I was "that guy" at the launch.

Been there, done that. Hilariously in my case we were leaving from a lake vacation. Had the car packed to the gills with stuff. All moved out of the rental house. Baby asleep in the boat. Boat full of stuff. All we had to do was land the boat on the trailer and go home. New ramp for me, backed it right off the "end" of the paved portion. Fully clothed I had to wade into the water and lift the trailer (the tires make it pretty light under water) while coordinating with somebody else to hit the gas on the car. Bent my cross member a bit, too, not nearly as badly though. Oh, I was so furious.

AAM196 wrote: Ohh,if ramps could talk!

But Tim can!!   

Sorry to hear it, Steve. Been there multiple times with a long pontoon trailer. Damn power loaders.

M3Fan wrote: Oh, I was so furious.

c'mon Joel...you?


john

Gary too.

My 88 SN trailer came to us with that front cross member in "speed mode". I can see how it would be a problem on a BFN trailer but at least Steve has the heavy equipment to pull it back.

Certainly not as exciting as the drop offs but first trip out this year I forgot to take off the transom tie downs. Wife backed her in and boat floated sideways about 4 feet with the river current trailer and all. Doh!

That's pretty amusing Alan, especially for an old salt like you, but none of us are immune. Last year, first time launching the boat, I was alone, so it was one of those one man deals. Dropped the boat in, parked the car, started the boat, sounded a little funny. Opened the cover and my bilge was full of water. No, I didnt leave the plug out, not me, I'm a "professional" boater. Instead, I never hooked the water intake back to the through-hull after my spring time start-up/warm-up. Too much water to pump out, so back on the trailer, drain on the way home, take off the starter, open it up, dry it all out. (Fortunately my starter is on top of the bell housing, but when the bilge is full, the flywheel catches the water and throws it up into the starter. Found that out the hard way a couple years ago. The first time my starter was inconsistent then dead. Opened it up and rusty water poured out. I'm no mechanic but I knew right away that that can't be good.

Telling a story of a forgotten plug is like telling a story about the last speeding ticket.... it will jinx you and make it happen right away!

Don't fall for the trap! And I'm not talkin' about it!

I have to confess and I hope it makes you feel better, I have done all of the above at one point in my life, 30 years of tournament boat ownership. When I failed to hook up the intake hose after running the boat on the driveway it got really expensive, the next time out I went with a friend who had not boated much. He drove the boat off the trailer and proceeded to idle around waiting for me. By the time I got back to the dock to meet him he asked if it was normal to have 4 inches of water at the back seat, that was not too bad, the impeller had come apart and the engine was running but spitting and knocking with the timp gauge pegged. The exhaust hoses had collapsed. It was ugly and expensive to leave that hose off one time.
Worse than that was launching my Wife with a two year old and our new born 25 years ago in the river one spring with high run off. We usually launched, I go park and she comes back for me at the ramp. I came back and saw our boat with my family about a 1/4 mile downstream. Lucky I grew up a swimmer, I dove in and chased her for about a mile. Got on board to find a flooded carb, dead battery and one really pissed off wife with crying babies.
I paddled the boat to a dock that had a small houseboat tied up to it.
No body was around anywhere so I "Borrowed the houseboat battery" for a jump start and we were off again running. I did return the houseboat battery just as I found it but missing a few amps.
25 years and my wife has not forgotten!
These things happen, we try not to ever let them happen twice! And share these notes so new boaters can avoid our pitfalls.

While we're talking about stern straps... I still run one up over the hull just fore of the trailer guide pipes. Impossible to forget that one. It'd be cleaner to put a couple at the back, but I'm not sure I want them hooked to the platform brackets. I know those brackets are strong and the mounting into the hull is pretty solid, but roading loads are some of the highest loads a boat will see. Thoughts?

When I first installed the retractable rear tie down straps, I backed the boat down the ramp (in the dark mid you) to watch the xmas boat parade on the lake. The ramp was packed. I unhooked everything (I thought), climbed into the boat, and attempted to reverse her off the trailer. When she didn't budge, I assumed she was stuck on the bunks, so I gave her more gas. Still wasn't budging. I sat there thinking WTF could possibly be wrong, then it dawned on me that I forgot undo the straps. Instead of pulling the trailer out like a normal person would do, I ran to the platform and laid down on the now submerged platform to reach down to release the straps. Needless to say I got soaked, but the boat was finally free.

Sad thing is that I've done this more than once.

I haven't shared this one in awhile, When my son was about 5 he had a toy truck boat and trailer. The living room rug was the "lake". I watched him back the trailer onto the rug, off load the boat, and then turn the truck around and push the truck back to the rugs edge. Curious I asked what he was doing, he said "I am jump starting the boat!"