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Cecil, this ones for you. Cecil and I were among the first posters on the original PB site many years ago. Over the years both of us have chronicled our mistakes or UHOH's. Cecil is the only one here who comes even remotely close to me on unexpected consequences.

I have spent the last year refurbing my old Ranger boat. It is a 20 ft long, 1978 model with a 200 HP Evinrude. Actually the first of the Pro model bass boats. I used to chase bass tournaments all over Texas and other states. That all ended when I got into pond fishing. The boat was last registered in 2002. Last year I decided that I wanted to get back into lake fishing for sand bass(white bass for the Yankees on here).

So, I had the motor gone through and checked out. Then I carpeted, rewired it and replaced switches, bilge and aerator pumps and everything else that needed attention. Well, almost everything. The day came a couple of weeks ago when I thought everything was ready. However, I still needed to replace the bunker boards on the trailer. I took the the boat and trailer to a neighbors pond. He has nice sloping banks and mine are too steep. I backed it into the water and unhooked it from the winch. Then I noticed that it didn't seem to be floating just right. I got into the boat and raised the lid on the back compartment where the gas tanks and batteries were. It was full of water and getting worse. I figured the drain plug must have worked loose and fallen out. I tried to crank the motor to quickly get it back onto the trailer but flooded it. More water was coming in. I jumped out to winch it back onto the trailer. The winch rope was hopelessly hung from the last time it was used; a long time ago. No sweat, I got a piece of heavy rope from my pickup tool box and tied to it. I started pulling it out of the water but hit a slick spot on the bank. The pickup wasn't going to get the boat out. No problem. I found a big rock on the bank and put it behind a trailer wheel. Then I unhooked and headed to my place for my tractor. I have a 2 inch ball on my drawbar that I use to move trailers around. So, I went back there and hooked to the trailer and started forward. The trailer coupler jumped off the ball. When it did, the boat slid about 6 ft. off the trailer, into the mud, and the tongue went about 6 ft into the air. I had forgotten to latch the trailer to the ball. Smart, real smart. So, I started winching a 20 ft. lead sled full of water uphill on dry bunker boards. I could make about one inch at a time and 3 hours later everything was reloaded. At some point, I should have checked the drain plug. It was still there and I had been winching up a boat full of water when that wasn't necessary.

I brought it back home to D/FW and started trying to figure out how the water got in. I though there might be a hole in the bottom so I ran water into it and looked for bottom leaks. Nada. I let it sit about a week while my aching muscles healed. My abs were so sore that it hurt to cough. I pulled the batteries out so I could look at the bottom. Then I noticed the overflow hose that goes from the livewell out to a rear drain had busted off. I was running pond water from that rear drain directly into the hull. The more water it took in, the lower it got and thus here comes more water.

I fixed it and now hope to relaunch it next week. BTW, my Wife wasn't a bit surprised at this. And she wasn't particularly sympathetic. She told one of my daughters that there was nothing really unusual about these kind of things happening to me.

Dave you know I feel your pain.

Oh, man, that is a good write up! Sorry to hear it happened, but glad as heck you shared it with us! Hope you had a bottle of ibuprofen handy - helps those old muscles when they're sore!

Dave:

I can imagine what you were saying the whole time!!

I'm sure you made all the new wiring connections waterproof so water wouldn't migrate into the wires and corrode over time.......


Kinda the same story. Drove to a lake in Michigan, about 50 miles away. Got to the launch ramp just as the sky was getting light on a Sunday morning. It was prime fishing time, and I wondered why there were no other cars/trucks/trailers in the parking lot. Lake was down, so had to back the boat/trailer further into the lake than before. Couldn't get it deep enough to launch, and the trailer tires dropped off of the concrete ramp into a hole. With that, the trailer popped off the ball. What the heck?? Rear tires were so far down the launch ramp into the water that I stepped out of the truck into a couple of inches of water, and the water was just about to the rear axle. The exhaust was under water, but the boat was still on the bunks.

The nut that holds the coupler onto the ball (and was connected to the lever on top) worked it's way loose on the drive to the lake, and was laying somewhere along the road, along with the piece that fits under the ball. The lever was still there, as was the threaded linkage rod, but nothing on the bottom side. It was by the grace of God (and tongue weight) that the trailer didn't pop off of the truck at 65 mph on the highway. So, here's the boat on the trailer in the lake, in enough water to be a big PITA, front of the trailer on the launch ramp, safety chains still on the truck. Ever try to lift the front of a trailer up and pivot the trailer jack down at the same time by yourself? I had to leave the boat/trailer there, and try and find a coupler that would bolt in place. Luckily a Wal-Mart 1/2 hr away had one that I could jury rig to retrofit enough to get the boat back out of the water and home without popping off the ball. Needless to say there wasn't any fishing done that weekend. I ended up changing the coupler on the trailer.........

I would love to add some of my boat ramp / trailering woes to the discussion, but I'd lose all credibility as a seasoned boater. I'll leave it at "been there, done that."

I still believe one of the most enjoyable places to be on Sunday afternoon is on a bench at the local boat ramp with a cooler of beer, ready to watch the show.

I will take the opportunity to share one we saw one morning while getting into the water for some offshore fishing....

A group of boaters approached the ramp for a day of fun on the water. They backed half-way down the ramp to toss the remaining items into the boat and prepared to launch. Everything was ready to go in the nice new shiny boat. The driver loosened up the winch strap and removed the hook and then headed back to the truck. He then backed down a few more feet and applied the brakes. Off came the boat, dropping to the concrete ramp and self-launching the remaining 20 or 30 feet to the water. The other party members stood there mouths agape wondering if they had really seen that. One of them was holding onto the line and tied it off to the piling of the dock. The driver got out and inspected the trail of gelcoat and glass on the concrete and then parked the truck.

They all got in the boat and off they went, without puling it out to inspect the keel or lower unit.

I wonder how the rest of their day went.

-RFL

Yep! Boat launch ramps are good entertainment! One thing that I learned is that once the wheel(s) on the tow vehicle start slipping/spinning, mash the gas so they start smoking - the boat comes out of the water quicker that way.

On a trip back from Wi. in stop/go traffic we passed a boat on a trailer with the wheel on our side wobbling. Traffic was only going a couple mph, so my buddy slowed down and I leaned out the window to get a good look. The cap on the hub was missing, and the bearing was shot. I was suprised that the wheel was still on the spindle. We pulled forward, and after a while the driver finally rolled down his window after looking at us honking and motioning for him to roll down his window. I told him (a couple of times) what was going on, and he kept saying "OK". (the family looked like they were from India, Pakistan or that area) Our lane slowly sped up and we lost sight of him. We never saw him pull over either.........

Oh man Dave - that's a classic and very well told. I do not doubt the accuracy of a single letter, either.

You mean that when all this was happening you didn't stop to take a picture?

that's just great guys, i just bought a bought and now i'm looking forward to fun!
at least now i know some things to look for.

Bullhead, I NEVER carry a camera. Why would a guy like me want to chronicle his normal, all day, every day, misadventures?

As I was walking back with a "come-along" and dragging a 25-foot chain, I used my camera for this shot last week. I was popping stumps on the back side of the pond when I hit a slick wet spot.



Some days are more exciting than others!

DD -- I don't think it would be a good idea for us to go fishing or hunting together!

Ken,
You may be able to make roadkill so delectable, but stay off the darn tractor!

How the hell did you get it their in the first place? Need answers!!!

Old age stuff don't count

Great story Dave. Your story reminds me of why I mainly now fish off the bank of my pond and fish with a guide a couple of times a year if I want on a big public lake. Much easier this way.

Ken, are there suction marks in the seat? You're lucky that it didn't turn turtle! Every year a little bit deeper, huh? Glad that you are fine.

Not a boat ramp story, but I did ride my Craftsman 13 hp 42" deck garden tractor off a roughly 4' high almost 1:1 bank into the pond. The brake wasn't working and I let the front wheels go over the edge. It's amazing how many thoughts can run thru your head in a split second! Should I stay or should I jump? When to jump? etc. I ended up bailing off of it right before it hit the water - I wanted to be as far away from the spinning blades as I could. The brakes got fixed before I mowed again.....

Dave,

Sorry no recent stories to tell of any note but I can tell you I did do something just a little dumb the other day.

I couldn't remember which ports of the trash pump the intake and out take hoses go. Of course they aren't marked and there was nothing in the manual! Engineers always assume that everyone should think like them and it should be obvious! *&^%$!

Anyway I had it reversed and kept seeing the bucket I had the intake end mounted in at the bottom of the pond floating to the top. Fortunately I was certain what the problem was and after reversing ports and hoses it worked fine.

I now have arrows on the ports painted on in lacquer!

been there done that.

Thank God I'm not the only one!