First time out--alone--and nearly a disaster

[TheBossT127]

Well, yesterday I finally got out on the lake, but not before driving INTO the lake. I was backing the boat down the ramp, I had the door to the Mountaineer open as usual, with one foot on the running board. My foot slipped off the brake, my left foot hit the ground and I fell out of the truck! Needless to say, the truck kept going, right into the drink. Of course it filled up with water--about 4 inches into the driving compartment. The boat floated off but I wasn't worried about that. I managed to get back in, and pulled the truck out of the water. I think that if not for the lake itself I would have had at least one leg run over. I was okay except for bruises on my legs and a sore back/neck. I'm pretty lucky overall. My wife is not happy with me since it is her Mountaineer and she doesn't like me fishing alone, but what's a fisherman to do? The next step is to let everyone know if and when I have an open seat in my boat. I still went out on the lake for a while but I got skunked. Post-cold front conditions, storms, 20-30 mph winds didn't help. Now if I can get the flashbacks to stop...

[vtbassin]

I am glad you were not hurt!

I am not sure why you hang out the truck door while backing down the ramp but I would suggest learning to back up with the door closed using the mirrors.  Next time you may not be so lucky.

[TheBossT127]

Usually I do that so I can grab the rope. Stupid  :

[vtbassin]

Hook a rope between the bow of the boat and the safety chain. The rope should be longer than the trailer. I use a couple of brass clips on the rope ends. Slowly back into the lake until the boat floats off. SLOWLY pull forward until the boat touches ground. Get out and move the boat. Go park the truck. Go fish. I do this all the time when I am alone. It works well for me.  

george

[TheBossT127]

Thank you! That is a great idea. It will now become part of my regular routine.

[ZEN BASSIN]

Luck was with you, in it's own freaky way, glad your not seriously injured. It makes a good learning story, would have like to seen it on Funniest videos though. ;D

[TheBossT127]

Wouldn't have been a long video, but it may have taken the prize.

[Branuss04]

Hook a rope between the bow of the boat and the safety chain. The rope should be longer than the trailer. I use a couple of brass clips on the rope ends. Slowly back into the lake until the boat floats off. SLOWLY pull forward until the boat touches ground. Get out and move the boat. Go park the truck. Go fish. I do this all the time when I am alone. It works well for me.

george

+1.  This is a great way to do it when your alone.  Just make sure you remember to put the plug in.  or else you will come back to your boat under water.  I saw a guy all alone use this technique but forgot to put the plug in.  He came back and I was climbing in his boat puting my spare plug in and he was ready to kick my a** until he saw 50 gallons of water in his boat.

Hopefully you don't have to much water damage.  Good luck

[Grey Wolf]

Glad you are ok but I would change my unloading procedure if I were you.

[TheBossT127]

It is being strongly considered.

[Big-O]

Could've been much worse, so count your blessings and thanks for posting this because all of us need to keep safety first.

Think about it, if you get badly injured or even worse, somebody will move in on your fishin' holes and we might lose one of our Bass Resource Buds and we can't stand for that to happen!

Be safe

Big O

www.ragetail.com

[jiggerpole]

Heres an Ideal. Buy a couple of snap harness at a local hardware store and tie one to each end of a long enough rope to extend past your trailer. Hook one to your boat and one to your trailer back and let it off the trailer and you can very slowly ease forward enough to get to your rope and simply unsnap it and re-attach it to an pier, post, or whatever while you go park. Works great for me and it s cheap!

[Sam]

When I launch alone, I make sure I have a rope tied to one of the boat's dock cleats and I tie the other end of the rope to the dock.

I then back the boat into the water, knowing that the rope will hold the boat secure to the dock until I can come back after parking the vehicle.

Only once did the rope come lose but I managed to grab it before the boat floated away.

I will be tieing a noose to the end of the rope this year so I can flip it over a dock piling.

Works like a charm.

Give it a try.

[burleytog]

This only works if you have a dock at the ramp and can closely parallel the dock.

Buy a 15' dock line with a looped end and a spring-loaded marine snap.  Attach snap to dock line.  When you disconnect winch from bow hook, attach dock line via snap.  Roll down your window and hold the line as you back into the water.  Once you feel the boat float off the trailer, get out, walk out on dock and pull the boat off the trailer.  Tie up, park the truck and away you go.

[alarcher]

Hey Macho Man Burley Savage here is the answer to your question.  ;D

John Galt is one of the main characters in Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. An engineer by trade, Galt is the male hero of the story; his actions include withdrawing his talents, 'stopping the motor of the world', and leading the 'strikers' against the 'looters'.