A general tip...

[billm_usa1]

IF you have left the plug or lost it while in the water a sock works pretty good until you can get it on the trailer.

Been there done that. saved the boat from sinking while I went back up the ramp for the trailer.

Ever notice that the boat takes three times as long to drain as it did to fill up ?

[adam7456]

I usually launch my boat solo and learned a lesson the hard way.

It was late in the fall when I was launching my boat. The boat was in the water, the truck in park with the parking brake on, and left running. I got the boat off the trailer, tied it to the dock, and went back to move my truck. I got to my truck, pulled the door handle and nothing happend. I looked and door lock was in the down position! So there I was with the truck running parked on the ramp, trailer in the water, boat tied to the dock, and all the doors locked, obviously with the keys inside.

I am guessing I bumped the locked with my arm getting out and due to the heavy jacket I was wearing I didn't feel it. I tried to jimmy the rear sliding window open...it shattered instead. I reached through, unlooked the door, parked the truck, and went fishing. Didn't have much luck that day fishing. Then when I was done and getting out of the boat at the dock my sunglasses fell off and into the lake. I should have stayed home that day.

I need to get a copy of the truck key and either have it hidden on the truck or in the boat. Since I haven't done that yet I have made a habbit of rolling down the drivers window at least far enough to get my arm in to unlock the door any time I am on the ramp.

[Dakota Kid]

Everyone is talking about spare keys for boat or truck. Hide a key for your truck in a box under your truck on the frame rail. Most boxes are magnetic. Strap a ziptie around it to safe gaurd it falling off. Keep handy spare wheel bearings, grease, and tools for your trailer. My partener and I would have been dead in the water, so to speak, if we didn't keep a spare set. When you buy outboard oil, pour half into the tank and store the other half or just keep a spare quart handy.

[sglass]

I keep a ratchet set in my boat along with electrical tape, spare electrical wire, fuses, spare switches and everything i need to make a quick fix in case anything bad were to happen. I have shorted a blacklight out once launching by myself and almost burned my boat up. I sat in the parking lot for a while and replaced a couple switches and a few wires and was able to salvage some of the night.

[DJD]

I usually launch my boat solo and learned a lesson the hard way.

It was late in the fall when I was launching my boat. The boat was in the water, the truck in park with the parking brake on, and left running. I got the boat off the trailer, tied it to the dock, and went back to move my truck. I got to my truck, pulled the door handle and nothing happend. I looked and door lock was in the down position! So there I was with the truck running parked on the ramp, trailer in the water, boat tied to the dock, and all the doors locked, obviously with the keys inside.

I am guessing I bumped the locked with my arm getting out and due to the heavy jacket I was wearing I didn't feel it. I tried to jimmy the rear sliding window open...it shattered instead. I reached through, unlooked the door, parked the truck, and went fishing. Didn't have much luck that day fishing. Then when I was done and getting out of the boat at the dock my sunglasses fell off and into the lake. I should have stayed home that day.

I need to get a copy of the truck key and either have it hidden on the truck or in the boat. Since I haven't done that yet I have made a habbit of rolling down the drivers window at least far enough to get my arm in to unlock the door any time I am on the ramp.

Man that sounds like the day we had years ago...My buddy backed the truck and trailer in so I could drive the boat on. He wasn't that good at it so he pretty much had both lanes block. Well as he got the trailer almost into the water we ran out of gas in the truck!

So here we are blocking a double ramp on West Lake Toho in FL on a weekend. I had to park the boat go to a local marina and borrow a can get some gas and return to the scene...took about 45 minutes. By now many people are pissed off and a few friends are giving me a hard time about it. It wasn't funny then but now we laugh about it.