express168 Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 So borrowed my old boat from my brother for a long weekend camping trip at Rice Lake with my 9 year old son, my friend and his 6 year old son for our first tenting trip together. Boat hell begins when at home testing the batteries I can't get the cranking battery to start the motor, clean up the terminals and that gets it going. We head up on Friday morning and get caught in the bumper to bumper traffic from Ajax to Bowmanville. We finally get moving and just before the Port Hope service center I hear BANG! I see rubber flying in my mirrors and the trailer drop and pull to one side! Luckily I am able to slow down and get off right into the service center, get out and see a shredded tire and a twisted up fender. Pretty scary, I have never experienced a blowout on a vehicle I was driving before. We get the tire off, muscle the fender back into shape somewhat and put on the spare. Of course why would I check the air pressure on the spare that has been on the trailer for 7 years? Practically flat, go over and fill it at the service station. Finally arrive after 4 1/2 hours, should have took about 2 1/2 hours. I leave my friend and kids to set up camp and go to launch and dock the boat, the launch is empty so no need to rush beautiful. I go to pull the boat of the trailer and it won't budge, I take a closer look and realize I still have the transom saver motor support attached. I pull it back out and realize how lucky I was, as I reach the back of the boat there is water pouring out the drain hole! Forgot the drain plug, I am a boating genius today! Well the rest of the weekend goes well except the wind/lightning/thunderstorm that rolled through Saturday night and nearly blew our tent and us across the campground! The trip home was uneventful, however as I finally unhitch the trailer in my driveway I notice that the tongue and coupler were actually twisted about half an inch when the blowout occured. Spent the last day straightening the tongue back out and replaced the coupler. I still need to get a new spare and rim for my brother. After all that my son still looks at me and says " Dad when can we go do that again, it was a lot of fun!" I love that kid and it just goes to show all they really want is to spend time with us, no matter what. Here are some pics from the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Been there....done that Left the tie downs attached while launching Pulled out of the driveway with the roller jack still down backed the boat in, went to park, got back, boat full of water took off without untieing the stern mooring rope.(This was funny cause the dock was a floating dock, Knock one guy right into the lake ) But like you, we cayght fish and that made it OK Congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikeslayer Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 After all that my son still looks at me and says " Dad when can we go do that again, it was a lot of fun!" I love that kid and it just goes to show all they really want is to spend time with us, no matter what. Here are some pics from the weekend. And that my friends, pretty much sums it up :thumbsup_anim: Slayer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbouck Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Last year i had 2 rims fly off, year before that a blowout and a bad spare. It sucks but after the first thing you gotta calm down and take your time so that nothing else happens ( like forgetting the plug) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTHM Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Last year i had 2 rims fly off, year before that a blowout and a bad spare. It sucks but after the first thing you gotta calm down and take your time so that nothing else happens ( like forgetting the plug) Ya, sure Dan, rub his nose in it.... However Dan is right, the hurrieder you go, the behinder you get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lookinforwalleye Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Well at least ya didn`t kill anybody! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickOnt Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 The 'Smile' says it all and I am sure you will do it again! Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushart Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 My thoughts also----That smile made everything worth it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
express168 Posted July 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Well at least ya didn`t kill anybody! You got that right, I was that idiot that you hear about every long weekend on our roads and waterways ( and am not proud of it). More things went wrong in that one day then in all the years I owned the boat prior to my brother buying it. Next time a little more prep time and try to keep my senses about me when things are going wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattletrap2 Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Yep, those pictures and the smiles are priceless! Glad you can make light of it all now, but I can imagine the frustration and anguish you went through at the time. I sometimes feel that I am "too" anal about my trailers. I am constantly checking tire pressure, tire condition, bearing condition, and other components. I can just imagine all the poorly maintained trailers out there on the roads just waiting for a week-end like yours to happen. I'm not putting you in that category because it seems like you are well aware of the issues that can happen with trailers and despite our best efforts, s&%t still happens! Oh, and Rice Lake will always have a permanent place in my heart. That is where my Dad took me fishing for the first time and many others to follow. I doubt Harolds Cottages at Gore's Landing is still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAW Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Yikes. That's one you wont forget for a while eh! Atleast you managed a few fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Well I'm glad it all turned out okay in the end. The smile on your son's face tells it all. Experiences like this build character Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live2fish85 Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Glad to hear no one was hurt and better yet you still have a great time even with the problems. That little guys smile sure does say it all. He will love fishing forever I'm sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lplp Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 Good to hear only a flat tire and nobody hurt and such, I had my buddy hook up the boat before our trip 2 years ago, going to meet him at his house ,so he left and i left a few minutes later and went a couple of blocks and got stopped at lights, turned green and i went through, hit a bump and boat fell off the ball ,chains saved it and luckily i wasnt going fast ,tongue hit my bumper in brand new truck,, lesson learned ,, never let someone else hook up boat, always do yourself so you know it is done.. or a flat tire on boat trailer in middle of nowhere and about 2 hours away from anything and dont have a spare,, well that didnt go over well with some.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyb Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 After all that my son still looks at me and says " Dad when can we go do that again, it was a lot of fun!" I love that kid and it just goes to show all they really want is to spend time with us, no matter what. Here are some pics from the weekend. And that my friends, pretty much sums it up Slayer x2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisher Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 I had a blow out about 3 years ago on my boat trailer going to Tweed from Toronto for a one week vacation at a cottage. As luck would have it, it was Saturday around 6pm and the spare (which looked new) was about 5 years old and when I put it on, it quickly popped - so much for that! So there I was stranded on the side of the 401 with no spare, no where to go to get another one and still about 2 hours away from my destination. I called CAA, for which I was a member, but they said I did not have the trailer (RV) coverage and that I would need to wait 24 hours after I purchase that coverage to have it kick in (makes sort of sense, otherwise why pay for the extra coverage every year until you actually need it). So I beg and mention that I was a long time customer and they finally they agree to have it kick in right away. Then they ask where I want it to go. I ask if they would tow it to the cottage? Their reply was as long as it was within the range of kms that I was allowed they would...so I give them my GPS coordinates and luckily we were within 10 kms of our allowance - bonus (which at the time was I believe 160 kms) - not sure now! So they send a flat bed which loads the entire trailer and boat onto and we end up meeting at the cottage we rented! Sweet. The next day I go into town, buy a new set of tires, bolt them on and launch the boat! Moral of the story - check your trailer, and get CAA RV coverage just in case! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccmtcanada Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 After all that my son still looks at me and says " Dad when can we go do that again, it was a lot of fun!" That's what it's all about!! He didn't see the problems as ruining your time...because the whole point is that you spent time together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
express168 Posted July 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 My brother just left with the boat for a week up north today, I did a complete once over on the boat and trailer with him. New spare and fingers crossed that he has a good trip, I love my brother but I can definitely say he doesn't put the care into the boat that I did. I am hoping to get away with my boy and maybe my daughter too for another night or too of camping. The wife doesn't do the tent thing anymore! Working on having the kids change her mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnet Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 For a back up the donut spare for most GM/Ford/Chrysler will fit tailor hubs. I learned from misery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Bob Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Been there....done that Left the tie downs attached while launching Pulled out of the driveway with the roller jack still down backed the boat in, went to park, got back, boat full of water took off without untieing the stern mooring rope.(This was funny cause the dock was a floating dock, Knock one guy right into the lake ) But like you, we cayght fish and that made it OK Congrats Hell, I can't wait to go fishing with Merc.....and I'm not even going to bring my fishing rod, but rather my camera and lots of room to LAUGH.... :rofl2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Clemens Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Through all of that, the kids are smiling showing off their catch. Sharing such stories offers good reminders for the rest of us. Little things that we tend to forget about from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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