Boat Launch Idiots (BLI's)

[Percidae_Papermouth]

Keep a check on your launch/retreval rope..... girlfriend was holding the rope when i launched, she pulled the rope to bring the boat in and it snapped about 12" from the eye on the bow of the boat..... nice september swim down river.

Victim of dry rot

[Lowellhturner]

Yrs ago, was fishing near the old CJ Brown main boat ramp in July?, very warm, 10- 15 mph wind head on from the N as a local BASS club was launching to get a tournement underway. 2 dudes put a 14?` aluminum boat in, 1 takes the truck and trailer to park, 2cnd guy ties it off and hops in, has some trouble getting it to start, it finally stays running. This gent, chomping on a Winston Churchill stoogie, proceeds to pick up a 5 gallon gas can and attempts to top off the boat`s fuel tank...is anyone already running for a fire extingusher? In a matter of seconds, WHOOSH! He drops the uncapped can and smoking (literally!) jumps overboard, and proceeds to all but drown in 3-4` of water as the boat becomes a Viking funeral pyre. It goes without saying everyone else either abandones any thought of launching and quickly got clear, fished dude out, (he luckily wasn`t seriously hurt) or bravely attempted to put the conflaguration out. Unfortunately, there was far more fuel than they had fire extingushers, and finally had to just back off. To add to the irony, as the local volunteer fire dept pulled up, the burnt out wreck slid beneath the waves, out of embarrassment would suppose. Old boy was tended to, and when the wreck was pulled out, he was given a ticket for A Not having a fire extingusher IN the boat, (it was in his truck!), B fuelling on the water and C refuelling with the motor running. Luckily, it happened along side the dock, and not out on the lake! Most safety rules are written after injury, blood, agony and regret! One to remember, for sure!

[EnonEye]

"Yrs ago, was fishing near the old CJ Brown main boat ramp"
CJ's my favorite place to go and sit on lunch hour to watch the "circus" of people putting in and out, I think it's the fact there's such a mixture of fishermen, skieers, speedboaters and wave runners that make it so interesting to watch, not to mention the bikinis.
That old boat ramp had one ramp on it that was particularly mossy and slippery as I found out one summer morning.
I backed in my boat with the rear wheel drive truck I had at the time, got the boat positioned just right, applied the parking brake and was going to get out to launch when the truck began slipping back into the 20 foot water just off the ramp.
Every time I applied the brake with my foot it would stop but every time I took my foot off the brake and applied the emergency brake it would keep slipping backwards. Quit a dilema as I had my young son in the truck at the time and by now the water was covering the bed of the truck.
In my panic of trying to decide should I sacrifice my son for my truck or let him get out I decided to have him keep his foot on the brake while I placed a rock behind the front tire to stop the backward sliding.
I eventually had another truck pull me off the moss infested ramp and later realized the emergency brake worked only on the rear tires, the tires sitting on the moss. I didn't use that ramp after that, until I got a different truck with 4-wheel drive. Can't tell you how many people I warned about using that ramp.