Tips for boat launching?

"Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey" (dingersghost) 05/06/2015 at 23:00 • Filed to: boatlopnik

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Figured someone here could help. Soon I plan on taking our boat out with a few friends. I’ve been around boats for a long time and I’m confident in driving the boat and landing it etc. The only thing that will be super new to me is actually getting the boat on the water. I will spend some time practicing beforehand, but some pointers would really help. Like how to actually back the thing up. I have a grasp on the concept but it’s still new to me. It’s a 14’ Smoker Craft fishing boat, so nothing super huge, but any advice that will make it easier helps and is appreciated!

Big Bubba Ray > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 05/06/2015 at 23:02

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Here ya go.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Big Bubba Ray 05/06/2015 at 23:03

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It’s simple then. I need one of those.

ttyymmnn > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 05/06/2015 at 23:06

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You mean you don’t have one?

ttyymmnn > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 05/06/2015 at 23:07

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I’ve never been much of a boater, but I’ve seen lots of videos of boating, and it seems that large amounts of alcohol are required for any boating excursion. And pretzels.

lone_liberal > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 05/06/2015 at 23:10

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Put. The. Plug. In. Seriously, my dad had a boat for years and still forgot to check it one time and ended up with a boat full of water.

WhiskeyGolf > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 05/06/2015 at 23:13

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If you mean backing up the trailer, head out to an empty parking lot and give it a try. Some people like to say hold your hand at the bottom of the wheel so that move your hand left, trailer moves left, but I prefer holding the wheel normally and just looking backwards.

If the ramp is busy, park off to the side if possible and do prep there: straps, plugs, jackets and stuff. People are generally pretty patient but even that patience runs out!

How far you have to back into the water will depend on the ramp angle but try not to let the water go up any higher than touching the tow vehicle tires. On a reasonable ramp, I find that’s usually at the point where the trailer wheelwell (if it has one) reaches the water surface.

Good luck and stay safe!

Birddog > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 05/06/2015 at 23:18

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A good spotter is worth his/her weight in gold.

If it’s a decent launch site you should be a pro after one or two tries. Don’t worry about looking dumb, any old timers around are going to mess with you no matter what.

PatBateman > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 05/06/2015 at 23:21

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1. MAKE SURE THAT THE PLUGS ARE PUT INTO THE CORRECT HOLES.

2. UNTIE ALL ROPES OR STRAPS CONNECTING THE BOAT TO THE TRAILER JUST BEFORE LAUNCH. Also, don’t forget to tie the boat down when you take it out.

3. When backing the trailer in, GO SLOW.

4. Put your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel as you back up. When you want the trailer to go left/right, move your hand in that direction.

5. SUBTLY move the trailer, do NOT try to force big movements.

6. If you don’t have a good angle, pull forward just a bit and retry. No shame in it.

7. Make sure the boat is completely clear of the trailer before you pull the trailer out.

Advanced Protip: keep equal amounts of the trailer in your two side mirrors. When you do that, the trailer is being backed up completely straight.

Source: 20 years experience launching bass boats.

SVTyler > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 05/06/2015 at 23:22

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Before actually backing up get your vehicle and trailer lined up as straight as possible, as close to the ramp as possible. If it’s a 14’ I assume it’s a single-axle trailer and those things have a mind of their own so the less distance you have to back it down the better. Also lean out the window instead of worrying about “the opposite of the opposite of what you think” thing while looking in the mirror so that you get a better idea of what the trailer’s doing.

You back a boat down by predicting what it will be doing 5 feet from the time you make steering inputs so correct every single minute movement the trailer makes. Going slowly makes this easier, it’s a lot less frustrating to back in down once in two minutes than it is to fail three times before in the same timeframe.

Rule of thumb is to stop before the water reaches the tow vehicle’s back tires but since yours is a little boat you’ll have to keep backing it down until the back half of the boat is off the trailer. Once you’re there just drop the trim, start the engine, and go on your way.

WhiskeyGolf > lone_liberal 05/06/2015 at 23:26

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Done that! Had to clean bits of a Pontiac Transport transmission off of the gelcoat after that one...

WhiskeyGolf > ttyymmnn 05/06/2015 at 23:28

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Water on the water, beer on the pier!

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 05/06/2015 at 23:30

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Ramping is usually harder than actually launching the boat. If it’s just you, it can be more challenging as well.

For a steeper ramp, just back the trailer in and you can lower the boat by reversing the winch.

If it is a shallow ramp reverse the winch and let out about two feet of strap, then back the trailer in until the back of the boat is floating. Then let off the brakes (just backing up a foot at idle) and hit the brakes quickly. That will bump the boat off the dry part of the trailer, but it can’t get away because you only gave it two feet of strap. Be gentle. If it doesn’t come off, you can bump it again. Still be gentle. Don’t break anything.

Either method works better if you have a buddy in the boat who knows how to start and drive it. If not, then give him 25 feet of rope and have him pull it to the dock once it’s free.

As far as backing up, that’s just hours of practice. Being a pathological introvert unaware of the judgments of others watching will serve you well. And in the world of backing up, bigger is actually better.

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > Big Bubba Ray 05/06/2015 at 23:31

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The peeper window is the best part of that whole rig

lone_liberal > WhiskeyGolf 05/06/2015 at 23:31

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I was with my dad that time and we had all loaded in and then realized that the stern was sitting low. He managed to get his truck and trailer fast enough that we could still get the boat on the trailer but the truck had a hell of a time pulling it up the ramp. We then had it sitting in the parking lot draining and running the bilge pump for what seemed like forever.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > ttyymmnn 05/06/2015 at 23:40

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Haha there will be neither of those on this trip

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > lone_liberal 05/06/2015 at 23:41

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Oh the plug has already been triple checked. Even though it’s going in Friday or Saturday, our plugs are usually in anyhow.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > ttyymmnn 05/06/2015 at 23:42

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To Craigslist I go!

WhiskeyGolf > lone_liberal 05/06/2015 at 23:42

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We were transferring the boat between the marina’s trailer and our own trailer before bringing the boat to an auction, so the last time it ever saw water, it went up to the captain’s chair haha.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > WhiskeyGolf 05/06/2015 at 23:43

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Thank you! I will try to get as much practice as possible. Eventually I’ll get the hang of it.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > SVTyler 05/06/2015 at 23:47

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It is a single axle and I know that small trailers are not fun. I kind of planned on leaning out the window, even opening my door as I have a habit of doing that anyhow. And I know from helping to launch this boat in the past you do have to go down a little bit to get it to float.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius 05/06/2015 at 23:50

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Oh I will definitely have help doing this. The hardest part I think is backing up, but I do plan on practicing first.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > PatBateman 05/06/2015 at 23:51

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Thank you! All great tips!

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Birddog 05/06/2015 at 23:52

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Haha I’m not worried about any old timers, they mess with you no matter what it is you’re doing.

And the guys that I will have with me are guys I work with and I’m good friends with all of them, and I know I can trust them to spot me.

Birddog > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 05/07/2015 at 00:43

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Sounds like you’re ready to hit the water!

E. Julius > PatBateman 05/07/2015 at 03:13

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^Can’t really add much to this^

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey 05/07/2015 at 09:33

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1. Put the plug in. I know you’ve been told this by many people but I’m telling you again. Everyone who has launched enough boats has forgotten this.

2. Take your time. The most chaos happens when people try to rush getting their boat in the water because the ramp is busy. This leads them to doing stupid things like unhooking the boat from the trailer before it is in the water. That results in the boat rolling off the back of the trailer when they try to back down the ramp. Which then results in the ramp being blocked for hours while they have to call a tow truck to get the damaged hull back on to the trailer. Luckily I was one of the annoyed people because we couldn’t launch our boat. This was much better than being the guy that had hundreds of people pissed at him, hundreds of dollars worth of tow truck fees and thousands of dollars worth of boat repairs or more likely a total loss on his hull.

3. Have a checklist, at least in your head. There are a handful of very important things to do when launching a boat. They don’t take long to do or verify, but if you don’t have them done they can cause major problems.

4. If you haven’t backed up a trailer very much practice before you get to the launch. You’ll want to be able to back the trailer while keeping the fender as close to the dock as possible. This will require a lot of corrections, but they will all be tiny corrections.

5. Don’t back the trailer too far in. How far will depend on the boat, the trailer and the ramp. After the first couple times you’ll figure it out, but it may take a little trial and error. On my boat/trailer combo for most ramps that means backing in until the tops of the trailer fenders are just above water. The bow will still have weight on the bunks, but it is easy to push off. I prefer to push off by hand as that gives me more control over the boat. Some people will let the boat slide off on its own, but that can result in the boat bouncing off the trailer or dock a little. On most boats that isn’t a big deal but mine is a ski boat with fins sticking out the bottom that I’d rather not need to get realigned because I did something stupid.

6. When getting the boat back out of the water don’t back the trailer too far in. If the boat doesn’t have some weight on the trailer before you start pulling it out of the water it will probably not end up properly lined up on the trailer.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Birddog 05/07/2015 at 20:52

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No.. unfortunately not yet. I put the hitch back on my truck today after it has been off for two years, put the trailer on the truck... and no lights. UGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH plus it’s supposed to T-storm the next couple of days. So that won’t be happening.

atrombs > lone_liberal 05/27/2015 at 15:29

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I’m not a boater, are these plugs to let water out when you pull the boat out of the water? Is it a loony toons style flood if you forget to put them back in?

lone_liberal > atrombs 05/27/2015 at 15:45

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Yeah, they let whatever water gets in to the boat drain out or if, say, there is an oil or gas leak that you don’t want to pump out using a bilge pump because it would either get in the water or make a mess on the ground. Leaving it out will cause it to flood, but it’s not that fast as the hole isn’t that big. It does cause some pretty big problems if you don’t notice the back end getting lower, and lower fast enough. In a small aluminum fishing boat you’d see it right away as they don’t have a floor but in a bigger boat you wouldn’t be able to see it.