No matter what happens stay calm.

On your fish finder, make sure you check the line for a 2nd fuse. My buddy bought a boat, finder wouldnt work after putting in a new fuse. He went & bought a new one, still no work. I started running the wires looking for a bad spot. Low & Behold anoother fuse (blown) put a new one in, works great, and I got the old "broken" finder.

txshotgun,The laminated list is a good idea. What i do is i have a routine that i never deviate from.load boat, go to gas station ,top off gas,brime ball, start engine, put plug in,check tie down straps and contents of boat,all while my son gets drinks and stuff from store. This happens EVERY time we go out. weather its for duck hunting or just fishing. Now when we return home i chock wheels,put trailer lock on,pull trolling motor battery and put on a charge.take everything out of boat,AND PULL THE PLUG OUT.Ihave filled my boat up a couple of times after a good rain ,what ever that is. Mark

I tie a rope to the front of my boat and the bed of my truck. Back in,let the boat float off. Then pull the trailer out of the water, get out pull the boat up, jump in and drive it to the dock or tie it off to shore.

That's a great technique, wetting the boards then pulling up a little. Thanks also for the advice on the second fuse on the fishfinder.

All good tips and I'm sure others are appreciative too.

@ Mark - you start your motor out of the water at the gas station? Might check your impeller.

I've had more than one person tell me they start their motor on the ramp before it's in the water. Quoting one "It won't hurt it none if you run for 20-30 seconds". I'm not taking a chance on that though since cumulatively it has to be rough on the impeller and other water-cooled parts.

Usually turn it over with the key not nessicarlly[dam it where`s spell ck when u need it] start it.. How many times been to a ramp and have to wait on somebody hadn`t try to start it before the ramp,or hadn`t hooked gas line up ???? I`ve never done that....Bill

I'm going to do my best not to be an eejit on the ramp, loading or unloading. I don't want to sign onto TFF only to find I'm a topic for conversation. LOL

I understand when someone has engine problems when launching, or taking a couple of tries to back down the ramp. It's when they block one or two lanes while getting their stuff out of the truck and load the boat that bugs me.

I found out that keeping water out of the front live well the boat glides onto the trailer effortlessly. I just shut the valve off and keep it plugged so no water enters at all.