RBuffordTJ
Well-known member
It is very slick! :!:
Yeah, I know...DUH!
On the first day of our 4 day fishing trip to the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers in High Springs, FL, Jaunary 1, 2010, we were reminded of exactly how slick....the painful way. This is how our revelation/reminder unfolded.
Backing up to the top of the ramp my cousin Steve and I, the one who helped me put on the coating (you can see linked in my signature below), were getting things ready to launch the boat. He began to tie a rope to my front cleat, for the first time thinking he would not ride the boat into the water but just hold the rope and pull it to shore as it floated free. :?: Not sure why...but I figured he knew what he was doing...the first breakdown in communication.
"Steve, don't bother tying off to it, the rope has a large knot in the end just feed it through the cleat and you can pull it to shore when it floats off man."
Steve looked at me a little strange but fed the rope through the hole in the cleat and I turned to head to the truck to start backing down the ramp. Breakdown in communication #2....why you ask?
As I was jumping back in the Bronco Steve unhooked the main strap from the boat.... [-X .....a big NO NO!
You see, Steve was thinking he would just hold the rope as the boat backed down and floated off but he had totally forgotten about the SteelFlex on the underside which was resting on the carpeted runners of the trailer.
...wait for it.....
I began to back down the ramp and suddenly saw the bottom of my boat up in the rearview mirror. :shock: I saw the rope Steve was holding go tight then snapp slack as the knot (not meant to sustain that kind of pressure) popped through the bottom hole of the cleat and then the sickening *CRUNCH* as the back of the boat smacked the ramp and slid a couple feet. #-o
I jumped out and he had a very surprised look on his face, one that said "What happened", "I'm sorry" and "Don't hit me" all in one. :lol:
A quick inspection revealed no broken welds at the back and the motor was up so it only tapped the ramp when it hit. Thank you Lord! [-o< We quickly hooked the strap to the boat and winched it back onto the trailer and noticed some of the SteelFlex had shatterd off at the back edge when it hit. Oh well, could have been MUCH worse. The other loss was my bait caster rod got smashed and broken when the 15# river anchor went airborn and landed on it as the boat hit the ramp.
That was the official start of our 2010 fishing season! Any bets on if we will survive it? :lol:
Oh, and as for the fish, Steve caught a couple small Suwannee Bass and a couple small black river bass, two of which had leaches in their mouthes. Me? Not the first nibble for 4 days on the river. :roll: It was too cold, the temps were between 15f and 38f our whole trip with the Suwannee water temp at 46f.
We are going to go back when it warms up, because that is a beautiful river system, and there are many fish there that need to be caught.
Hope you all enjoyed the story, got a chuckle and cringed a few times like I did!
Later Taters,
Bufford in Orlando
Yeah, I know...DUH!
On the first day of our 4 day fishing trip to the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers in High Springs, FL, Jaunary 1, 2010, we were reminded of exactly how slick....the painful way. This is how our revelation/reminder unfolded.
Backing up to the top of the ramp my cousin Steve and I, the one who helped me put on the coating (you can see linked in my signature below), were getting things ready to launch the boat. He began to tie a rope to my front cleat, for the first time thinking he would not ride the boat into the water but just hold the rope and pull it to shore as it floated free. :?: Not sure why...but I figured he knew what he was doing...the first breakdown in communication.
"Steve, don't bother tying off to it, the rope has a large knot in the end just feed it through the cleat and you can pull it to shore when it floats off man."
Steve looked at me a little strange but fed the rope through the hole in the cleat and I turned to head to the truck to start backing down the ramp. Breakdown in communication #2....why you ask?
As I was jumping back in the Bronco Steve unhooked the main strap from the boat.... [-X .....a big NO NO!
You see, Steve was thinking he would just hold the rope as the boat backed down and floated off but he had totally forgotten about the SteelFlex on the underside which was resting on the carpeted runners of the trailer.
...wait for it.....
I began to back down the ramp and suddenly saw the bottom of my boat up in the rearview mirror. :shock: I saw the rope Steve was holding go tight then snapp slack as the knot (not meant to sustain that kind of pressure) popped through the bottom hole of the cleat and then the sickening *CRUNCH* as the back of the boat smacked the ramp and slid a couple feet. #-o
I jumped out and he had a very surprised look on his face, one that said "What happened", "I'm sorry" and "Don't hit me" all in one. :lol:
A quick inspection revealed no broken welds at the back and the motor was up so it only tapped the ramp when it hit. Thank you Lord! [-o< We quickly hooked the strap to the boat and winched it back onto the trailer and noticed some of the SteelFlex had shatterd off at the back edge when it hit. Oh well, could have been MUCH worse. The other loss was my bait caster rod got smashed and broken when the 15# river anchor went airborn and landed on it as the boat hit the ramp.
That was the official start of our 2010 fishing season! Any bets on if we will survive it? :lol:
Oh, and as for the fish, Steve caught a couple small Suwannee Bass and a couple small black river bass, two of which had leaches in their mouthes. Me? Not the first nibble for 4 days on the river. :roll: It was too cold, the temps were between 15f and 38f our whole trip with the Suwannee water temp at 46f.
We are going to go back when it warms up, because that is a beautiful river system, and there are many fish there that need to be caught.
Hope you all enjoyed the story, got a chuckle and cringed a few times like I did!
Later Taters,
Bufford in Orlando