Boat Launch Comedy/Horror Stories

[BigGoonTuna]

Saw a couple hippy chicks, park their Subaru sideways in front of the launch blocking both lanes, get out proceed to take their kayak off the top of the car set it down and commence to loading everything in their car onto the Kayak. Wife and I tell them to park off to the side and pack their 10' plastic canoe down to the lake.

don't get me started on the kayakers.  i launch at luhr beach often(fishing/duck hunting) and those idiots love to tie up the ramp.  between them and the amateur crabbers, that place can be a real nightmare.

[baldopepper]

Saw a couple hippy chicks, park their Subaru sideways in front of the launch blocking both lanes, get out proceed to take their kayak off the top of the car set it down and commence to loading everything in their car onto the Kayak. Wife and I tell them to park off to the side and pack their 10' plastic canoe down to the lake.

don't get me started on the kayakers.  i launch at luhr beach often(fishing/duck hunting) and those idiots love to tie up the ramp.  between them and the amateur crabbers, that place can be a real nightmare.

BOY, you're right on the Kayakers, probably a different thread, but I can't tell you how many times I nearly cut them in half coming in at dusk or after dark and they were out in the middle in choppy water with no flag or lights.  Worst part was they usually screamed or flipped me off for coming to close.

[GETOUTSIDE]

Our family used to have a cabin by Kaniksu Resort on Priest Lake, all us neighborhood kids used to love sitting at the boat launch on a busy day and just watch the show. No plugs, husbands and wives bickering, rigs getting stuck in the muddy ramp, the drunkards getting back from a day floating and trying to pull their boats out, the list goes on. Funny thing is there were regulars that you just knew it would be a good show when they showed up for their vacation, just sit and wait. Haha. That was a heck of a way to kill time. 

[Gobble Doc]

In the late 80s I was at Walker park in Shelton.  It is on the salt.  I was standing by the shore when a guy came down to try out his brand new outboard.   Maybe 4 hp.  He took a spin then pulled the bow up on the beach.  A tug or large boat had gone by earlier and large low frequency waves were now appearing on shore and the back end of his aluminum boat began to go up and down.  The engine was still running when I noticed the back end go down and lift the motor off as the prop hit bottom.  Engine was not clamped on and now only small oily exhaust bubbles were coming to the surface.  The motor still  connected by the stretched fuel line.  Worst thing was that the guy in the boat was not watching any of it until he turned around and eventually wondered where the motor was.  He jumped in and cradled like a  child as he made his way back towards his car.  When I left it was laying in the dirt.

[h20hunter]

Speaking of kayakers.....I saved one once, no kidding.

We were going to head out of Everett and it was a bit windy...ok, more than a bit. We got launched and putted out towards the Navy yard, got to the end of Jetty Island said NOPE. Flipped a U and putted back towards the launch. Coming up on the docs the wind and waves were pretty nasty...I'd be between 2 and 3 feet in between the jetty and launch. We tied up and were about to go get the boat when we hear a guy calling for help. We look back and see a hand waving from mid channel and a guy drifting along. We untie, a buddy pushes me off and jumps in the bow and I floor it and am on plane heading out of the docks and into the channel. My buddy in the bow is crouched down and hanging on with a bit of a grin on his face. We come up on him and pull him up and into the bow and shoot back into the dock area. Along the way we did find his kite board. Tie back up, unload him and he has a bit of a dazed look. He says he is fine and just kinda walks away. A few minutes he comes back with a little more color to his face and tells us he was kite surfing and lost it coming back to the dock in his kayak. Shakes our hands, says thanks again, and off he goes. I don't think he found his kayak or dry bag and we joked a little bit that I should have kept his board as a trophy. To date, he is the biggest thing I've pulled into the boat unexpectedly!

[Okanagan]

A zillion years ago on a super busy Labor Day weekend I fished with my cousin in his boat out of Illwaco.   I was holding our boat in the slip, in line behind others at the take-out, when an older man ahead of us was asked by one of his partners to start the boat and run it up onto the trailer.  He was nervous and obviously unfamiliar with the boat and motor.  The outboard started with a roar, throttle full bore, and the startled operator jerked it into gear.  The tiller was turned so that the boat rocketed its bow into the dock.  It leaped up as the angle on the bow stem ricocheted up on the dock with startled people running in all directions.  My most vivid memory was looking at the boat as it stood perpendicular, looking at the inside of the boat as if I was looking straight down on it.  The bow was straight up, engine churning water at the stern and I was looking at the top of the operator's head where he still sat clutching the throttle handle.  I can't remember how it ended but think that the motor cut out as the prop hit the wooden dock. Amazing that it did not flip over backward.

No one hurt, no damage apparent, just some embarrassment.

[bowtechian]

Saw a couple hippy chicks, park their Subaru sideways in front of the launch blocking both lanes, get out proceed to take their kayak off the top of the car set it down and commence to loading everything in their car onto the Kayak. Wife and I tell them to park off to the side and pack their 10' plastic canoe down to the lake.

Seen this up  @ baker guys backup to load kayaks then proceed to completely repack all their camping gear on the launch just taking their sweet time not realizing ppl we're patiently waiting for them to clear out. 

[Buckmark]

Growing up in and around boats all my life i have seen quite a bit at the launches and out on the water, most of what has been said.
I also must confess that i have on occasion been that guy...

I have forgot the plug, no harm as i noticed it as the boat was filling with water while still on the trailer.

I have had the experience of launching onto the pavement, not my boat but i was part of the launch party, highschool buddy had a 14ft Tahiti type hull with a 60on the back, 4 of us going out for the day and we set in it on the lk samm pavement, we laughed, 2 other guys help us 4 pick it up and back on the trailer...we laughed pretty good about that....still remember that boat if you where wet and touched the controls you would get shocked sometimes.

Forgot to trim up the motor one time  on a 21ft mirage I/O while by myself, trailered up and pulled out, that is not a nice noise..
Same boat i was being cocky (as i had done this at my home lake alot) and was driving the boat onto the trailer, unfortunately this launch was a shallower drop off....thats also not a nice noise.

Not launched related but you ever change props and forget the cotter pin.....me neither 

I do always check unfamiliar launches before backing into the water, little lesson my dad taught me..

[Timberstalker]

When I was 16 or 17 (late 90's), my buddy showed up at my house one morning and asked if I wanted to go check out a boat for sale that he found in the classifieds. So we drove over to the guys house and he says he bought it a couple years ago, never used it, etc. It was a late 70's Reinell inboard if I remember right. Pretty cool boat. Then he asked if we wanted to test drive it. The thought that a sane adult would let two teenage morons take his boat out alone, never even crossed our minds. We immediately accepted and hooked the thing up to my buddy's truck and off we went. Keep in mind that neither of us had ever towed or launched a boat before. We'd barely ever even driven one.

So we get to the boat launch and it's COLD. It's april and there is a storm moving in. The first thing we did was miss the concrete launch and get the truck stuck in wet mud. Luckily, a utility worker happened by and pulled us out. Next attempt, we got it right and just as it was about to touch water, I said "My dad used to have a boat, and he always made sure to put the bilge plug in." So we hopped out and looked around and couldn't find it. We decided that this particular boat must not have had one. So the boats in the water, we fire up the motor, point the bow at the middle of the sound and open it up.

We got about 100 feet before the motor died. We turn around and the the back end is under water and going down fast. No other option except to bail out and swim for shore. The drop off was very gradual and we were probably only in 10 or 15 feet of water. So my buddy tries to pull this boat toward shore before it hits the bottom. He assures me that he's got it and I swim for the shore to get the truck.

Remember, I've never towed anything before. In my panic to get this trailer back down the launch, I cut it way too hard and with a groaning sound, the torsion twists the trailer into a mangled, bent up mess. Completely wrecked. My friend loses his battle with the boat and down it goes. He swims to shore. Soaking wet and freezing cold, we just stared at the situation in total silence for about 10 minutes. We had just completely destroyed this guy's boat AND trailer.

We thought the guy would be furious, but he just wanted us to get the hell out of there. Later I decided he was probably terrified that our parents were going to sue him. They didn't.

For all I know, the boat is still down there.

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.  Wowzers!  What an epic story.
Would have been awesome to have on video.

[Jonathan_S]

Mags story takes the cake.  Especially because most of the rest of us were like, "oh yeah I saw this happen" vs. "I did this..."

[jkthomps]

Mags story takes the cake.  Especially because most of the rest of us were like, "oh yeah I saw this happen" vs. "I did this..."

 

[jkthomps]

Talking about hippie chicks and blocking the boat launches, the best experience I had when launching a boat happened about 10 years ago. My buddy borrowed his parents new 20ft Glastron and we took off to the Columbia river to do some walleye fishing and cat fishing and camping. We had decided to get to the launch at night and fish all night and into the morning and then get our campsite the next morning. By the time we got to the launch it was dark out, and we did not see another vehicle in the launch area. So, we jump out, prepped the boat, threw our crap in and I walked down the launch so I could give my buddy some light he started to back down. As I started to walk down the launch my flashlight reflected off of a vehicle at the bottom of the launch. I yell at my buddy and we walked down towards the vehicle. We were expecting to find some teenagers making out or something freaky like the zodiac killer, but when we got there the car was empty. I noticed some clothes on the hood of the car and decided to walk out to the end of the dock to see if I could see anybody swimming or floating in the launch area. As I headed out on the dock I could hear some whispering and giggling, but still couldn’t see anything. My buddy decides we need to get going and they need to move their car, so he asks “can you move your car so we can launch a boat?” which might have included a few choice words… Next thing we know, a few flashlights come on and is three people swimming from the dock to the launch towards the car. I pointed my flashlight at the individuals, and I kid you not, I am looking at three naked chicks. By the time they got back to the launch, we had already made it back to their car. I was polite enough to grab their clothes off of the car and hand them their clothes and towels. Turns out these women were camping nearby and decided to go skinny dipping and “bathe” at the same time. So they dried off, moved their car and we launched the boat and fished all night. When we went up to get our campsite, we were right next to the chicks we saw that night so we had a good laugh and took them for a few boat rides and had some drinks at the campground. Best part is my buddy was talking so much crap about how he should have just backed into the car and pushed it into the river, and people should know better and blah blah blah… now he is married to and has 3 kids with the chick that own the car.

Earlier this week, I was up at Mukilteo and watched a bright yellow lifted F350 Supercrew try to pull his Trophy out of the water at low tide. I think it was even a minus tide on Monday. A guy in a Blue Ram had to hook up to him and give him a little tug. I wonder if the Ford had any rubber left after trying to get his boat up the launch. I should have recorded it for this thread, dang it!

[huntandjeep]

Watched an older gentleman forget to unhook his rear straps at O'Sulivan. He couldn't figure out why it wasn't coming out so he jumped out to check it out. Forgot to put his van in park so when he jumped out the whole shebang went in. The air in the back of the van and the boat still hooked to the trailer kept it afloat . I jumped in my boat and drove out and hooked up a ski line to his boat , than tied it off to my truck until the wrecker came.
  Another time at the same boat launch during Memorial weekend quite a few 18-22 year old kids came back to load up from there party at the dunes. One was sitting on the rear just left of the outboard, driver thought it would be funny to gas the boat. I got to watch a helicopter land at the launch and air lift a kid to the hospital. When a prop hits skin just above the waist line its not a very pretty sight.

[magnanimous_j]

When I was 16 or 17 (late 90's), my buddy showed up at my house one morning and asked if I wanted to go check out a boat for sale that he found in the classifieds. So we drove over to the guys house and he says he bought it a couple years ago, never used it, etc. It was a late 70's Reinell inboard if I remember right. Pretty cool boat. Then he asked if we wanted to test drive it. The thought that a sane adult would let two teenage morons take his boat out alone, never even crossed our minds. We immediately accepted and hooked the thing up to my buddy's truck and off we went. Keep in mind that neither of us had ever towed or launched a boat before. We'd barely ever even driven one.

So we get to the boat launch and it's COLD. It's april and there is a storm moving in. The first thing we did was miss the concrete launch and get the truck stuck in wet mud. Luckily, a utility worker happened by and pulled us out. Next attempt, we got it right and just as it was about to touch water, I said "My dad used to have a boat, and he always made sure to put the bilge plug in." So we hopped out and looked around and couldn't find it. We decided that this particular boat must not have had one. So the boats in the water, we fire up the motor, point the bow at the middle of the sound and open it up.

We got about 100 feet before the motor died. We turn around and the the back end is under water and going down fast. No other option except to bail out and swim for shore. The drop off was very gradual and we were probably only in 10 or 15 feet of water. So my buddy tries to pull this boat toward shore before it hits the bottom. He assures me that he's got it and I swim for the shore to get the truck.

Remember, I've never towed anything before. In my panic to get this trailer back down the launch, I cut it way too hard and with a groaning sound, the torsion twists the trailer into a mangled, bent up mess. Completely wrecked. My friend loses his battle with the boat and down it goes. He swims to shore. Soaking wet and freezing cold, we just stared at the situation in total silence for about 10 minutes. We had just completely destroyed this guy's boat AND trailer.

We thought the guy would be furious, but he just wanted us to get the hell out of there. Later I decided he was probably terrified that our parents were going to sue him. They didn't.

For all I know, the boat is still down there.

How long did it take you to tell your folks?

As soon as we decided we were out of trouble, and not a minute before.

[erk444]

Watched a guy slip off the tongue while launching one time. His leg fell through and he went over backwards into the water. His wife was screaming the whole time as she helped him up. Almost thought he broke his leg, but turned out it was just banged up real good.