Some of these are good.

SandSpike there must have been something about Loch Ness. Was there one cold morning before daylight having my coffee on the bulkhead while waiting for more light.
A duck hunter drives up pulling a john boat. Stops in front of the ramp, gets out and begins loading the boat: gun, decoys, lunch, and assorted stuff. All the while his beautiful black lab has been sitting quietly aside where he had put it with the 'stay' command.
When all was loaded, he gave the dog the command 'in' and the dog jumps into the boat and sits perfectly still facing the truck.
He now loosens the boat from the trailer tie-downs and ties it to one of the trailer uprights.
Every action has been very deliberate and you can see this is one meticulous and prepared duck hunter. (I'm beginning to feel a little careless and informal about my boat routine).
He then backs the boat toward the ramp with the Lab sitting perfectly still until the trailer gets far enough down for the boat to float off the trailer. All's good so far: remember he tied it to the trailer.
For some inexplicable reason once the boat had cleared the trailer, instead of pulling up enough to catch the rope on the trailer upright and then tie off to the bulkhead, he then begins to drive to the far side of the parking lot as though to park. Of course the sound of that aluminum boat on the asphalt halts him about halfway across the lot.
He gets out walks back to the boat and sees his wonderfully trained Lab still sitting exactly where ordered despite all the bouncing and screeching the boat made while being dragged across the parking lot.
Guess he couldn't stand the look in the dog's eyes so he orders the dog into the truck and then with the boat still loaded with all his stuff picks it up and pushes it on the trailer, ties it down and drives off.
The whole time he never said a word and I sure didn't...remember he had a gun!
I've wondered for years how he explained to the dog how he could have been that dumb.

While fishing a tournament in Dec. '04 on Fayette County Lake noticed a really nice white & blue boat loading up to go home no biggie but what got our attention is as driver pulled up the ramp rather quickly we hear the outboard just scream for a second or 2 to keep the boat on the trailer (I guess they didn't want to take the time to hook the bow strap) which it looked like it wasn't the first time they had done this. Well the truck driver put the pedal to the metal and hauled @ss up the ramp and low and behold there goes the boat sliding back off the trailer onto the lower unit of the outboard then onto the hull about 10' up the ramp. Then the fun begins.....with the entire boat sitting on the ramp they take the bow strap and pull it all the way out and attach it to the boat. While backing the truck back (slowly this time) and cranking on the bow strap they got the boat about half way up to the "pivot" point that is when the strap got hard to crank. Both men are standing by the boat looking at what to do next, some guys sitting in their boat by the ramp offered to get on the bow of the boat lowering it and raising the back of the boat off the ramp and back down into the water. "That's not the way it done guys", says the man driving the boat, then with the male ego on the line they decide to crank harder and "force" the boat back onto the trailer. SNAP the bow strap breaks and the boat goes back down on the ramp and now has a little momentum and slides down the ramp about 3 feet!! All we could do is watch with our jaws on the boat floor! Well then they put the truck in reverse and push the boat down the rest of the ramp back in to the water and as the boat is sliding into the water you can hear the boat driver say as he is jumping back onto his boat "I love it when a plan comes together" As his partner drives up the ramp again rethreads the bow strap then pulls back down the ramp (rather quickly) puts the boat on the trailer and this time straps the nose to the trailer and away they go.

36,000.00 for 3/4 Ton Dodge Diesel
30,000.00 for a new Bass Boat
30.00 for new bow strap
watching your new boat slide down the ramp because of your male ego PRICELESS


For a side note to this, someone actually cruised by in their boat and took pictures! I don't know who but I would like to have seen how the pictures came out

Years ago I had a friend who had just bought a brand new GMC mini van that was color coordinated to his brand new Skeeter. He was fishing by himself one day and due to the fact that the marina was having some work done on the launch ramps, opted to launch by himself at another ramp which was considerably steeper than the marina ramp. He decided that the easy way to launch by himself was to back the van down and walk through the rear door of the van, step on the trailer, and get into the boat. When he went to the back of the van and saw water coming through the bottom of the rear door, he knew he was in trouble. He rushed to get the vehicle started and pull up, only to realize he had backed down too far, and was on the moss and continuing to slide in the lake. as he started the vehicle he felt water on his feet, and all the van did was spin. At that point he hit the power window and climbed through the window, got on the roof, and then had to jump from the roof to the deck of his boat, which was starting to sink from the bow. He had the presence of mind to cut the winch strap to free the boat before it too sunk. As he saw his van sink to the point that only the top of the window, roof, and radio antenna was showing, he trolled over to the dock and tied his boat up. He had to hike a ways to get to a phone (before cell phones)to call the dealer to send a wrecker. When he got back to the ramp he saw another bass fisherman pitching a worm to the window hoping to catch a big one off the new "structure"...When I told this story to another friend one day, he did not laugh, and I asked him why...He told me that he had done the same thing to his Bayliner runabout a couple of years before that.....He said....."That story is not funny".....

That reminds me of what I have done before. Last year I was at full throttle but it didn't feel right. It was sluggish then it would speed up, and then slow down. I was thinking what is going on. I look back and I see my mushroom anchor come out of the water 10' high then back into the water and out again. I forgot to pull the anchor in before I took off. No harm was done.

One day a couple of years ago I put in, parked the truck, headed straight across the lake to a brush pile. I'm standing on the front deck and caught a crappie. I stepped down to go to the live well in the back and I'm ankle deep in water. I forgot the plug.

My most embarassing moment.

Lake Bridgeport, February 1990, 3:00pm. Launched southern end of the lake at the public ramp by the convenience store. You know the ramp, the one at the 45 degree angle!!

Standard Chevy 1/2 ton pickup. Burgundy, a beauty. Putting the boat on the trailer when I noticed the truck sliding slowly in the water. By the time I jumped out, the water in the cab was at my waist. Stuff floating in my truck and the water was cold!!!! Thought the truck was in gear, so when I took my foot off the brake it slid backwards, deeper in the cold, dark water.

What could I do? Well, I started waiving my arm in the air out of the driver's window until someone from the highway so me and gave me some help. I finally realized it was not in gear IDIOT Well the guy tried to help by starting the engine, which sucked all of the water in the carburators, and ruined the engine. He called a friend who had a winch and I had to swim underwater, in that cold, cold water to hook the chain up.

By the time we pulled it out, you could just see the top of my nice truck.

Truck totalled, clothes sopping wet, lost everything in truck including wallet. Had to change into my bright yellow rain pants, without a shirt. Sweet....

After reading all these stories, I will be more cautious when launching and loading my boat.

Thats the reason I started this thread....lets keep it up and eventually we will have cataloged almost everything that can go wrong at a boat ramp. Please if you have a story....tell it.

What stratos86 said!
I forgot the plug once but that is (knocking on wood) all.

When me and my brother were about 12 we always raced to be the one to winch the boat up on the trailer. My Dad would just run the boat up and we would attach the rope and suck it up. Well one day we both run up at the same time, and start arguing about it. My Dad is pulling the boat in and the engine dies. We see what is happening, but continue arguin over the winch handle. Instead of jumping over and helping we let the boat run right in the ramp. Dad gets pissed, gets the motor started again, and backs up the boat and gets it on the trailer.

It scratched the #$%! out of the gelcoat a good foot. Dad was pissed, spanked both our butts for being stupid, and it never happened again.

It isn't much of a story. My Dad lost a jon boat on the highway when he was 16, so as long as we have been around boat ramp safety has always been a priority.

Anyone ever sit at the boat ramp and crank the engine until the battery dies? Oops, the kill switch!!! I now carry a hot shot in the boat.

guilty

Did not use all the battery up but pulled every plug to check and see if I was flooding the engine. Was in the parking lot for at least an hour trying to figure out why it wouldn't start. Then I saw the kill switch laying beside the seat. DUH!

Stupid is as stupid does!

I've done the kill switch thing a couple of times but not to the point of running the battery down before realizing the problem. Now then, when the boat won't start, the kill switch is the first thing I check. Live 'n learn.

JLF

Kill switch reminded me of a story about my Dad. Growing up, we rode dirt bikes all the time. He took off on one and it quit on him. I could see him about a quarter mile away kicking and kicking it trying to get it started again.

So, I started walking down to help out. Kicked on it the whole time I was walking. By the time I got there, he was huffing, puffing, sweating, and talking very seriously to the bike. He got off to give me a try.

Without saying a word, I reached down, turned the petcock so the motor would get gas, kicked it a couple of times and it started right up.

I thought it was hilarious but he wasn't too amused. He rode the bike back and made me walk.

JLF