I was down at the beach with my son and saw a chap launching his boat. To give some context (Browns Bay beach) is beach launching or you can belong to the club and use their tractors. The whole endeavour was a comedy, but here are some of the highlights; - His Mazda Tribute had the rear bumper below the water. Why he didn't unhook the trailer and push it in is beyond me - it wasn't a big boat. - Once the boat is off, he leaves the elder of his two boys to hold the boat. The surf was small, but the boy was soon in trouble. A few of us ran down to help him, but some guys swimming along the beach got there first. - The father gets back after parking the car. He was gone for five minutes. After starting the motor, he shot up the coast heading north. There is a big juicy reef that at low tide is exposed and he went straight over the top of it. There couldn't have been much leeway. - To top it off, no lifejackets on any of them. Didn't stick around to see if they came back in later on. I hope the kids were alright. Regardless of how dangerous the father was, it astounds me how many people don't seem worried to have the southern end of the car in the drink. What is wrong with pushing the trailer in and carrying a tow rope to haul the trailer or trailer/boat back out!
xs1100,
Feb 20, 4:53pm
well he showed his intelligence by not doing the life jacket thing and roaring over the reef so i dont think he was to worried about car
modie61,
Feb 21, 7:50am
And just think,he drives on our roads too.
richard198,
Feb 21, 7:53am
He probably ended up fishing in a Marine Reserve!
jsbike,
Feb 21, 7:59am
never ever unhook a trailer from the back when launching. seen what I would call a small trailer quickly submarine and disapear, the owner had a hell of a time finding a trailer to get his boat home. the trailer was eventually recovered the nex day at low tide
doublek,
Feb 21, 8:31am
Hi jsbike - agree, you should do it where the situation allows. BB beach is a pretty hard packed sand beach. The bigger risk with unhitching is when the drawbar comes up as the weight shifts back.
stabi360,
Feb 21, 9:16am
i have a stabicraft 360after watching some beach launching/ retreving we have put on a large jockey wheelback it to waters edge take it off 4x4 and making sure all tiedowns chain and winch rope all untied push it into the waterquickly removing trailer and hooking the trailer back upi can launch into 6 inches of waterand retreive in same if i have to i have seen a late model landcruiser backing trailer into surf and waves breaking over roof of 4x4idiots and also in kaikoura a boat laden with 4 adults 2 young kids and a large dog yes dog! trying to get a boat onto trailer then decideing to unhitch from a low slung carto get some more depth to get boat onand then trying to figure out how to get both boat and trailer out of water luckily there was a boat launching and the guy had a tractor i was going to offer a long 4x4 snatch strap as tow rope
studio1,
Feb 21, 9:25am
I often go and sit by the boat ramp to have my lunch or if I'm in the area I'll park up for an afternoon siesta. Watching different people launching and retrieving boats can be entertainment in itself. The lifejacket message just isn't getting through however. I often witness boatloads of people heading out, no one wearing a lifejacket and none to be seen onboard. Last week I watched as one boat went out - the kids all had lifejackets on but the adults didn't. What's the point! When I see this, then read later in the news that a boat has overturned and people are missing or drowned, I just shake my head in disbelief.
It's a bit like slowing down and checking before going over a railway crossing. Hardly anyone does it, and you don't get a second chance with a speeding freight train. But that's another story.
elect70,
Feb 21, 2:43pm
Like the cuzies with4 in a 12 ft dingy& 5 HPonall the fishing gear & lion red but no saftey gear .Thats why we need the coastgaurd .
mrgts4,
Feb 21, 2:50pm
When we were beach launching with vehicles up the east cape we had a good pneumatic tyred jockey wheel on the trailer. We would back down to waters edge, unhook trailer and push into water, we then used a long rope to pull trailer out of surf. To retrieve the boat was the same, the vehicle never went into the water and we always pulled the trailer out on an angle.
macpower,
Feb 21, 4:17pm
Not good putting vechile in salt water steering rod arms are hollow and split at ball joint ends for screw adjustment .No amount of fresh water washing removes residual salt water from inside steel tubing they rust out from inside.Had one break once from salt water corrosion going over 309 to whitianga in landcruiser lost control and ploughed into bank.
xs1100,
Feb 21, 6:20pm
wont even take my dog out on the boat without his life jacket on and considering the prices of them these days cheap as chips
desmodave,
Feb 21, 6:41pm
Pulled trailer out on an angle.Can you explain that abit.Cheers
mrgts4,
Feb 21, 7:00pm
Instead of pulling straight out and trying to pull 2 wheels out of the holes in the sand you steer to the left or right, that way you pull 1 wheel out of the sand at a time. Similar to driving slowly up a kerb, 1 wheel at a time. Hope that makes sense
sr2,
Feb 21, 8:12pm
What he??
sr2,
Feb 21, 8:16pm
Taka boat ramp on a Saturday can be great entertainment, particularly with an easterly swell.
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