View Full Version : 1st Drift boat luanch
Corkie Monster
10-30-2002, 11:42 AM
Well, By brother and I luanched our d-boat for the first time on Sat. Sombody forgot to tell us we need to luanch it in water. :shocked: Before backing the boat down the ramp I unclipped the chain that holds the boat to the trailer and left the crank rope still connected (so the boat does'nt come off) I then proceded to walk down the ramp and wait till my brother backed the boat down. While looking out over the water I was startled by a large BOOOOM!! :shocked: I turned around and saw our boat sitting on the ramp (without a trailer) I guess my brother unhooked the boat completly and while backing down the ramp the boat had slid off. OOOPS. Glad there was nobody around to witness this Rookie moment. :hoboy: :hoboy: :hoboy: The boat escaped with out a scratch. :grin:
Good thing no one knows that happened! If they did, you (or at least your brother) would have a reason to be somewhat embarassed.
Lucky thing those buckets are pretty strong.
rob allen
10-30-2002, 11:57 AM
ahh forget about it push it in the water and enjoy.. no one needs to know how you got it there :grin:
Boy that's dumb :grin: . This has never happened to anyone I know :shocked: .
.................................................. ................................ graemlins/stupid.gif
[ 10-30-2002, 01:11 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]
SteelieSteve
10-30-2002, 01:09 PM
I've seen that happen at the Mills bridge put in on the Wilson. A van pulls in late one of the guys gets out and unhooks the boat then they back it down and stop quick. The boat launches itself and slips on down river in front of a hundred or so fishermen. They did catch the boat down below the s turn but it must have kinda ruined their day(along with being late to start with).
Gus Orviston
10-30-2002, 01:23 PM
Ha ha ha, that reminds me of a story starring BOE,,,,,busted the plug on that dry launch. Had to make one out of a some latex that was laying around :shocked: and stick.
ampersat
10-30-2002, 01:28 PM
as the fly boys say: any landing you can walk away from is a good one. at least you've gotten that little launch mistake over with and aren't likely to repeat it any time soon. give it about two years and you'll be ready to do it again. hurry up and get to the forgot the drain plug mistake. there's so many mistakes to be made and so little time to make them all. i haven't dumped my boat on the ramp yet but i've come real close to forgetting the drain plug.
Big Willie
10-30-2002, 01:51 PM
I forgot the plug...ONE TIME! :shocked: That's the first thing I do now. If I could just remember the rods...
Corkie Monster
10-30-2002, 03:16 PM
We wer'nt really out to fish, we just went to row the boat around @ Riverside park. Brought the little 4 yr. old Nephew. He got a kick out of daddy dropin the boat. and my Nephew got to catch the first fish in the boat. 9" trout.
I did a power launch at Shilshole of the 18' Eastside one day this Summer and the damn brass clip to the bowline snapped in two. My able bodied shoreman was able to catch up before it hit the end of the dock and took a flying leap into the boat and secured it while I casually went to park the truck.
Also did the one man Power Launch on the Wind this year. Perfect shot, right down the dock. Caught the rope with 6' to spare!
rob allen
10-30-2002, 03:58 PM
OK
you guys will like this one.. it happened to a friend of mine who is a highly respected GUIDE!!!! in Monatan.. He picks up his clients at the store drives to the launch, gets his boat ready backs down the ramp and realizez he forgot to unso the strap. So he undoes the strap gets back in his truck takes it up and parks it. Then he wasks back down to the ramp. he gets there and his boat is nowhere to be seen. frantically he asks his clients where in the hell his boat it (as he prepares to run downstream) His clients give him a funny look then point to the parking lot.. I imagine he felt pretty stupid right then because he never launched it so he walks back to his truck and there is his boat right where he left it on the trailer waiting to be launched.
Flatfish
10-30-2002, 04:17 PM
My mentor told me to keep the bearings dry when you launch.Good words.
How was the maiden voyage?
Mark and the licking dog.
Gus Orviston
10-30-2002, 04:23 PM
LOL,
I had a plug fiasco already since buying my DB from TheRogue.... on the drive down to tidewater the plug bounced under something... :depressed: I tried to find the plug in the dark but no to no avail. I had an aaaaha graemlins/idea.gif , TheRogue had put in a few extra...I reached into the dry box and got one out...boy was TR smart graemlins/applause.gif , I popped it in and we were off.... ...so what is the story....
TheRogue next time you buy extra plugs...BUY THE RIGHT SIZE.. these babies were just short of working :shocked: . Their fit was close, but not tight enough to seal. My quick follow up search turned up the lost plug....now how to swap them on they fly...had my first mate run forward with some gear and did the swapper-roo....had a gallon or so to get out , but got it done without going back. :cheers:
Miss B Haven
10-30-2002, 04:34 PM
Gus - YOu sure are doing a good job of avoiding the name thing! :grin:
Gus Orviston
10-30-2002, 04:54 PM
ha ha ha, I was waiting for that shot across the bow....and now I am going to
Tanner
10-30-2002, 06:41 PM
Ha ha ha, that reminds me of a story starring BOE,,,,,busted the plug on that dry launch. Had to make one out of a some latex that was laying around and stick <font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">Hey Gus where did ya find the latex, in BOE's wallet?
k9jeff
10-30-2002, 07:09 PM
If you are going to be fishing from a boat a lot,,,,you will have many more things like that happen. If my boat could talk, I would have to tape its mouth shut.
sounds like you still had a good time though.
Jeff
corky23
10-30-2002, 08:24 PM
what was the thread from last year with all the stupid boat tricks? like launching your boat on a slide covered with ice and watching it skip across the river full of gear?
I think that was the funniest thread i have ever read on ifish.
later
kris myers
Miss B Haven
10-31-2002, 12:08 AM
Could be worse- Could have happened at one of the slides, then you would have heard a big "kersplash". :shocked: Rope? Rope? I thought you had the rope! graemlins/stupid.gif :grin:
I've got a story I'll tell some day about a brand new shiny glass bluewater doing the same thing as you on a roller trailer at Browns Landing. He didn't just walk away laughing! :depressed:
Ken Drifter
10-31-2002, 12:15 AM
Well at least no-one else knows (-3,000 ifishers) J/K :smile:
You forgot to mention how the fishing was. If that was your only trouble on your first trip out fishing with the boat and all, I'd say thats not so bad. :cheers:
Salmon Stryker
10-31-2002, 05:58 AM
About the 3rd or 4th time we took our boat out we had a little incident where dad and I tied up the ramp for a while.
It was dark and we launching at the salmon river boat launch during a low minus tide. I unhooked the straps and safety chain so when dad backed the boat down I could just hold the rope and away she floats off the trailer.
We had to back way down the ramp and all four tires of the truck are in the water but the water is only about two feet deep. The back of the boat is floating a little and I decide I better push the boat off the trailer before dad backs all the way off the ramp and gets stuck in the sand.
I push and push but can't budge the boat, "Back down a little farther dad"
So he does. We go through this a couple more times and when the water from the river is up to dads door he yell's "It should come free, we are plenty deep enough"
"Well it's not coming free" I replied
"Is the boat floating!" he asked
"I can't tell"
"Did you unhook the saftey chain"
"Yes"
So dad gets out to help me push the boat. We push and push but no budge. Dad looks down with his flashlight and says, "I thought you said you unhooked the chain"
"I DID!!!"
Well after I unhooked the chain up on dry land, dad hooked it back up because he was afraid of the boat falling off or something. I thought it was unhooked because I remembered unhooking it. Anyway, I'm glad it was dark so we couldn't see all the dirty looks from everyone else at the ramp.
We learned from that little episode and now we are perfect. Never ever make mistakes anymore :grin:
ampersat
10-31-2002, 07:03 AM
i still tell some of the stories from the stupid boat tricks thread. the drift boat skipping across the river has to be my favorite.
Bill Monroe
10-31-2002, 07:04 AM
Isn't this why Gluvit was invented?
Get Donny Morris to tell you someday about the time I left my son in the boat at Milwaukie after launching...sans plug...Donny's a very sharp guy and my son likes him a lot.
tailchaser
10-31-2002, 07:21 AM
I watched a guy when I was younger putting in his boat at Newport by himself. It was a newer boat in the 30+ thousand dollar fiberglass ocean sport fishing style and he unhooked it at the top of the ramp. Needless to say he had it on rollers and just as he crested the ramp on its way down it came sliding off of the rollers and made it's way down to the water on the concrete. graemlins/idea.gif :shocked: You could hear the outdrive and the fiberglass crunching all the way down the ramp. All you could hear after the boat came to rest was his sobbing sitting next to his new boat. Then to add a little salt to the wound he had to crank it back on the trailer and getting regrinded on the concrete in case the first time didn't do it enough. :depressed:
tc
Steelie Steve
10-31-2002, 08:51 AM
Ampersat,
I forgot all about the "Stupid Boat Tricks" topic. Definitely some great stories in there. For the newbies who haven't been here too long, here it is. (http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=000060)
Had to go search a ways back for this one.
Enjoy! :grin: :cheers: :grin:
Paddlefish
10-31-2002, 11:49 AM
My wife dry launched two boats simultaneously -- about two miles from the nearest water!
She had our teenage son untie the two canoes from the van-top rack so that "Dad can put them away when he gets home from work."
Then she forgot about it and drove off in the van. :shocked:
About a mile later, in the dark, one of the two canoes began to tip off the top of the van.
"What was that?!?!" So she slammed on the brakes and jettisoned the second one as well --- squarely into the intersection of Boones Ferry Road and Kruse Way. :rolleyes:
She cell phoned our son, who ran the mile to help her re-load the boats, but still neither of them remembered the tie-downs, :blush: so they drove home at tiptoe speed.
Relatively minor damage but it's a good thing neither was my cherished, homemade wood strip canoe; she probably would have continued driving and I'd never have seen her again. :shocked:
Miss B Haven
11-01-2002, 12:24 AM
Steelie Steve - Thanks for digging that thread up. It's pre-Mel vintage and I was going to search for it. Sounds like a hoot! I'll save it for home, people around here give funny looks when you're sitting in the office snickering with tears running down your face! :grin: