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Stupid Boat Ramp Stories

Actually,it was a great tow vehicle,the dealer just was never able to get the electrical gremlims fixed.Driving home at nite with no lites was not fun. A boat dealer friend of mine bought it from insurance company as salvage,went all thru it himself,he kept it 10 years,said it was the best car he ever owned.Go figure.:)
 
fund razor said:
I have never forgotten a drain plug. I have attempted to leave the dock with one stern line still tied once. Nothing you can do in that situation but announce:

"Ok... looks like she is shifting fine now... let's cast off that last line and head out." :D
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I have the same story! I thought the wife got the stern line and she did not....alot of guys at the casino thought it was funny! as did I !!
 
we were launching our boat one weekend and a family friend was launching his boston whaler on a roller trailer. he took off all the straps, and well you can guess the rest!! i must say whalers are one hell of a tough boat!
 
Can the mods change the title of this thread to "Stupid Ramp Stories"? This might be the makings of a cool thread with a better title. Like many of you,I have a few from 43 years as a boat dealer.:sifone:
 
jet said:
all the straps are off and still stuck ........noing my neighbor is no wiz kid I ask how long of screws did you us to hold the seats down....he gesture's about three and half inch's..............yep wood bunks tri hull screwed right to the trailer
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Nice...didn't see that one com'n:rofl::rofl:
 
jet said:
true true true my naighbor picks up an old try hull and fixes her up new seats ,new carpet ect .........I'm at the ramp with my own boat allready in the water when he shows up for the first voyage but he can't get loose of the trailer,he backs in and out two or three time but it wiil not move.we tryed to rock it on the trailer and nothing ........(this took place in 1984my secound boat and his first) all the straps are off and still stuck ........noing my neighbor is no wiz kid I ask how long of screws did you us to hold the seats down....he gesture's about three and half inch's..............yep wood bunks tri hull screwed right to the trailer
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This is exactly why I replace trailer bunks with the boat off. ;) :D
 
When I owned my marina I had a guy call me in a panic from his cell phone saying he left the plug out and his new boat was sinking. It was a small boat 24'ish. I told him to get it on plane and run all the water out then pull up the marina and I would have the forklift in the water for him.

So he comes in about 20 min later and we get the boat right out. I get a new plug and throw it in. He can't stop thanking me and the guys and his wife is doing the same. So he asks "what do I owe you?". I say "split up a hundred bucks among my guys on the dock and we're even. He FLIPS out. Calls me a thief and this is highway robbery, etc. I looked at my guy on the forklift and didnt even say one word. One of my other guys goes to get a wrench and starts taking the plug out and the forklift starts. The guy says WAIT. He takes out the hundred and hands it to me. I crumple it up and throw it on the dock. At this point the guy is ****ting himself and now I'm laughing.

Finally I just put the guys boat back in with the plug and tell him to get the phuk outta here but I'll never forget the look on his face or that he'll forget a plug again
 
I left my plug out one time...got over to the boat landing, sat in line for 20 minutes watching the entertainment until our turn. Halfway down the ramp I realized I hadn't put it back in....pulled back out and left. We only live 5 blocks away, so 10 minutes later I get to sit in line again.... good thing they weren't charg'n for the entertainment.

My biggest dock blunder was with my 30' Chaparral Villain. Bought it in the Nov 89, took one test run and winterized it.... now the long wait for Spring.
Spring arrives, the boat comes out of storage and off to the local landing we go. Back then there were only two other go fast boats on our waters.... two Scarab IIIs and my Villain made three. Thru hull exhaust at the time was almost as rare. Needless to say, anytime a boat with that Cigarette/Drug Runner look (thank you Miami Vice) pulled into a dock, a crowd would gather.... instant celeb. That day was no different except instead of being part of the crowd of onlookers, my friend Mark and I were the center of attention and about to have a humbling experience.
The landing has 8 ramps and all were in use.... busy day.
We pull into line and start prep'n the boat.... a crowd starts to gather.
A ramp opens and I back in.... the crowd gets larger.
All eyes are on us and I'm think'n.... I may just be the man.
After a little production of check'n things over I fire number one.... the crowd is pleased.
After a very obvious check of the gauges, I fire number two.... the crowd is in awe and
I'm Don Frick'n Johnson.
After another important check of the gauges I raise the electric engine hatch to make a visual check. Like a flight crew on a fighter jet, I check everything so the crowd has plenty of time to check out those big Black monsters.
Now it's time to give the crowd the show they've been wait'n for.
I slide the shifters into reverse, ease the throttles and....nothing. :huh:
Hmm...drives must not have engaged right. (first boat with sticks)
I shift back to neutral, shift into reverse again, ease the throttles.... nothing...WTF
I try one more time and still nothing.... the crowd looks concerned.
Out of desperation and pride on the line I give the throttles a nudge and the boat creeps ever so slightly...forward.

Oh...by the way, did I mention that I had taken the props off for winter storage and put them back on prior to heading for the landing?

Yup, that's what I did all right.

Are ya start'n to see a pattern here?

I shift to forward, ease the throttles a bit and sure enough we start to back off the bunks.... the crowd looks pleased again.
I give Mark a "How do we bullsh!t our way out of this one" look and with my best poker face (which sucks at best) I announce to Mark over the rumble of those big Black bastids that are drawing all this stupid attention, I don't like how sloppy the shifters are work'n and want to put it back on the trailer to tweek'm..... the crowd is disappointed.
Back on the trailer, we head for a discrete corner of the lot to swap the props.:leaving:

You guessed it…. the crowd followed. :(
 
:) You could have just put them in reverse, get off the trailer. put put around a bit and just use reverse for forward. Just like I did recently to check handling the props turning in VS. turning out. I don't think they had bravos at the time with your boat, but I doubt it would hurt for a few minutes.
But.. :rofl: due to my ole' age, I got arrows on the transom.
 
Yah it had Bravos. The thought crossed my mind, but the way my luck was go'n....

BTW....how's the recovery com'n?
 
Wow.. Didn't know bravos were out in those days already.
Siiiish, that makes me older then dirt. :ack2:
And thanks. Shoulder doing better and beter now days. It was a biotch for a while, but the rehab helps a lot. Nother month and hopefully back in full throttle mode. :26:
 
Good to hear.
I popped into the Ho thread to talk to Jim and sounds like he might beable to start do'n some work soon.
 
Bravo's came out in 89 I think. I delivered a new boat one day with a very nervous customer and his parents. Backed it off the trailer, turned left and went right. The rigger mistakenly reversed the hydraulic lines for the steering and never checked it out.
 
jet said:
true true true my naighbor picks up an old try hull and fixes her up new seats ,new carpet ect .........I'm at the ramp with my own boat allready in the water when he shows up for the first voyage but he can't get loose of the trailer,he backs in and out two or three time but it wiil not move.we tryed to rock it on the trailer and nothing ........(this took place in 1984my secound boat and his first) all the straps are off and still stuck ........noing my neighbor is no wiz kid I ask how long of screws did you us to hold the seats down....he gesture's about three and half inch's..............yep wood bunks tri hull screwed right to the trailer
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we have a winner.
 
cpmarine said:
Bravo's came out in 89 I think. I delivered a new boat one day with a very nervous customer and his parents. Backed it off the trailer, turned left and went right. The rigger mistakenly reversed the hydraulic lines for the steering and never checked it out.
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My Villain was an 88 with Bravos
 
In the early 70's we sold 15' bassboats called Eldo Craft. Sold one to an elderly gentleman. He brought it back about 6 months later for a carb problem that required us to take it down to the river to test. Fixed the problem but discovered that the cable steering was backwards,turn wheel right,boat goes left,turn wheel left,boat goes right.We corrected that. When the old man picked the boat up I told him about the steering and asked him if he noticed it. He said it was hard to get used to at first,but all of his previous boats had outboards with tiller handle steering and to turn right you pushed the handle left and to turn left you pushed the tiller handle right,so he just assumed a steering wheel boat was also backwards,and he had gotten used to it. I am not making this up.:sifone:
 
Magicfloat said:
In the early 70's we sold 15' bassboats called Eldo Craft. Sold one to an elderly gentleman. He brought it back about 6 months later for a carb problem that required us to take it down to the river to test. Fixed the problem but discovered that the cable steering was backwards,turn wheel right,boat goes left,turn wheel left,boat goes right.We corrected that. When the old man picked the boat up I told him about the steering and asked him if he noticed it. He said it was hard to get used to at first,but all of his previous boats had outboards with tiller handle steering and to turn right you pushed the handle left and to turn left you pushed the tiller handle right,so he just assumed a steering wheel boat was also backwards,and he had gotten used to it. I am not making this up.:sifone:
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Nice! Gardener.gif
 
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