A Giant OOOOHHHPPS today

J

Jack in Alaska

New member
Today, when returning to the ramp in the Homer harbor from our maiden voyage we noticed a bunch of stuff piled on the dock, Clothes, suitcases, fuel tanks etc. Also on the other side of the finger at the loading ramp was a funny looking elliptical thing in the water. The harbor master and helper were there. Just as we got off of our boat a youngish Homer mountain muffin woman came running down the ramp and said ......................I FORGOT TO PUT IN THE PLUG.
She had launched, took the trailer up and parked it, screwed around for awhile and it sunk. A 22' open aluminum skiff with a 90hp Honda, center console all about 5' under salt water.
Her mother came running down the ramp and her father was up on the bank yelling a bunch of obscenities.............do you blame him??? It was his boat.

DON'T FORGET YOUR PLUG.
 
Chuck's right, of course, it's the owner's/real captain/skipper's responsibility to supervise over all that goes on with the boat, ultimately.

Jack- Where the camera? Photos? Film at 11?

Do you suppose the guy would take offense to you filming the wonderous event with a big video camera with a microphone boom on the end?

Typical Rude Interviewer: "Can you tell us now, Mr. Captain, Sir, exactly how it feels to see your new boat at the bottom of the launch ramp?"

Splash! (The interview team it shoved into the drink by the owner, but will now get a chance to film the event with special underwater coverage.)

At least it wasn't YOUR new 26!

Joe. :lol:
 
"Typical Rude Interviewer: "Can you tell us now, Mr. Captain, Sir, exactly how it feels to see your new boat at the bottom of the launch ramp?" "

or even worse, "Can we please drag your boat into deeper water, out of the way so that we can launch our boat?" :twisted:

Charlie
 
matt_unique":3vul9e67 said:
Ouch...it reminds me of the annual boat drop on concrete from roller trailers.
Click to expand...

The main reason I don't do roller trailers!

San Diego's Shelter Island launch ramp has benches overlooking the ramps. Saturdays there's standing room only and plenty of digital cameras at the ready. As if there wasn't enough pressure launching at arguably one of the busiest ramps in Southern California....

Don

P.S. Jack, I'd like an expanded definition of the "youngish Homer mountain muffin woman" description, btw. Is it like the lower 48's "Backwoods Fluffy" gal?
 
I do believe that a lower 48 Backwoods Fluffy Gal and a Homer Mountain Muffin Woman are directly related.

The woman borrowed the boat and maybe w/o her Dad's permission and for sure w/o his supervision which she obviously needed.

I forgot to say in the original post that the harbor master told her she had 24 hrs. to remove it and she needed to hire a diver and use buoys and airbags which would cost $1000. She said she did not have $1000. The HM told her that was her problem. Luckily no fuel spilled and being the Mountain Muffin, tree hugger, nuclear free zone and environmental whacko type that worried her more than the sunken boat.
One of Homers claims to fame is it has proclaimed itself to be a nuclear free zone..........whoooeeee.

I would like to hear the "end of the story" but it is 40 miles away.
 
"tree hugger, nuclear free zone and environmental whacko type"

Ha ha!!! I resemble that remark! I likes my fish to have no more than two eyes and when the Orca are gone, I will be sad.

Funny story though.
 
We've forgotten to put some plugs in the Whaler (there are 6!) several times. Luckily, all you have to do in that boat is run it up on plane and put the plugs in while doing so.
 
interesting subject, from an insurance standpoint, i'm sure there might be some form of damage to both, boat and engine, as well as any personal items aboard. there will be a cost to re-float the boat and clean up of pollution, should there be any. so, what was the cause of loss, collision, no, fire, no, how about capsizing from windstorm, no, just the negligence of our captain. so, my good friends, will the insurance company pay for this loss? the answer is yes, paid under comprehensive, less a normally small deductible, and that is why you and i will see a continued increase in boating rates. now, have a great day, go forth and be productive!
pat
 
Pat, Oh it's covered unless the insurance company asked "who will skipper the boat" and based the rate on the captains boating experience and is a bit less than reputable.
More likely though is that they will pay and then high risk the insured. The event of one letting some other person launch the boat and allowing it to sink for this reason would be, from an underwriting standpoint, like getting your car stolen after leaving it unlocked with the keys in it.
 
One of the reasons I like the C-Dory (especially the older ones) is that I know immediately if there is water coming in (due to missing plugs or anything else). On my previous boat (an older inboard/outboard) I had the sense to install a bilge alarm -- which probably saved my boat and maybe my life on the one occasion in 30 years of boating that I had a hose fail -- letting seawater pump into the bilge.

I haven't yet forgotten the plugs (I have three... don't ask) but there is always next time...

Matt
 
As a former sailor, I'm not used to putting in plugs before you launch. I mean who would have thought of leaving an open hole in the bottom of the boat? That sounds like a wonderful idea.
Anyway:

1. The bilge pump on a C-25 handles the water. While you're putting in the plug leaning over the transome.

2. I now wire the plug next to the trailer winch. And yes, if I get too many simultaneous instructions, I can forget to put it in.

Boris
 
Jack in Alaska - I can identify with your story since I left a plug out once, and I don't doubt your accuracy. I am curious, however, what a metal 22' skiff is doing without {apparently) any flotation built in. Sounds like a home made rig. John
 
Yellowstone,

You are absolutely correct in that it was a local made skiff, not home made.
There are at least 6 boat manufacturers in South Central Alaska that build some real 1st class aluminum boats. They are on a par with many built down in the lower 48. Unfortunately some, not all, do not consider flotation or at least not enough of it to be effective in that situation.
 
The cutoff for the floatation foam requirement is 20 feet. Below that and the manufacturer must put it in, above that and all bets are off.
 
This was at the Marina del Rey (CA) ramp a few weeks ago. The rear tires on the truck slipped on the ramp, spinning the truck and trailer around. The tow truck had to pull them out by hooking up to the rear of the trailer.
P5094141.jpg
 
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