General Outdoor Discussion
Boat launch idiots!
The link below is an article I ran into this morning. I pretty much covers the idiots at the boat launch! I have it summed up below if you don't want to follow this link.
Five Universal LAWS of STUPIDITY
Let’s take a look at Cipolla’s five basic laws of human stupidity:
Law 1: Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
Law 2: The probability that a certain person be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.
Law 3. A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.
Law 4: Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.
Law 5: A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.
I fish a lake in Iron County in spring for panfish etc and it has a fairly steep but short slope to the water my buddy had just bought a used 16ft alumacraft with a 45 hp tiller and a roller trailer it was his first time launching that boat. And he wanted to sit in it while our buddy backed him in since there was no pier. So he so he took the straps off the back and then insisted on unhooking the winch and safety chain which I told him was a bad idea. We didn't have far to back up before it would've been safe to unhook it but he insisted it was fine so our buddy started to back him in and hit the top of the landing and as I predicted the boat came rolling off the trailer landing on the ramp just about a foot from the waters edge. He was In The boat when it happened and the look on his face was priceless and he learned a valuable lesson that day lol
I typically fish by myself, so I’m used to launching and trailering the boat solo. Over the years I have a good system that works for me, so it’s really no trouble.
Funny story, years ago when our boat was brand new, we stopped by Red Banks on the Wolf River for some food. My wife happened to be holding the boat when a boat came by semi on-plane and throwing out a decent sized wake (even though it is a slow no wake area.) The wake would have actually been smaller if he was going faster…
At any rate, Red Banks had a large piece of raw angle iron hanging off the end of their pier, and while my wife was holding the boat, the large wave pushed the boat, and it got away from her. She wasn’t physically strong enough to stop it.
Made a decent gouge in the boat, but I didn’t fault her for it, wasn’t her fault a guy threw a decent wake in a no wake area.
Ever since then I’ve just told her to sit there and look pretty!
That way she doesn’t have to worry about anything and neither do I.
She helps get the boat ready before we go, sandwiches, snacks, sunscreen, towels etc…
Works for us :)
I started backing trailers in and out when I was 12 years old. My dad was a tough teacher. Funny talking about wives. I told her the other day she needs to learn to help us out especially at busy times. Seems like all the launches I go to anymore are at least two to three time as busy anymore.
She said "I dont like to drive the truck much less back a trailer". I told her then she needs to learn how to run the boat then.
She's still on the fence. She feels I am very anal about truck, boat, and everything else in life.
Shes probably right. I come from the school of "take care of your shit" .
Ill find some off times to get her started this year at the launch. Im taking her over to the school parking lot Sunday to get the feel. Well see how that goes.
Peace, Patience, and Good Fishing to all the stand up Husbands and Fathers out there.
lar
Lol. Our boat has slipped that clip twice. Don't have a clue how it happens, but it does happen. Thankfully it was at our private launch. Both times my wife dove in to retrieve the boat!
That's why she usually launches me in the boat now. No clip!!!
And yah, get the women engaged in the process. Tell them to take it slow. Slow and steady is safe. Never launch a rig in a rush, that's when bad things happen. And...above all else, if you feel like you are in trouble backing up, don't do it. Ask for help.
I agree Vegas, having your wife taking control of the truck and trailer is a good idea. I haven't been able to convince the wife yet. She takes control of the rope and boat after its launched. One time I was backing the boat in with my roller trailer and after the boat hit the water and I was pulling the trailer out and the rope clip came un done from the boat. I was able to stop and grab a hook pole to catch the boat before it got too far from the dock. Don't understand til this day how it unclipped itself. Couple of launches later it did it again. I wasn't paying attention and went off and parked the truck about 150 yards away. I get out of the truck and happened to look towards the boat and see the boat 20 feet from the dock ( we were launching above a dam so there was current ) and my wife diving in the water swimming for the boat. That was a bad start. Needless to say, I went and bought a new style clip.
Lots off things happen during loading and unloading where I would rather be the one with the boat watching and resolving any issues. The main thing is be patient and explain why and what to watch for.
My wife watched me back up the trailer about 5 times, loading and unloading before she wanted to do it so we could be more efficient.
Didn't take her long to figure out how to back up a trailer and usually I have it started for her before we launch, but when loading, it is all on her.
She's flat out excellent now. We are in and out in no time whatsoever.
Funny story...she parked the rig once, then we fished. Came back in, she went to get the truck and couldn't find a way to get out of the spot without hitting the trucks or rigs next to her.
So she came and got me. We put the boat out of the way and I looked at her situation. All I had to do was pull forward, down a little gulley (grass) onto the road then I could come back into the launch parking lot.
She sat there with this 'duh" look her face. Told her she did the right thing by getting me to help problem solve. The other option was for us to pick up the trailer to straighten it out, or remove the trailer, push it aside, get the truck out, then reconnect.
So she's more prepared for future issues.
My point? Get your woman engaged in the launch process, but make sure they know to get you when it isn't easy. It'll make them feel better about helping out, at least it did in my case.
And for all you smart alec's out there....YES. She outfished me that day, and it wasn't even close.
Yeah, I wish everyone was conscientious enough to do a little practice before they showed up at a landing. There is always the guy that pulls in front of the launch oblivious to anyone else then starts to prepare and load his boat the entire time blocking the launch. The same with coming out, they will pull out block the launch then start unloading and strapping down their boat all while sitting in front of the launch.
This besides being rude and discourteous just proves how utterly clueless they are.
Get your boat ready, gear stowed, ropes in place then gracefully pull into the launch and put your boat in. Same with coming out. Come in get the boat on the trailer get your safety chain on then get the heck out of the way to tie down.
GF,
Saw that last year.
Boat was a 21 foot Hurricane.
The wife was holding the mooring line while the hubby was backing the boat.
Hubby came in pretty quick and hit the brakes - the boat went flying off the trailer pretty quick.
The wife was a little lady, and physically couldn’t stop the 21 foot boat from hitting the pier.
Husband comes out of the truck and yells at his wife! Poor lady didn’t do a thing wrong!
Funny, men and women look at things differently and are good at different things.
Whenever my wife and I go boating, she always asks me what she can do. I tell her to just sit there and look pretty!
It's gotten so bad that I plan my fishing times when the launch should be quieter. Never weekends. When someone has a problem backing down I'll help and am somewhat patient.Most of the near fights I have gotten into are with people who are just rude, clueless and have no common sense. When I bought my first boat, I went to a school parking lot and practiced. After around 20 minutes, I had it. So many people at the launches just have no common sense and are in their own world, unaware of people coming in, waiting etc.To watch people back down, block the launch and THEN start putting rods, cushions, coolers in the boat. It's unbelieveable. I always park way out of the way and rig up locators and everything else before I back down. No one taught me this. Common sense.Last year some young punks were done for the day pulling piers, pulled out and started securing the boat and finishing up all the while blocking the only lane to launch. I waited almost 10 minutes and asked if they could pull forward like 75 feet, finish and I could launch.One of them actually said;" Why would I do that?" A few seconds later he was on the ground listening to my lecture on common sense and courtesy. I don't promote violence but there is a generation out there that can't fathom a world outside their own.
Well...so last spring my wife, brother, and his wife used my boat to do a fishing tournament. I had to work. End of the day I noticed the top of the tailgate creased. Wife jackknifed the trailer winch into the lower tailgate. I was cool about it because I taught her to flip the gate down and roll up the tonneau cover if you have difficulty seeing using the mirrors.
So...now she still backs the boat in-but I don't hestistate to yell STOP! before another incident occurs ??
Boat launch idiot or boat launch gigachad?
Saturday evening at a Lake Geneva one lane launch, I am in boat prep area and first in line to launch and I am a minute away from launching. There were 3 rig spots open so I know I’ll have a place to park. A guy comes flying in and goes right by me and starts backing in launch. I’m not to worried because I know I’ll still be able to get out. I see this guy often and he recognizes me and says good luck. I figure he’ll be fast. WRONG!!! He takes 5 mins to prep boat then finally gets it in the water. He took at least another 10 minutes to get it tied to the pier. By now the line is 4 boats deep and people behind me are getting irritated. We were both solo and when I get to go I was in and parked in 3 minutes. He was still filling out his parking slip and walking back to his truck when I pulled away from the dock.
I had to maneuver around his boat to get out and my boat was actually blocking the next guy from launching because he didn’t tie his boat to the end of the pier.
I was half way across the lake and he wasn’t even in his boat.
Some people, even experienced fishermen and boaters don’t have a clue.
I never said a word, but I would have if he was taking the last parking spot that should be mine.
