There is aboat laumch near my house. Back in the day we used to get a 6 pack and watch the people try and get their boats out of the water. Hilarious. I must admit I have been involved in a few leaving the plug out and not figuring it out till my feet were wet. Once left the tiedowns on and floated my trailer off the ramp now who knew that might happen? Anyone else or am I in the presence of boatmen of superior skills.

There has been several threads about this and we all have had our share of minor glitches, but some people are downright scary with a boat in tow. Most people at launches are like most people I'm behind when I golf, frickin' s....l....o....w. I don't care if you're an idiot, but do it quickly.

I feel like an idiot for starting this thread I shall return to my corner and sit quietly with my hands folded

There two types of trailer boaters - those that have left out the plug and those that will. I have more than once.
I saw a guy at Misery Point back his S-10 into the water far enough that water came in when he opened the door. In a hurry to go shrimping. He did manage to drive the truck out after launching his boat.
When I was a kid, my Dad backed the pickup down and unloaded the row boat. As he started to move the truck up to park, he slid in the loose gravel and bumped the boat out into the lake. Luckily, the only other guy on the lake saw it happen and towed the boat back.

My biggest snafu occurred at Lake Sutherland after a days fishing. We had launched early and then run the boat over to a friends house on the lake where we tied the boat up between fishing times. As it got dark, my friend drove around to the launch while I ran the boat over.

I was motoring around in circles while he backed my CJ-5 down to the water on the rather steep ramp. He stopped in the middle of the ramp, let the Jeep idle while he ran around back to pull out the winch line. A couple of good jerks on the line started the Jeep rolling backwards down the ramp.

He was behind the Jeep trying to push the rig uphill without success and you know the rest.
I yelled at him from the best seat in the house, "Get out of there!" He obliged and the Jeep was launched.

An interesting sight to see headlights shining up through the water.

We called a tow truck which came out and pulled the Jeep and trailer into position where we could load the boat and then towed the whole outfit into town. I was a mechanic, so it really wasn't much of a big deal. Drained and changed the oil and filter, jacked up the back by one corner and ice picked a hole in the gas tank corner to drain
it and then sealed a screw to plug the hole, did the obvious drying out of the interior and we were good as new again.

I was coming in from fishing one day and the tide was of course running from the dock but I was trying to impress 2 young ladies so I jumped from the boat to the dock but did not notice the water on the dock my feet went out and I fell backwards my head hit the boat knocked me out so the 2 ladies on the ramp had to pull me out and another boater towed my boat back

Watched a couple guys at the Wapato launch on Chelan back their Mirage with twin outdrives down the steep launch AFTER unhooking the bow strap. Off she slid onto the concrete. OUCH.

Make sure the plugs in and bow strap is hooked. EVEYTIME.

My best was attempting to launch my boat alone. My fishing buddy was late, as usual, so I figured I would back out untill the boa was almost floating, then undo the bow hook and push it off. All went well until I tried to push it off. I wasn't deep enough. I hopped in the truck and backed up a few more feet. When I looked back to see if I was deep enough, I saw my boat floating away. I was at Kenmore where the slough hits the lake, so there wasn't too much current. Fortunately, before my boat floated out of sight another boater come in. I waved him down and he brought my boat back. I never did mention this to my buddy, but he reads this so now he knows.

I've had my share of goofy things ... bound to happen with a few thousand launchings. The odds just catch up to you

Big holiday week-ends are always fun. I remember my parents taking me to the lauches when I was really young on the Willamette below the house ... saw lots of mishaps and unfortunately even a death as we watched a boat slam into the pillar of the Sellwood Bridge ... driver of the boat had a plaster leg cast and it became an instant weight when he hit the water

Left the plug out once. That was how I found out about the short in my bilge circuits. Made it back to the ramp just in time.

Also forgot to trim up the motor once when I was taking it out. SSSCCRRRAAAAAPPPPEEE! That was embarassing as hell.

Bob, when my wife was young she watched a guy on a motorcycle try junping one of the draw bridges over the willamette. That one didn't end up pretty either.

On opening day of crab season I was behind a young guy in a blazer with a 14' livingston launching at W.R. Hicks in Shine. He pulled up to the ramp and backed down so his blazer was still on level ground and the boat and trailer were on the decline of the ramp. He stopped there and got out and I'm thinking he forgot to take his transom tie downs off, wrong. At this point he unhooks the boat and trailer from his blazer and tries to walk it down the ramp. After sliding on his arse while trying to maintain his grip on the trailer toungue he finally meets the water line. He then proceeds to unhook his bow line and then pulls the pin on the tilt deck which launches his boat without him. Trying to catch his boat he lets go of the trailer and now he has successfully launched the boat and the trailer. Needless to say the trip back up the ramp was as entertaining as the trip down. I sure hope he limited on crab.