1st day out Accccccck
It's the same every year. I spend countless hours getting my boat ready for
that first trip. Then. . . as the day /hour approaches I beg the water gods
not to let anything untoward happen. Like . . .pls let the motar start,
don't let me forget to put the plug in, make sure the sonars actually work
etc. and last but not least don't let me do anything really dumb at the
ramp.So Judy and I go off to the lake Sat. just to run the boat around before we
haul it south for the MTC. The ramp is crowded full of guys who've already
been out 2 dozen times. Apprehension builds no matter I've done this
launching thing a zillion times. To complicate matters we're taking our
puppy (Capone) for his first ride. I back the boat down the ramp, Judy
finiishes it as I direct her. The motor starts, the boat won't move. after a
few embarassing moments I realize the transom straps are still connected. No
prob. Just have judy pull the boat out a bit. I'm directing her, but
forgetting to trim up the motor. A lound noise. . . the kind that makes
everyone on the ramp give you that "what an idiot" look. But damage is just
a scrape. We survive the lake. the dog is good except he doesn't realize yet that
casting a jig an pig doesn't mean to retrieve it like when we play catch in
the back yard. We get home and I take the dog in the house. Come back out
to the garage to finish backing boat into garage when in the course of that
chore I notice Capone has escaped ! I quick exit the SUV run catch him take
him back inside. I step back out into garage to notice boat and SUV heading
down the driveway and directly at a Lexus parked at my neighbors house
across the street. I run faster than I have for many years, jump into the
SUV and slam on the breaks. While my heart rate exceeds the latest stress
test I note the gear shirt not in park. It takes 400 hours for my heart rate
to return to normal. All in all not a bad first day.
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Joshuall
Apr 18
2005
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| I hear ya Josh... I hate the first trip out too! Not mine, mind you. But all
the others that sit either on the ramp or at the courtesy dock taking care
of everything that should have been done before leaving the house. Saturday, when I was headed back home I waited for 20 minutes for this guy
to prepare his pontoon boat. He was parked on the left side of the dock, and
since I was alone, this was the easy side to dock on. Finally I gave up
waiting on him and took the right side after being courteous enough to let
the guys launching use that side so their trailers wouldn't be blocking
everyone else waiting for the ramp. Finally, I was able to get my boat out
of the water, wiped down, locked down, and ready to leave... and this guy
was still playing around with the pontoon boat. Is there a reason why you can't set up your tables, open your canopies,
organize your seats, and whatever else you need to do while you're waiting
your turn to launch? Never owned or operated a pontoon boat, so I may be
wrong... but it sure sounds logical. (Ranting ending for the day... hopefully.) Charles |
Charles
Apr 19
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