At the first sign of trouble they should have just strapped the boat to the trailer and use the boat to push the car to get some traction.

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Hardcarve1 said..
At the first sign of trouble they should have just strapped the boat to the trailer and use the boat to push the car to get some traction.

I thought that as well... That or get the tractor straight up. Instead our heros went blasting on in and got stuck themselves. I thought the first car may have had a chance if he hadn't spent 10mins in the water waiting to put the strap on.

Maybe I'm a bad person but I really enjoyed that

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Razzonater said..
Maybe I'm a bad person but I really enjoyed that

My wife and I go to one of the busy ramp every so often just to see the idiots get their boats in and out for a laugh. I would guess 80% of boat owners have little respect for others at the ramps and just push there way around. That's why I'm in a boat club with private car park and ramp so we don't get stressed out .

^^^ As a keen fisho with a boat, I've seen a few funny things. I'd suggest to anyone to go to a busy boat ramp for an afternoon of laughs. Over 20 years of owning a fishing boat, I've dumped my boat on the concrete about a metre from the water's edge (how embarrassment!), left bungs out & the list goes on...others have done much worse.

I've also had my trailer unhitched & disconnected (apparently a funny thing to do for bored teens at the time - there were a few incidents over the holidays). I only realised as I drove the boat onto the trailer and the hitch released as my father was walking toward it to connect the cable...luckily, with a bit of careful throttle & steering, and some weight applied on the draw-bar by the old man, we managed to get it back on without much drama. I always check it now & get others to check theirs before driving off.

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Sailhack said..

I've also had my trailer unhitched & disconnected (apparently a funny thing to do for bored teens at the time - there were a few incidents over the holidays). I only realised as I drove the boat onto the trailer and the hitch released as my father was walking toward it to connect the cable...luckily, with a bit of careful throttle & steering, and some weight applied on the draw-bar by the old man, we managed to get it back on without much drama. I always check it now & get others to check theirs before driving off.

I've had this done to me with one of those big enclosed removal trailers. Stopped to get a carton of beer after a long day helping a mate move. Heading back down one of Perths steepest hills when it came off. with the swaying, it was the most frightened I've ever been while driving. I believe if the trailer was full, it would've been certain rollover.

I now check the hitch on any trailer no matter how small, if it has for any moment been left unattended.. Sh!t myself I did

A small padlock thru the hole on your hitch,to prevent someone from popping it open, is a must, and costs about 5 bucks.

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Battle said..

A small padlock thru the hole on your hitch,to prevent someone from popping it open, is a must, and costs about 5 bucks.

A lesson well learnt after the fact

I was at the boat ramp once with a guy who had borrowed another guy's boat for the first time. Thought he would do his old trick of unfastening the boat from the trailer before reversing in so it would slide right off. Turns out that trick works fine for trailers with the carpet slides on them, but not the ones with all the oversize skateboard wheels holding the boat up. First touch of the brakes and the boat rolled right off the back onto the concrete.

Photo would be nice.

He might get busted if I did

Ive seen what green pat described but it was with a jet ski & because his wife was yelling at him he was looking at her and kept reversing . And with the back of the jet ski on the ground he flipped it right over. I couldn't take a photo i was laughing to hard . by the time i could it was just a jet ski upside down on a boot ramp.

^^^ Basically that's what happened to me. I'd recently replaced the old corrugated rubber slips with teflon strips and reversed (as I had always done), unhooked the boat, jumped back in & continued reversing. The boat must have started to slide, because all I heard was the missus yell out...so I slammed on the brakes!

...to much the amusement of the crowd of charter patrons and their skipper at the cleaning tables whom had just got back in from fishing. The boat was balancing nicely on the concrete ramp. Funnily enough, I pushed the boat (fibreglass) into the water by reversing the trailer into it gently - then the missus & I went fishing. The aft bottom point was crushed and although it let a bit of water in, the bilge managed it ok.

A few weeks later, glassed up, scratches sanded out & good as new.

I have seen a few sunken cars at ramps with boats on the trailers floating behind them - that's always worthy of some chuckles.

The Rye Tip on 'free green waste day' is also a ripper to check out how the trailer backing skills are going !!!
Boat Ramps and Tips, always good for a laugh !

After a full day working on the boat in blazing heat I hitched the boat up and headed to the boat ramp. I thought something wasn't right so I pulled over only to have the bowsprit smash through the rear glass. I forgot to put the trailer coupling locking latch on and as I slowed down the trailer unhitched itself.

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MacRab said..

Seen a similar thing got the boat offf and took 2 4wd s. Opposite lock and winches to recover! Beach launching can turn pear shape quick