[Rhodes22-list] Launch... and the story of an epic failure

[Chris Geankoplis]

  So sorry to hear about your launch. 2k sounds like way too much. Might be
an educational DIY opportunity for you.
Chris Geankoplis
ENOSIS

On Sat, 9 May 2020 at 21:35, Alexis Seigneurin <alexis.seigneurin at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi there,
>
> If you remember my previous email, I was looking at doing something to the
> brake line of my trailer so as to be able to extend the tongue. Since I
> couldn’t find a trailer shop that wasn’t backed up, I decided to head to
> the boat ramp - in Yorktown, VA - open the brake line, cap it, and get it
> fixed up after the launch.
>
> So today, I went to the ramp. This is very nice ramp, and my father in law
> and I thought that, maybe, we could manage to launch the boat without
> extending the trailer’s tongue, and also without breaking open the brake
> line. We gave it a try: the boat was almost afloat but would not come lose
> off the trailer. Stuck on the bunks. I tried to give the boat a good push
> but with no success.
>
> We decided to pull the boat back on the ground and extend the tongue. At
> that point, the boat was not resting completely forward on the trailer, but
> probably 2 feet back from the front. When we released the hitch, the
> trailer swung back, resting on the trailer’s rear end. Ouch...
>
> We extended the tongue, hooked it back up to the car, and launched the
> boat. My stress level was high, but the bilge was dry, so I was thinking
> the boat had not any damage... I motored to the marina where I was going to
> keep the boat, and I tied the boat to the dock.
>
> My father in law drove my car (and now empty trailer) to the marina, and I
> realized one of the bunks was broken. The metal support was sticking out. I
> started thinking the hull might be scratched, but not really more.
>
> Before leaving the boat at its new slip, I checked the bilge one more
> time, only to find it full of water. No good. The decision to haul out came
> immediately. I motored back to the ramp and we pulled the boat out, this
> time pretty smoothly.
>
> Well, I now have a hole in the hull. And not a pretty one. The metal piece
> punctured the hull (attaching a pic), so hauling out was the right
> decision, or the boat would probably have sunk or suffered from bad water
> damage.
>
> I left the boatyard, and I am hoping they can do a repair in the coming
> weeks. I’m a bit scared of the cost. I am anticipating something around
> $2000. What are you thoughts?
>
> In any case, this is totally my fault, and I learned things the hard way.
> Hopefully this story will help other people avoid making the same mistakes
> I made.
>
> Alexis
>
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