I pulled our little 16 ft Wahoo up to the ramp one day. I was waiting for the boater ahead of me to finish launching his 20 ft boat. His family waited on the dock. I pulled our boat alongside the seawall to wait. While he was finishing, I went and got my truck and trailer. I waited as he pulled his truck up the ramp, and I backed mine down the ramp, waiting for him to move his boat, so I could take mine out.
He returned to his boat, loadedhis family onboard. He started his engine and tried to back away. He seemed to be having some trouble, so I asked if he needed a push to turn his bow. He said yes. Standing in about 1 1/2 feet of water, I gave his bow a show. That boat just started to move. Then I heard his wife exclaim, "honey, there is a lot of water back here."
He looked back to see water filling the aft end of the boat. He looked at me and said, "pull me back!" I grabbed his bow, but the boat was hard to stop, and it dragged me deeper til I got its momentum changed. Then he said, "pull me up on your trailer!" I jumped to my trailer, grabbed the snaphook for the strap and snapped it on his bow eye. Luckily, I extend my winch strap before backing the trailer down the ramp, and I snap it to an eye bolt I have mounted atop my trailer guide.
I winched him halfway onto the trailer and held him there while his boat drained. Luckily, no water reached his starteror alternator.
He drained it, put the plug in, and eventually got the nerve to back out and go motoring.
My good deed done, I pulled my boat out, parked it, and returned to my sailboat to spend the rest of the day lounging with a beer in our slip, having sailed earlier. I decided to take a picture of the really nice boom tent my wife had sewn, and it was then I realized the cost of my good deed! My iPhone was on my belt! Bummer. I had already turned it on, and that sucker was fried! Oh well.
Maybe not the silliest thing I ever saw, but it was memorable.
He returned to his boat, loadedhis family onboard. He started his engine and tried to back away. He seemed to be having some trouble, so I asked if he needed a push to turn his bow. He said yes. Standing in about 1 1/2 feet of water, I gave his bow a show. That boat just started to move. Then I heard his wife exclaim, "honey, there is a lot of water back here."
He looked back to see water filling the aft end of the boat. He looked at me and said, "pull me back!" I grabbed his bow, but the boat was hard to stop, and it dragged me deeper til I got its momentum changed. Then he said, "pull me up on your trailer!" I jumped to my trailer, grabbed the snaphook for the strap and snapped it on his bow eye. Luckily, I extend my winch strap before backing the trailer down the ramp, and I snap it to an eye bolt I have mounted atop my trailer guide.
I winched him halfway onto the trailer and held him there while his boat drained. Luckily, no water reached his starteror alternator.
He drained it, put the plug in, and eventually got the nerve to back out and go motoring.
My good deed done, I pulled my boat out, parked it, and returned to my sailboat to spend the rest of the day lounging with a beer in our slip, having sailed earlier. I decided to take a picture of the really nice boom tent my wife had sewn, and it was then I realized the cost of my good deed! My iPhone was on my belt! Bummer. I had already turned it on, and that sucker was fried! Oh well.
Maybe not the silliest thing I ever saw, but it was memorable.