# West Branch accident



## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

First time boater trying to launch at West Branch yesterday afternoon. I offered twice to help the guy unload but he was too impatient and backed into the concrete and then the wooden portion of the dock. 
He had the rope to the crank unhooked and the boat got stuck in the dock when he hit it. He then he pulled out and the boat landed on the skeg. 
He kept pulling up and snapped the lock down feature of the motor.
Don't know if he bent the tongue of the trailer or if it's supposed to bend like that. Bet his prop is shot too.
Regardless the trailer was waaaaay too small for that heavy a boat. Plus if I was a first time boater I would be more than grateful for an offer to help from someone who has somewhat a clue on how to unload a boat.
Two hours later he was still there.
I'm not going to show the pictures that show him. Too embarrassing.










Fishing was OK too. Crappie and perch off of minnows in front of fallen trees in the deeper water.


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## williamonica0214 (Aug 1, 2006)

guess next time he will tkae your help huh . I would love to see the other pictures


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## Skarfer (Jan 27, 2006)

Chalk me up for wanting to see the pics too! I bet his face was priceless......


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## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

i almost had that happen to me once ,trying to load in a hurry when a storm picked up with heavy wind and rain. i could not get the boat on the trailer right and the boat got stuck on the dock and a side bunk as the rain wind and lightning was comming down. took me a while to get it righted before i got underway. take your time even in a storm.


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## Agent47 (Jun 27, 2006)

Pulling out to fast replacing prop... 250 dollars

Scuffing up fiberglass hull and repairing boat bottom... 2000 dollars.

Image on face and ignoring good samaritan


PRICELESS


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## Ruminator (Apr 6, 2004)

Wow Mike! 

Some guys are just too proud, or whatever, to accept a "helping hand".

Its a shame. And I doubt he learned anything.


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## ncraft150 (Apr 5, 2004)

There was a guy that did that a few years ago out there. It took 4 of us lifting the back and one on the winch to get it on the trailer. Lucky it had rollers for bunks.


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## fishingful (Apr 5, 2004)

ffffffish had that happen to his boat out there in late fall when it was cold launched then loaded then went to launch again later in the day and when he was backing up taped the breaks and the boat shot off the trailor onto the ramp

BUNKS HAD FROZEN

allways keep the saftey chain hooked up till your boat is almost in the water

expensive to replace the mota or all the glass work


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## fishintiger (Apr 26, 2004)

I think he may be a graduate of the Fishintiger school of trailer backing.  I almost had the same fate but luckily it was with Misfit's boat and the boat was in the water and not on the trailer when I almost put the trailer on the dock.


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## Frozentoze (Sep 24, 2004)

I had this one happen to me once at Berlin in November when the water was way down - I was launching at that marina on the east side, had the boat unhooked and the rope on it and was just a few feet from the edge of the water when the trailer tire fell into an immense pothole, jolting the jeep and the trailer to a stop. I just watched the whole boat slide right off the back and go nose to the sky as it fell off onto the concrete. Busted transducer, drain hole bent shut (aluminum hull), scuffs on the motor but no other damage. Winched the thing back on (about 20' of winch strap out to get her hooked up) and learned like you said to never unbuckle the boat until you are almost touching the water.

I would have taken your help - some people are just too stupid for their own good.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

mine stays hooked until she's afloat and then i walk out on the trailer to unhook just for this reason. i remember many moons ago up at ashtabula, i unhooked the winch from a boat i was invited to go out on (just trying to help and a rookie to boating) and the same thing happened, luckly it was far enough down the ramp it bounced into the water. needless to say, neil was very upset with me the rest of the day . 

those ramps at west branch are steep. i wouldn't be able to crank mine back on. dont know what id have to do. get a crane?? anyhow this falls into the "what a dumba$$" catagory bet he dont do that again.


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## BMustang (Jul 27, 2004)

Watched two old guys try to launch a boat up in Canada one year.

Everything was going well - boat backed to near the water's edge.

Driver says to his partner - O.K. Unhook it!

Which he did. Except that he unhooked the Reese's hitch from the truck!

You know the rest of the story!


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## misfit (Apr 5, 2004)

> I think he may be a graduate of the Fishintiger school of trailer backing


that was the first thing that came to mind when i read the post 


> I almost put the trailer on the dock


almost?.................................almost,meaning only one wheel was on the dock instead of both  

you've come along way.at least i thought so till the other night


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## vc1111 (Apr 13, 2004)

I saw something very, very similar at West Branch last year. 

The guy had his wife and kids in the boat. It slid off the trailer as he was backing down. It hit the deck. (No one was harmed or in any way hurt, just a bit shaken and perplexed.) There was a pause. His wife then unleashed a string of "comments" about his trailering prowess. 

Moments later about a dozen other guys were helping his DRAG the large fiberglass boat across the concrete and into the water. 

It was on a Sunday and the parking/launching area was a zoo. Much jocularity ensued.


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

I'm with ezbite. Mine stays hooked to the winch until its afloat and motor is started. It may take a few seconds more, but avoids a lot of problems.
Brian


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## Fat Bill (Jan 16, 2006)

I worked for the Army Corps of engineers at Berlin about 30 years ago. On busy weekends we were sometimes sent to the boat ramp to direct traffic and help the weekend warriors. Some of the things that happened were so bizzare that you wouldn't believe them if I told you and there were so many that I could write a book.

One in particular. I was at the contact station checking in campers when a guy and his daughter walk up the road from the boat ramp and as he gets on the public telephone, she walked over the the office window (she was about 5 or 6) and proudly announces that daddy put the boat and car in the lake.


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## fishintiger (Apr 26, 2004)

misfit said:


> almost?.................................almost,meaning only one wheel was on the dock instead of both
> 
> you've come along way.at least i thought so till the other night


Well.....maybe. 

It's not my fault that you put a short rope on the boat.


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## Eliminator (Aug 26, 2006)

must be easy loader trailers or something, my 16' deep v fiberglass would never just slide off on it's own even at the steepest ramps, if my trailer fenders aren't quite submerged I'll have to really push to get it off and I always unhook it first, the trailer has rollers not the easy loader V type.


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## Bobinstow90 (Apr 13, 2006)

Many of us have narrowly escaped some of these miss-ques. In the first month owning a boat, I got extremely lucky at West Branch. 

A guy who had to be at least 75 with very long hair and scruffy full beard helped me out. He recommended using the outside truck mirrors instead of trying to watch the boat thru the back window. He recommended following the painted lines on the pavement....or the seams in the concrete. 
He recommended, when launching alone, a rope on the bow (laying inside the boat) and over the trailer hitch 2.5 times the length of the boat.

His advise has worked for me. Thanks.....whoever you are.


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## monte433 (May 24, 2007)

Is it just me or did the guy pull the pin out of his tilt trailer?


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## Hetfieldinn (May 17, 2004)

The closest I've come to being 'idiot of the day' at the ramps was not unhooking the transom tie downs. I kept backing the truck down further.........and further, and a then little more, waiting for the boat to float away. Once the truck bed was 1/4 way full of lake water, I realized what was going on.

I'm surprised ShortDrift didn't catch it sooner.

I guess we were too anxious to get out on the water.


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

I remember it well. I actually wanted to see if the boat could float the trailer as well


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## Bobinstow90 (Apr 13, 2006)

Het....I did the exact same thing at Portage Lakes the second yr I had the boat. Betty and her friend (visiting from Florida ) nearly fell off the dock laughing when I realized what was wrong. 

It was supose to be a friendly lunch time cruise of the Portage Lakes with lunch at The Harbor. People are still laughin three yrs later. Every time I see them....... I hear about it.

Yes.....they gave me a sign.


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

I just got a new tow vehicle (GMC Acadia) and take the boat to WB. Put boat in water, tie it to dock, get in vehicle to take trailer to parking lot. Can't figure out how to take parking brake off! There is a handle under the dash, pull it and hood pops open, no handle for parking brake. I'm thinking I'm going to be blocking the ramp all day, like an idiot. Finally thought of owners manual. Turns out you have to push down on regular brake, then re-push parking brake and it releases. D'oh!
Brian


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## papaperch (Apr 12, 2004)

At Mosquito lake state ramp one very late march day. Day was warm but water was really cold. Partner and I are launching 16 ' Lund. Truck pulls up with heavy 18 ' fiberglass . 4 very anxious and tipsy fishermen pour out of truck yelling directions at driver of thier truck. The smallest of the gang of five takes hold of the launch rope with almost no slack at all. After a couple of futile attempts at backing up the driver gives up. He tells thier resident pro to do it. The " pro " evidently was a believer in the jamb on the brake theory when launching. Little fella has to run to keep rope from dragging. Pro does admirable job of backing ( a little too fast for my taste but good ) and wham hits the brake like he had to panic stop. Boat zings off trailer and snatches " shorty " right into the water valiantly clinging to rope.

I had time to grab him with my free hand before he went away with the boat. Fished his soaked freezing self out on the dock and was surprized to no end that he was a guy I worked with. In no time flat his skin color was BLUE and his teeth were chattering so fast it sounded like a room full of typewriters. They reloaded boat and departed as quickly as they came. The guy who took the dunk begged me not to tell story at work. I told him to save his breath as it was just too good a story not to share.

This happened about 30 years ago and I still chuckle about it when ever I think of it.


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## seyeslayer (Mar 23, 2007)

Ok since everyone is admitting to idiot attacks. This past spring I went out with a long time friend on New London res. to try for some eyes.The day was so cold im not sure why we were not dragging the shanty and vexilar,but he wanted to go. As cold as it was the eyes were on fireit didnt seem to matter what ever we threw at them they crushed it really not normal for that lake. After a few hours called it a day got back to the ramp and my friend wanted to learn how to back a trialer so he went and got MY TRUCK hope your reading this MATT  as soon as he hit the ramp ice took over and put my truck up to its cab in the water luckily another guy was fast acting and hooked up to my tow hooks and pulled my truck out for me. Lesson learnd carry salt with you when its under 40 degrees


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## marshal45 (Mar 8, 2007)

These posts are hilarious. I am reading today for the first time as I have been in hawaii on vacation. I have been laughing pretty hard. These are also good for me as I am still on my first year as a boat owner and I can learn from these.


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## blance (Apr 5, 2004)

Mine was up at the Elijah Run ramp on Kinzua. It was my first time at that particular ramp. Normally, whenever I go to a new ramp, I walk around it to look for anything that could be trouble. On this day, I got a late start and was in too big of a hurry to do that. Back the trailer down the ramp and found a 2ft drop off in the cement just before the water. Dropped the trailer down on the axle and played heck getting it back up. Ended up making a pseudo ramp for the tire out of the rip rap lining the shore around the ramp and used 4-low to pull it up out of there. Once I got it out of that hole, I proceeded to back it in without the plug in. If you've never been to that lake, it is formed by flooding the valleys in the Allegheny mountains so the drop offs are steep and quick. In many places 30 ft from shore = 30ft of water, 100 yards out = 100 ft of water. Not exactly the place to forget your plug. There was a guy and his wife walking around the ramp area who got a good laugh at all my trials and tribulations that day, but at least they did offer to help. Now I walk ALL new ramps before backing in and installed an automatic bilge pump to buy me some time for those (not rare enough) occasions when I forget the plug.


Barry


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## misfit (Apr 5, 2004)

> Which he did. Except that he unhooked the Reese's hitch from the truck!
> 
> You know the rest of the story!


 classic.i had the opposite experience a few years ago.friend is always bragging about 20 years in the navy,running big boat on erie for years,and his fishing experience.
take him to hoover and when it comes time to load boat,he backs down the ramp.not a bad job.i drive onto the trailer.he gets out,hooks up the winch and jumps in truck.starts up ramp and all of a sudden boat stands up like doing a wheelie,with me in the back seat.he gets to the top,hits the brakes and down comes boat with a crash,bang.first thing i thought was the tilt pin came out.WRONG!after getting my wits back together i climb out and check things out.the trailer tongue is laying on my bumper and i now have a big dent in the tailgate.low and behold,popeye the sailor had unlatched the hitch when he hooked up the winch
at least he hooked the winch up or i'd have beem dumped bassakwards into the lake.
of course he didn't have a clue(as in wouldn't admit a dumbass attack) how the trailer came unhooked
yes,that was his last trip with me,LOL.
here's your sign,einstien


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## Seaturd (Apr 14, 2004)

Some buddies and I arrived at a Lake St. Clair boat ramp about 8 a.m. one morning and followed a tow truck into the ramp area. Lo and behold he was there to fish out some dudes full size Chevy that had backed into the drink along with his trailer. The Tracker boat was floating and tied off to the dock with a very irritated looking wife in it. The truck wasn't totally submerged but the tow truck guy was up to his waist in the water and having to submerge his head trying to find a place to hook up the winch. I'm guessing there were some hidden charges appeared for that winch job......

The worst I ever did was getting my dad's '72 Dodge 3/4 ton van stuck in the gravel ramp at Old State Park at Portage when I was about 17. Some old dude in a station wagon had some really heavy rope and after it broke twice the 3rd time it held long enough to help me get the van rolling and unstuck.


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