Ratickle
07-04-2012, 09:15 AM
We've all seen it, heard about it, or done it (except me of course).
An article in the San Francisco Chronicle reminded me about some of the stuff I've seen, and well maybe done....
Here it is, anybody have a favorite story???????
Hapless mariners star in boat-ramp follies
Tom Stienstra
You might think you have seen it all. If you do, just take a trip to a boat ramp.
A young man proved that again this month, this time at a foothill reservoir called Rollins Lake.
We were about to back our boat down a ramp, heading out for a family picnic, when a guy roared up in a Ford pickup with giant tires, towing a jet boat. He slammed the truck into reverse, cut in front of us, sped down the ramp and sent his boat sailing off. One little problem: There was nobody in the boat or tending it.
Even for me, that's a new one.
Another boater retrieved the captain-less craft as it floated into the lake, and then discovered the battery was not connected.
The boat ramp can be three-ring entertainment. Anybody who has owned a boat can tell you that sooner or later, anything that can go wrong, well, it will go wrong:
Runaway boat: A fellow at the boat ramp was worried about his friends, who were late, so he decided to unhook his boat, and then go look for them in his truck. But he didn't block the rear wheels of the trailer, so when he unhooked it from his truck, gravity took over, and it started rolling down the ramp, the guy still hanging onto the crank for the roller wheel. The trailer rolled 40 feet down the ramp, the man in tow, bouncing on his butt all the way. They took a right turn and came to a diagonal stop on the side of the ramp - just as his friends arrived.
Time for a swim: A man was backing his boat into the lake and it looked as though he wasn't going to stop. I turned to my buddy, Jeff "Foonski" Patty, and said, "It looks like he's driving right in." Then he did! Boat and truck ended up in the drink, the boat floating, the trailer and truck under water. The man swam out a window and made it to shore. We called a tow truck, the owner went for another swim to hook it up, and they yanked this giant-tired GM pickup out of the lake, water pouring out its windows, doors and bed. Believe it or not, the truck started right up and aquaman drove off with his boat, acting as if nothing had happened.
Show-off: The guy on the Jet Ski looked to the side to see if the girls were watching (they were), then ran onto the shore and was thrown 30 feet through the air.
It can happen to anybody. Well, maybe.
Tom Stienstra is The San Francisco Chronicle's outdoors writer.
Hapless mariners star in boat-ramp follies - SFGate (http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Hapless-mariners-star-in-boat-ramp-follies-3640870.php)
An article in the San Francisco Chronicle reminded me about some of the stuff I've seen, and well maybe done....
Here it is, anybody have a favorite story???????
Hapless mariners star in boat-ramp follies
Tom Stienstra
You might think you have seen it all. If you do, just take a trip to a boat ramp.
A young man proved that again this month, this time at a foothill reservoir called Rollins Lake.
We were about to back our boat down a ramp, heading out for a family picnic, when a guy roared up in a Ford pickup with giant tires, towing a jet boat. He slammed the truck into reverse, cut in front of us, sped down the ramp and sent his boat sailing off. One little problem: There was nobody in the boat or tending it.
Even for me, that's a new one.
Another boater retrieved the captain-less craft as it floated into the lake, and then discovered the battery was not connected.
The boat ramp can be three-ring entertainment. Anybody who has owned a boat can tell you that sooner or later, anything that can go wrong, well, it will go wrong:
Runaway boat: A fellow at the boat ramp was worried about his friends, who were late, so he decided to unhook his boat, and then go look for them in his truck. But he didn't block the rear wheels of the trailer, so when he unhooked it from his truck, gravity took over, and it started rolling down the ramp, the guy still hanging onto the crank for the roller wheel. The trailer rolled 40 feet down the ramp, the man in tow, bouncing on his butt all the way. They took a right turn and came to a diagonal stop on the side of the ramp - just as his friends arrived.
Time for a swim: A man was backing his boat into the lake and it looked as though he wasn't going to stop. I turned to my buddy, Jeff "Foonski" Patty, and said, "It looks like he's driving right in." Then he did! Boat and truck ended up in the drink, the boat floating, the trailer and truck under water. The man swam out a window and made it to shore. We called a tow truck, the owner went for another swim to hook it up, and they yanked this giant-tired GM pickup out of the lake, water pouring out its windows, doors and bed. Believe it or not, the truck started right up and aquaman drove off with his boat, acting as if nothing had happened.
Show-off: The guy on the Jet Ski looked to the side to see if the girls were watching (they were), then ran onto the shore and was thrown 30 feet through the air.
It can happen to anybody. Well, maybe.
Tom Stienstra is The San Francisco Chronicle's outdoors writer.
Hapless mariners star in boat-ramp follies - SFGate (http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Hapless-mariners-star-in-boat-ramp-follies-3640870.php)