So there I was……

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

river_wolf

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 13, 2009
Messages
330
Reaction score
0
Location
Snellville, GA
Well Not sure where on the board this fits, but somewhere between lessons learned and humor. Keep in mind, A} Excited about finally getting to take the boat out, B} worked all night and kept thinking about taking the boat out today C} First boat {Although I had it last year....} D} Frustration by the end of the day.

Well I came home from work this morning and raced in, took the dog out, fed him breakfast, changed clothes raced out, threw the tackle in the car, hooked up the trailer and took off in a mad dash for the lake. I get to the lake and with it being truly the first really beautiful day, the boat trailer parking is packed! But hey, they are already on the water and with me being by myself and never launching by myself, I knew it would take some time, Needless to day the ramp was clear, so I backed right up and checked my patch work from over the winter for leakage, GUESS WHAT!!

So in frustration, I just pull right back out and head for home to trouble shoot. Find that I guess it fatigued from hitting a pot hole on the road or something, but I didn’t want this to break my spirit, so off to Wal-Mart for my good ole friend, JB Weld. I go home and think “I am going to do this right, I get my wire wheel and clean the paint that I labored on out of the bilge around the cracks and start cleaning them up, mix the JB Weld and start covering the cracks in question. I go in to the house take a nap for a bit while it cures. Then I go back out and look at it with the scratched up paint, Well I cant have it looking like that, so I throw a quick coat of paint on it to make it look good. Thinking it will dry while going down the road, “It’s only the bilge” Ok, I lash down the back of the boat, and I look over and tell myself, “Don’t forget to put the plug in when you get there…. OFF I GO!

I get to the lake and have the nice gentleman remind me that they close at 6:00 till after Memorial day. It’s only 3 and I really only want to check the boat so no problem right? Right…. Head down to the ramp and there is a guy taking his sweet time lashing down his boat even though there are signs there that tell you to clear the ramp after you get the bow hooked up and go up to the loading area to secure your boat. But, hey, he has to wash and wax, shine his shoes, and what have you Mean while I jump out and take the back straps off, throw the tackle and vest in the boat then get back in my truck to finish watching this guy comb his hair, brush his teeth and what have you… FINALLY, he moves, I look over at the dock and it is LOADED with people fishing, Well that means I am going to have to ground the boat instead of waling it up to the edge of the dock. Oh well, no biggie right? Right….

I pull up, back right down the ramp FIRST TIME! Like a champ. People are looking at the boat with the “ODD” paint job. Get it down in the water and I run back to see if its leaking again. As I get back there, I see water GUSHING in the bilge!!!!!!!! I am like WHAT THE #($%! Then I look over on the seat and see the plug sitting there on its little tether!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, all these people are turning this in to a spectator sport now, as I calmly walk up to the truck and pull it back up off the ramp. 5 minutes later after all the water decided to run out of the drain, I put the plug in, and of course, I have no rags, or towels to sop up the water left behind so I can only gauge it now,

As I back down the ramp 4 or 5 times, in frustration, I finally get the boat in the water, and I don’t see a influx of any more water but spent about 2 hours out on the water and brought it back. Now, I will get some sleep tonight and wake up early REFRESHED so that I can jump up and do it all again. UMMM Without the drain plug incident…….. By the way, HAPPY EASTER ALL!!!!! Wife is out of town and I am by my self so I am going fishing!!!!!!
 
Don't wory! It happens to the best of us. I am glad you finally got it high and dry and now you can enjoy it. One thing I have learned in the few years I have had the boat... S L O W D O W N.... I make less mistakes, and have more fun. It is still hard for me to slow down in my brain living in the middle of Philly, but I have to, or I get so worked up trying to relax, that it isn't relaxing! :lol:
 
bAcKpAiN said:
Don't wory! It happens to the best of us. I am glad you finally got it high and dry and now you can enjoy it. One thing I have learned in the few years I have had the boat... S L O W D O W N.... I make less mistakes, and have more fun. It is still hard for me to slow down in my brain living in the middle of Philly, but I have to, or I get so worked up trying to relax, that it isn't relaxing! :lol:

OH SO VERY TRUE!!!!!!! And the thing about it is, I was murder on myself last year about the plug! I always checked in 2 to 3 times just to make sure before I backed down the ramp. Just got complacent I guess. By the way, The Ranger said "It happens to the best of us" too!!! :LOL2:
 
If it never happens to you, you have never done it before. If someone tells you it has never happened to them, you can trust they are a rookie. Tomorrow you may look like a pro. That's the way it goes. Good luck.
 
Don't feel bad, I have probably done the same thing at least six times by getting in a hurry.

Good luck tomorrow and have a happy Easter yourself.
 
I have to mentally make myself slow-down when getting the boat ready to launch and check stuff 2-3 times. Makes my wife crazy. Once we're on the water and away from the ramp I have her look to see if any water is coming in through the plug. If she's not with me I'll go to the back of the boat and check it myself. I've found that when I get frustrated I have a terrible time lauching or even getting the boat on the trailer sometimes. I've made a lot of mistakes. Threw my wet shoes up the ramp one day after a difficult time getting the boat loaded (due to wind and current). My wife just shook her head and waited in the truck. Once I had it pulled up the ramp and parked to do all the "going-home" tasks, she looked at me, smiled, and said "You feel better now?".

On a side note related to this, I used to think about putting something on my boat about being retired Navy, but decided against it. I don't want the spectators to think us Navy guys can't launch or recover a little-bitty boat, lol. :lol:
 
Waterwings said:
On a side note related to this, I used to think about putting something on my boat about being retired Navy, but decided against it. I don't want the spectators to think us Navy guys can't launch or recover a little-bitty boat, lol. :lol:

But I can use the excuse that I'm an Airdale!!!!!!! :D
 
river_wolf said:
Waterwings said:
On a side note related to this, I used to think about putting something on my boat about being retired Navy, but decided against it. I don't want the spectators to think us Navy guys can't launch or recover a little-bitty boat, lol. :lol:

But I can use the excuse that I'm an Airdale!!!!!!! :D


Yep, I was DC, not a qualified coxswain, lol.
 
Just slow down,as every time i go fishing (boat) i am so excited that i have to may problems that it is not funny but once on the water it is good
 
Great report! Made me smile - but the good thing is NO MORE LEAK (at least not the kind that you cannot plug hehehehehe

Make a small checklist - carry it and use it. Not only will that keep you organized, you will no longer have that little voice inside your head wondering what you missed this time.
 
Thanks for the words of encouragement. Today went Better, I DIDN’T FORGET THE PLUG! But got to the lake right as they opened, and got the boat in the water with no problems. I double checked the patch to make sure that there wasn’t a problem and it was dry as a bone. Spent 4 hours on the water and saw fish all over the finder, and only had one bite, needless to day, I didn’t get the fish but he got my crank bait! I need to change my last reel over the Tralee before I go out again. Had 10 lb. mono on, but was the cheap stuff from wal-mart. “Yeah I know….” Needless to say, no other bites all day, would drag everything else I had in the box right through where they were, and they weren’t biting. Had every color of worm and craw you could imagine in the water, spinners, cranks, You name it…. When I got on the water the water temp was running about 65 and the wind was calm. B the time I came off the finder said the water was 68.5 I tried to fish the depth that they were at and just couldn’t seem to get the bites. Saw a guy land a couple crape but nothing else.

But this morning being out on the water before it got crowded was all worth it.

This is what it's all about folks!!!

SANY0161.jpg


SANY0160.jpg
 
Glad you got out w/o any problems! I've had those days (more than I care to recall, lol) where I see fish all over the f/f and no bites. I sometimes check to make sure I don't have it in the demo mode, lol. :shock:

I love being the first one on the water early in the morning before it gets crazy. 8)
 
Yes, those days to hit every now and again. but, just the way the day started out I couldn't complain. Like I said, as I was heading out on the water, it just felt right.

I even got the hang of my bait caster today!!! Been practicing with it in the back yard while no one was watching!!!! :D
 
Any day on the water is a good day. Maybe one day we can get together and do a little line wetting. Oh yeah, a good many of the fish I've seen lately are bedding or crusing so they are a little tough to catch.
 
gunny146 said:
Any day on the water is a good day. Maybe one day we can get together and do a little line wetting. Oh yeah, a good many of the fish I've seen lately are bedding or crusing so they are a little tough to catch.

To be honest, I have been trying to come up with a way that a bunch of the Georgia boys on here could all hook up and all head out together, but I know that schedules always get in the way of things like this. I would like to get to meet some of you and get to know you all better. There are some great people on here and with be being new to all of this it has been great to get input from you all.
Thanks for the heads up on the fish.
 
haha good story we've all been there

ive left the drainplug out but that didnt come close to the time i left my transom strap on. man it took forever to drain the 50+ gallons of water that came in the boat
 

Latest posts

Top