stories about the "(Contact Us Please)" in front of you at the landing

[ZEEK1223]

i used to go fishing with my father all the time. he would get so worked up about the "idiots" at the landing. in his world, he was the only one on the planet that could land a boat efficiently. now i know fishing i supposed to be a nice relaxing adventure. but i would like to here some stories that either got your blood boiling, or were just so stupid all you could do it just laugh.

[carverfshrmn]

I've got one,

I was fishing with my buddy and we were getting ready to luanch his boat, well I was to back the trailer in and let him back out the boat and the I would park the truck/trailer, I forgot that it was not too bright of an idea to unhook the the bow hook before getting close to the water, can anybody guess what happened as I started backing the trailer down the ramp? Yup, dropped the boat onto the ramp, should have seen his face,sittin there in the boat with all that cement not water under his boat, well lets just say the shore was the safest place for me after we got the boat INTO the water, took him several laps around the lake before his blood stopped boiling, funny this is, I have my own boat and have for years, never had that happen to ME, least we are still good buddies, just figure he is biding his time to return the favor!

[Neth]

Any summer day at the Medicine lake boat launch in Plymouth! I have set up my lawn chairs and just watched the "(Contact Us Please) fest" for hours I have seen people sink there cars duh! always use the parking brake. I saw one guy beach his boat right up on the cement at about 20 MPH. I saw a domestic dispute between a husband and wife, police were called! I saw another person back his trailer right into the side of another truck. It is probably not nice but, it is a very humorus day to watch these (Contact Us Please) for an hour or two while soaking up some sun

[muskiechaser]

I was waiting in line at the ramp, watching some guy back his boat in, realizing too late that he still had the motor down. It was one of those ramps where they space the concrete out and I watched his motor catch, release and bounce on the transom three times before he stopped; folded the transom right over. I kinda felt bad for the guy, if I would have noticed I could have yelled and stopped him.

John

[fish&taters]

The last thing said by the guy in the boat as his buddy backed in his old truck was "don't leave the truck in park and come back here, it jumps into reverse, just stay in the truck and pull out when I get the boat off of the trailer" Well, I think you all know the rest, as the guy was cussing trying to get the boat unhooked, his buddy jumped out of the cab to see what the deal was, and yup, the truck jumped out of park, rolled down the ramp, trailer attached, and disappeared in a matter of about 30 seconds. The water 20 feet from the end of the ramp dropped off to about 25 feet deep. The guy in the boat did get it unhooked as the truck was rolling back, so the only things left floating was the boat and two spare tires that were in the back of the truck.

Cousin Bob and I watched the whole thing, including the tow truck extraction via a fat little dude in a wet suit and a lot of steel cable. Was most entertaining, albiet a bit sad. If you have been at a boat ramp more than 10 times in your life, you have a story.

[MuskieJunkie]

This is one of my worst pet peaves, the metro area is the really bad for this. The ramp should be all buisness, get the boat in and clear out. If you've never done it before go practice during the week.

My favorite is the guy that leaves his wife or friend holding the boat at the dock floating above the ramp while he goes to park the truck, hit the bathroom, or what ever they do for the 5 or 10 minutes while I sit there behind them.

We have all seen the guys that wait to load their boat (cooler, kids, water toys), or wait to take the cover off, or undo the back straps. I found the guy that takes the cake in this popular category of "I'm not preparted to launch". I was behind him while he was putting on his registration.....wow, at that point it's laughable I guess.

[yukon]

Saw a guy loading his big fancy rig up on vermilion. Brand new 150 horse and drive on trailer. Loaded the boat all the way up onto the tailgate of his pickup. They backed back into the water floated the boat off. reloaded and left quickly.

[MSRiverdog]

My neighbor and I have gone up to the Champlin landing just to watch. Pulled the boat up on shore next to the launch, popped a few beers and made guesses what they would do next. Hey it's more fun than you think when you can make the choice to watch. It can be great fun early in the year.

[KTroller]

Jeep Wrangler backs up to the launch at Spring Park on Minnetonka. It is a pretty steep ramp as many of you know, anyway, the guy backs down to pick up his boat and tosses the winch strap to his buddy in the boat to hook up (always like to see a good team in action). Guy on the boat clips in, and genius driver decides he wants to be Mr. Quick on the way out and promptly proceeds back to the Jeep to pull up and out. The guy in the boat hops over the bow to begin cranking on the winch.... but not fast enough....so as they pull out, the axle of the trailer is now the fulcrum of a teeter-totter between the Jeep and the outboard which is still a few feet off the back of the trailer. Boat, out of the water, dangling by the strap........NO PROBLEM. We're not worried if the rear wheels are 2-3 feet off the ground, Jeeps have 4-wheel drive - LOL. So what to do? Mr. Wrangler decides to stop (not a bad move actually). The Jeep is about 10-15 feet up the ramp and is now perfectly level despite the ramp being 20 degrees. All the open beverages in cup holders within the Jeep are saved with its rear wheels 2 feet off the ground and its perfectly level attiude. No worries, the boat is almost on the trailer, but the skeg about to scrape its way up the ramp....so what would you do?????......It's Minnetonka, there are plenty of other drunks around. Get 8 or 10 of 'em that you met out at Big Island to stand on your rear bumper while you smoke your front tires up the ramp to the delight of the patio crowd at the Mtka Mist!?!?! WHY NOT?? It looked like the the boat/trailer were trying to hump the back of the Jeep and every sunburned clown on that bumper!! You may not know this but Jeeps can actually move directly sideways when fully loaded and skipping up a ramp with their front wheels spinning at 40 MPH. Ahhh Minnetonka....the gratest lake in Minnesota.... beautiful homes, easy to get to, great fishing, and every once in a while you get to see the pilot of the next great reality show right at the landing! Next episode.... "1982 Ford Econoline at Phelp's Bay landing; Shag carpeting does float".

KT

[concreteman]

When i was a kid i used to go down to the boat launch there in champlin also, everyday you would get at least one good laugh. oh the good old days

[Central Bassman]

LOL

[TrophyEyes]

I got a good one from Breezy Point launch up in Brainerd. Now this is a jet ski story and I know how all fishermen love jet skiers. This guy has his wife "try to back the double jet ski trailer down ramp. First, she banks the trailer off the dock (gas pump almost gets drilled). Second she pulls up way too far and it takes her 10 minutes to back down to the ramp area. Finally she gets the trailer into the water and her husband and son drive the jet skis on the trailer. Funny part about this is the (Contact Us Please) dad jumped off the jet ski to hook them up, he goes under the water and she starts driving away. The abandoned jet ski now is floating without the weight and not "hooked up." So as she is driving away it falls off the back and bounces on the concrete. It was priceless. The kid was so embarrassed, Dad was swearing at mom, and mom was crying. Great family outing.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

[vister]

i haven't anything as good as the rest of ya, just some of the times i have saw people throwing their batteries in at the ramp, some people trying to jump start their fancy bass rigs with 3 sets of jumper cables clamped together. Come on now, aren't the batteries something most people check first time out, and would ya go out for the day knowing your batteries couldn't turn over the 150 at the ramp?

My buddy is horrible at backing up a boat and trailer. He'll try 10 plus times before myself, or his wife gets frustrated and does it for him, while he stands on the dock humiliated.

[Glenn_S]

Even the Pro's have trouble...

Maxwell Ramp, fall of 2004. Marina pulls up with their semi and V trailer. Other dock hand comes from somewhere on the lake with someone's 26' deck boat. They get it loaded, and the truck driver ties it off with what looked like clothes-line. I say to my wife, "Wife, that rope won't hold." Sure enough, as he is pulling it out, the "rope" breaks, and said deck boat is now sitting on the ramp. So what does Einstein in the truck do? He pushes the boat down the ramp with the trailer, grinding fiberglass all the way, until the boat is back in the water. They then load up again, and this time he ties it off with what looks to be barn rope. It would hardly fit through the bow eye. This time they are successful. I'm sure they owner had to pay for the repairs, since those clowns will deney doing the damage.

Glenn