after the storms. It was great. Take my advice though and don't get caught out there on a bad night. We could here the sizzle of the lightning, it was so close! Tent flooded and blew away, storms lasted all night. Not fun.

My web designer has been after me to get a good picture of my boat for my front page... Wonder if this would work? LOL. Redfin, actually while I was sitting on the dock of Aquilla, thought I was gonna say the bay huh? The thought crossed my mind of the remote controlled troll motor... as it slowly drifted farther and farther and the guys next to me swapped battery after battery. The guy that towed it in actually owns a wrecker service in Hillsboro.

Fourchon, LA Memorial Day weekend. My Cajun cousin (by marriage) had already helped me launch the boat a few times and while I stowed gear for the ride he went to the back end and tended straps, transom saver etc. He backed me in, parked, and I eased back to the dock to get him. As I backed away from the dock I noticed water lapping over the top of the transom. Odd.

DOH!

With him tending the back end, it knocked me off my routine and we looked at each other with the same expression on our foreheads. Luckily the plug was handy so I hammered down and handed him the wheel while I dove into the bilge. About the time the bilge breaker popped, we ran out of straight canal and entered the old river channel (=drunken snake) and that's when the fun began. We had to keep about 30 mph to stay on plane with all the extra weight as I flopped around on the floor trying to get the plug back out and get pump running again. It was like trying to get a beverage out of the cooler while your wife is driving through the Wally-World parking lot.

Needless to say the old girl was little sluggish in the turns. Luckily they keep the banks dredged because I think we may have brushed the wall coming out of turn two once or twice.

Finally we got all the water drained out about 15 minutes before we ran into a good ol' southern Louisiana torrential frog strangler that filled up the bilge again.

We did manage to salvage a good trip- a 26" red, several nice specs, a 32" spanish, and even two brackish water striper on topwater.

I've had the strap break a couple of times, at launch, and running down the highway.

Now there is a chain bolted to the bow pulpit on the trailer, has two hooks on it, one on the end (long) so I can back the trailer as normal with the bow strap loose and in place while launching, remove the hook and the strap when I get in the boat. The other hook is up the chain (short)to use loosely when trailering, if the strap breaks the chain catches the boat.

I have not lost a boat yet, but came real close a couple of times. Once on the steep grade going south out of La Grange on highway 77, the strap broke, snap was loud enough I could hear it in the truck, with the AC and radio running. Fortunatly the boat stayed on the trailer, but it was the last time I pulled without a chain AND transom tie downs.

At Lake Nacona one time I backed the trailer in to load up. The water was very low, I guess the end of the ramp was blunt concrete as my tires rolled past. My trailer plopped down and I noticed I couldn't pull forward. There was a nice gent in a boat that helped me out. We tied a rope on the back of the trailer (guess who got wet, but that felt good at the time), as we were lifting up the trailer my wife was able to pull a little forward.

I can definately relate. I was duck hunting there alone last year when the same thing happened to me. I was putting in at the small dirt ramp up the Hackberry arm. I backed the boat in and felt the strap give when I hit the brakes. I jumped out and saw the boat drifting out. This was around 4 a.m. on a weekday, so I knew there wouldn't be any help anytime soon.

I ran around the bank as far as I could and began wading out to the boat. I was still only about crotch deep when I got to within 30 feet of it and thought I was okay. My next step was into a drop-off and I had to swim the rest of the way.

Since it was about 30 degrees and I was soaked, I stripped down, put an old jacket on and made my way home.....hoping that I wouldn't get pulled over. Try explaining this one. A naked guy driving down the road, pulling a boat filled with decoys at 4:30 in the morning. Luckily, I made it home with no problems and parked as close to the garage as possible. It was now daylight and I didn't want to give the neighbors a show (all up and about to head for work). I made a mad dash for the house and ran in the back door in time to surprise my wife. After relaying the story, she laughed so hard I couldn't help but laugh myself. Now it's one of my favorite stories.

I launch my boat also by letting it float off, and then slowly pulling forward and easing it back to the ramp. Heres the rope I use, a static rope used for rappeling. 6500 pd tensile strength, 7/16 diameter. Available in black or olive drab.

Static rope

And HT Redneck, I've done it too. 4:30 am while duck hunting, walked around to the other side of the cove and had to wait for it to float across. There was hardly any wind at all

The guy that was gonna go fetch it said I'll do it for some good Guide advise. You bet, that strap in the front of the trailer, change it regular. Couldn't resist.