What's your best boat ramp argument or funny story?

[LostAnotherOne]

Launched in St.Clair and had trouble starting it.  Took my time cause there was nobody trying to get there boat in.  While playing with the motor a guy says to me "Are you going to be all day".  I looked behind me and it was a guy that wanted to get his boat out.  I said to him "My bad I thought you were fishing there" lol.  A little awkward when I moved my boat to the other side, but all was okay.  Was a lesson learned cause it was my first launch with my first boat.   I'm sure some of you guys have got better stories then that.

[b_cdot]

I once had a total silent standoff. I was backing my boat in and a boat started pulling in behind me with 3 other spots open at the launch as he got to the dock the back end of my boat was in the water. I stopped and we both sat there for what felt like an eternity (1-2mins). He finally moved to the open side of the ramp. Joke was on me it was the one and only time I ever forgot to take my safety chain off and I couldnt help but laugh at myself. THe guy I had the standoff with shook his head and I told him it was my "first" time launching the boat...

[chris.brock]

My cottage is adjacent to a public launch. I could write a book about all the funny stuff I've seen.

 

[Musky Plug]

Pulled up to the public launch to launch the boat, some guy was pulling his boat out so I had to wait. the guy loaded his boat on the trailer, as he was driving out of the water and makes it far enough off of the ramp to have the winch rope snap and I watched in horror as this guys fibreglass beauty slide off the trailer and onto the pavement. I felt so bad for this guy. 

Edited April 29, 2018 by Musky Plug

[grt1]

a few years ago i asked my neighbour to help me pull my boat for the season, he hooked my trailer up to his wife's jeep cherokee and took it over to the boat launch. i drove my boat (16 foot starcraft) around and loaded it on the trailer. Unfortuneately the weight of the boat cause the car to slide back down the ramp and into the water, I had to unhook my boat, drive it back to my place , grab my truck and flag down another truck on the highway , i hooked onto his jeep, the guy from the highway hooked onto my truck and together we pulled out the jeep and trailer. by the time we got it out of the water, the only part of the jeep that was visible in the lake was the hood., He had to take the car home and tell his wife he gave her a carwash.

Edited April 29, 2018 by grt1
missing "a"

[Fisherman]

5 hours ago, chris.brock said:

My cottage is adjacent to a public launch. I could write a book about all the funny stuff I've seen.

 

I bet, we could write a series of paperbacks.  Forgotten drain plugs, forgot the battery, forgot the transom straps.  But, I think the most excruciating one was about 30 years ago at Fisherman's Cove at the Narrows,  some guy who had obviously never practiced, backed up his boat with the motor tilted up.  That wasn't the bad part, it was when he rammed the prop clean through the other guys pick up door.   Needless to say it was pretty close to an all out rumble. 

[Pigeontroller]

There's a double wide ramp behind the Beacon hotel at Jordan, very busy on nice spring mornings when the Salmon start showing up. I started backing in beside a guy who was attempting to launch, his buddy yells at me to ''wait my turn!'' I explained politely that it was a double launch and continued...

[misfish]

Come to Barrie for the laker opener. You can sit back and laugh your ass off. Or spend the time yelling you dumb ass. Last year a guy pulls up and backs to the ramp. Boat is still covered. 3 of them unbutton it, load their gear. Just when you think they are done, they sit there for a few minutes. A car pulls up with a yak on it. They unload the yak and put it in the boat. Now they launch. 4 guys and the driver. Instead of pulling the boat around to the other side, they hold it in the ramp. The next guy had enough and blew a gasket. The others just sat there like they were doing nothing wrong. Im just glad they were gone by the time Terry showed up, or the hounds would of been unleashed. LOL

[FishFinder17]

Fished the Muskoka pike tournament last May, Tons of boats arriving in the morning to launch but for the most part people waited in line for their turn at one of the three spots to launch.

When it got to be my turn my boat was ready to go and i was outside the truck with my buddy inside driving when some guy rips around me and proceeds to launch his boat. He got out of his truck and I asked him what he was doing as it was my turn, He said that I was taking too long to get my boat ready and didn't want to wait...

Best part was that he forgot to take his transom straps off and filled the back end of his boat with water once he backed it in. We both laughed and he said "I guess I should have taken more time to get my boat ready"

Karma...

 

[Acountdeleted]

When I used to work up in Thunder Bay we would constantly be sharing the boat launch with members of the public. 

I remember we were pulling in for the day once and a bunch of guys are standing around their boat on the pavement about a foot away from the water with their trailer about 6 feet in front of it. They thought for sure that they could untie to boat, gun the truck and the boat would just slide back into the water. After laughing for a bit we took about 6 of us and helped them bring the boat out to the water.

Last laugh was on me though. It was a long day and they were talking about how Speckled Trout were their favourite. I said 'yeah. Those are good. But I'd still rather eat brook trout.' To which I had a bunch of people with puzzled looks staring at me. 

[BillM]

Public launches on Lake O are the best.  I've never seen so much chaos and stupidness in one place.    The worst part is I always offer to help but most are too proud, so I just sit there and watch

[Tom S]

HTHM and I watched a fellow roll his father's nice new fiberglass wakeboard boat almost off the trailer in Grimsby. Boat was on a roller trailer, and he had removed all the straps, including the winch line, before backing this boat down the ramp and tapping his brakes 10' before the water. Thankfully (?) the lower unit was down and the aluminum skeg stopped the entire boat from dropping off the trailer. It rolled back about 8-10', a group of us were able to push it back on.

I wonder if the father was ever told? Of if the boat is ever sold if the buyer will be told about the possible transom damage?

[Headhunter]

Was fishing Quinte in December. It was -15C when we arrived in Picton, in the dark. No one else at the launch and we back the boat down. Holding the line, I notice that the boat is riding pretty low in the water. The boat is frozen to the bunks. Trailer is hanging below the boat!

Pull the boat out, drive over to the power wash stall on the strip in Picton and hammer the bunks with hot water for 15 minutes. Drive like crazy back to the launch, back the boat down and she lifts off the trailer! A fishing we will go!

HH

[Lape0019]

Saw a Kia Soul one day with a trailer that did not belong on the back of it. Figured, whatever, probably just a 16-17 foot tin tiller. Nope. Backs down the steel grated ramp and proceeds to put an 18.5 foot Four winns bow rider on the trailer. The squealing that those tires made was hilarious..

A couple of years ago, I get to the free launch in town at about 7:30 in the morning. There is a guy sitting at the ramp with the trailer tires just touching the water, the TM is sticking straight up in the air (assuming a GPS enable one that he wants to get the GPS lock on) with the boat still on the trailer. I figure, I've got time to unhook everything and by the time I am done, he will be gone. Well...I was wrong. I finish moving everything and he's literally sitting there waiting now. Not doing a damn thing so I go over and ask what he's doing... Before I get an answer, a car comes peeling into the ramp, stops in front of the boat and a guy hops out. what felt like an eternity was probably 5 minutes but this guy made three trips to his car, then parked his care before backing this guy in and clearing the ramp. All in all, I was there for 20 minutes and this guy never moved...

And then there are the stupid things I've done in a rush. The one that I still shake my shed at is why I only undid one transom strap?

[JoshS]

First time ever launching my boat. Super monumental exciting moment in my life. Busy day at the launch. Backed in, started it up, hit reverse but couldn't get the boat off the trailer for some reason? Backed the car back a tad more and still couldn't slide the boat off? Quickly realized I forgot to take off everything on the back... transom saver and straps. One of my brightest moments. Made for a good laugh.

[Lape0019]

29 minutes ago, JoshS said:

First time ever launching my boat. Super monumental exciting moment in my life. Busy day at the launch. Backed in, started it up, hit reverse but couldn't get the boat off the trailer for some reason? Backed the car back a tad more and still couldn't slide the boat off? Quickly realized I forgot to take off everything on the back... transom saver and straps. One of my brightest moments. Made for a good laugh.

Dad managed to launch his boat with the transom saver still attached to the motor!

[Old Ironmaker]

1 hour ago, Lape0019 said:

Dad managed to launch his boat with the transom saver still attached to the motor!

So did I.

I also watched a poor guy have his brand new 14' boat slide off those ice like bunks about 5 feet short of the water. Totaled the engine and transom. Not funny though.

The funniest thing in the last few years was watching a few guys try to pull their 1/2 sunken 20 foot glasser up a hill and out of the water. They put a strap through the bow eyelet and tied the other end to the hitch on a 1/2 ton, not a 4X4. They try to pull ahead and the boat stays where it sits. A discussion ensues and they try again. The truck and boat move about 3 feet and then the boat slides back in the water but doesn't stop where it was stuck in the muddy bottom. It goes 15 feet further back than it was and so the truck flows it right into the creek water up to the windows of the cab. The driver had to crawl through the window to get out. Finally they get a tractor and someone came up with the novel idea to pump most of the water in the boat out before they try again. The funny but sad part was the owner of the little marina next door to their marina suggested they pump the water out first and they should use a good 4 wheel drive vehicle to pull a boat up a slippery hill.

[Old Ironmaker]

6 hours ago, Tom S said:

HTHM and I

Did he get wet?

[HTHM]

8 hours ago, Tom S said:

HTHM and I watched a fellow roll his father's nice new fiberglass wakeboard boat almost off the trailer in Grimsby. Boat was on a roller trailer, and he had removed all the straps, including the winch line, before backing this boat down the ramp and tapping his brakes 10' before the water. Thankfully (?) the lower unit was down and the aluminum skeg stopped the entire boat from dropping off the trailer. It rolled back about 8-10', a group of us were able to push it back on.

I wonder if the father was ever told? Of if the boat is ever sold if the buyer will be told about the possible transom damage?

 

1 hour ago, Old Ironmaker said:

Did he get wet?

I had forgotten about that Tom. We did save the day though...

Listen you old fart, just because a mis-fastened anchor rope undid a seat lock once, doesn't mean I go swimming every time I fish...  I still blame you for that regardless of what you might say. There is no way you are ever going to out-stubborn this Dutchman. 

[Rattletrap2]

I'm sure i could come up with a few stories about some of my own best moves at the boat launch, but when we had our trailer on Dalrymple for 26 years, the highlight of my summer vacation was to head into Orillia one evening for a feast at King's Buffet then grab an ice cream cone and head over to the public launch ramp in Orillia to watch the launch ramp antics while the kids played at the park! Classic entertainment!

[OhioFisherman]

12 hours ago, BillM said:

Public launches on Lake O are the best.  I've never seen so much chaos and stupidness in one place.    The worst part is I always offer to help but most are too proud, so I just sit there and watch

My first time launching at the main ramp in Lorain Ohio was with my brother, we pulled in and there was a couple of cops standing around, so I asked my brother if something was happening. No, just the normal weekend crowd, they are there to keep stuff from happening, usually it didn't take long for a fight to breakout. They put that ramp in a good location, just a short walk to the cell block!

[Mister G]

LONG time ago my buddy Bob and his father wanted to go fishing with the rest of us.....since the one boat my friend Dan had wasn't big enough for all of us Bob, his father and I rented a boat......long story short we traveled a long ways to the crappie fishing grounds and by the time we wanted to head back the winds were blowing a LOT.......

So to shorten the trip we decided to borrow Dan's car and trailer because he launched MUCH closer to where we were........making the boating trip back to shore less then half.

My buddies father known as JP was a older man with a peg leg from birth......so on the way in he knelt in the small 16' rental and used a rain jacket to ward off waves/spray in order to stay dry.......believe it not he stayed 100% dry while we got WET on the way in.

So I back down Dan's trailer at the launch we never used and it was quite steep to say the least......

JP decided to just stay in the boat because of his peg leg while we cranked the boat onto the trailer.......

Now this is where is got hilarious (now) as Bob held the boat straight for the borrowed trailer and I just kept cranking it to his orders......

Well JP was at the back of the boat with his weight holding down the transom as the bow kept rising up the trailer. Before we knew it water started to POUR into the boat over the transom completely soaking a once dry JP to the knees.......the boat took in so much water that the 3 gallon gas tank and cooler started to float away.........LOL

We had to get JP out of the boat and drain it because the car would not pull the boat up the steep ramp with all the extra weight.

Every time I think of JP staying dry for over an hour while fighting the waves only to get completely soaked to his knees just makes me laugh even more.

I hope JP is laughing as much in heaven as I'm laughing down here.

[Old Ironmaker]

15 hours ago, HTHM said:

 

I had forgotten about that Tom. We did save the day though...

Listen you old fart, just because a mis-fastened anchor rope undid a seat lock once, doesn't mean I go swimming every time I fish...  I still blame you for that regardless of what you might say. There is no way you are ever going to out-stubborn this Dutchman. 

Yep, field device malfunction. I've tried to re enact that failure many times as diligently as an NSB investigator to no avail.  Luckily because of the make up of your cranium you popped right back to the surface. Good luck on the water this year Big Guy and stay safe.

[AKRISONER]

i love all of the sentiment about Lake O and the gongshow that it is...ive launched a grand total of one time on lake O and wouldnt you know it ive got a story to tell.

Well 2 actually...first one was that i launched our boat no issues and then sure enough as I am about to pull away a guy visiting the park comes up and decides to park right infront of the ramp so that I cant turn into the parking area...so i nudge forward right up to him, he proceeds to move forward about 5 feet....this i a big big parking lot and there are cars parked all down a row right in front of him, but buddy decided that his parking spot was going to be in the way of the boat ramp. I now have to make a three point turn off of the ramp just to make the corner and theres no way for me to be able to turn into my parking spot with a straight trailer...i have to get out and deadlift the thing into place...

Then on the way in on the same day we pull up and the scene is set...so stereotypical. Theres a 30 something year old young guy with his new to him 1995 20 foot bow rider that he clearly had purchased over the winter and was taking his young good looking wife, kid and dog out for its maiden voyage...he hops out of the boat and goes to get the truck while his wife holds the ropes...we were in no hurry she was fun to look at anyways...

Buddy proceeds to back the trailer in but then backs it in so deep that his truck tires are in the water and his trailer is gone lol...he brings the boat forward and it nearly hits the back of the truck, then it gets wedged on the winch because its floating so high... Through all of this i notice his motor is still down and im gonna give him the benefit of the doubt...He hops in the truck and maneuvers it even deeper to get the boat unwedged then walks back...then hops back in the truck and sure enough he takes off...I start yelling STOPPPPP and they do not before dragging the bottom end of his motor up the boat ramp...he stops and realizes what hes done...we then pull our boat out as he is prepping everything for towing...and proceeds to leave without any tie down straps at all.

Edited May 1, 2018 by AKRISONER

[KawarthaGuy]

So I back in, launch the boat, it glides off smoothly into the lake.  I walk around the trailer and pull on the bow line to bring the boat back to the dock when the line snaps and there is a good off-shore breeze.  So I start flipping off my shoes, socks, pull out my wallet, keys, off goes the shirt and now the boat is about 20 yards offshore.  Dive in, head-up front crawl aka Johnny Weissmuller to the boat and grab the remaining rope and swim it back to shore.  

A little excitement to start the day but felt good to hear the applause!

Kawartha Guy