Safety chains on Boats

[jtpython]

After returning on a fishing adventure with a fellow Ausfisher Rat-Catcher we were waiting at the boat ramp when Lo and Behold a guy reverses his trailer down the ramp when Booshka off fly's the boat :-X She was about 4.8 metres long
Instantly ya think Thankgod it wasn't fiberglass:o
Then once talking to the coastgaurd we finds out another Aluminum boat came to the same conclusion on friday morning at 2am now i have always always made sure i leave the safelty chain firmly tightened on the boat until it reaches the water.
This poor buggar did not look impressed
JT
To happen twice mmmmmmmm not good

[SummerTrance]

Im the same with you mate. Leave the chain on until boats in the water. Why would you bother taking it off b4 that, just to save 20 seconds at the waters edge.

[CreelReaper]

Gotta agree with you JT. For peace of mind at the very least. A few years back there was a boat being towed around a roundabout over our way on the way to the ramp and he only had the winch cable attached to the boat....yep you guessed it, cable snapped and off she goes....all 21ft of fibreglass boat. Right onto the middle of the road at about 20km per hour. Apparently he only lives 5 minutes from the ramp and he decided to save some time and take the chain and boat strap off at home.

[jayvee]

GEEEEZAAAZ watta!! i can understand the guys mistake in takin the chain off but not the boat strap aswell!!!

[bigjimg]

I would reckon there are lots of stories out there.I myself saw one go at Wello one afternoon and gave him a hand to reload, it was a 4:5 tinnie, it damaged the skeg before landing hard on keel transome sheet.It luckily, much to the owners relief didn't skid the whole way off.Jim

[jtpython]

Let me say if it had of happened to my fiberglass i would still be on the ramp crying

[CreelReaper]

I think that it should be a reminder to us all that shortcuts are not worth it. Whether it be on the road or on the water. A seemingly simple mistake (error in judgement) can and usually does carry some heavy penalty. And yes JT, me too. I spoke to the guy a couple of weeks later and he said the quote to fix the damage was around $7000 from memory.
I know for myself, that I have a checklist type system when handling the boat. Both before leaving home as well as when I am at the ramp. Might take an extra minute or two but saves the embarrassment of leaving the bungs out or somethin similar.
Cheers

[jtpython]

:-x :-x :-x

[littlejim]

I always take my safety chain off before I go on the ramp, but I don't take the winch hook off.
On my setup I expect the strap and hook to hold the boat on the trailer when backing down the ramp not the safety chain.
if you've had a disaster I guess you are going to use both.
the only disasters I've had are when I took both off before the ramp after I fixed the no rolling rollers.

[jtpython]

I see when the boat slid off the winch handle was spinning round wether or not he relied on the winch to hold it i do not know ?

[ronnien]

jt, i have seen a fiberglass here in t'ville sitting on a dry ramp, he was just about crying (poor bugger). same thing happend he took the saftey chain off.

ron.

[tiny_tinny]

Like most, I always leave the chain attached, though I release the shackle in the rigging area to speed things up (damn shackles are always tight - better than coming undone, though).

On the other side of the coin - has anyone tried to push their boat of the trailer with the hold-down strap still on? I gotta plead guilty to that one. Also to launching with the bungs loose!!! Only once for each, though. At least I learn from silly mistakes.

Mike

[ozbee]

maybe the tide comes in fast though at the time i dont think he would see the funny side

[jtpython]

Like most, I always leave the chain attached, though I release the shackle in the rigging area to speed things up (damn shackles are always tight - better than coming undone, though).

On the other side of the coin - has anyone tried to push their boat of the trailer with the hold-down strap still on? I gotta plead guilty to that one. Also to launching with the bungs loose!!! Only once for each, though. At least I learn from silly mistakes.

Mike
;D ;D ;D ;D HAHAHA no i don't think i've done that one mate
Bet ya felt silly after that one LOL::)
JT

[honda900]

How bout ol mate last weekend, does the reverse, stop and drop to launch the 5.5 boat, has 3 goes...:o third go the boat lands on the skeg with the nose stick up in the air.. thought he was going to tip it or drop it, Ol captain is yelling from the boat.. bounces on the skeg a couple of times and lands right way up in the drink.. lucky..

Regards
Honda...

[TheRealAndy]

Every boat I have ever owned has remained chained until the trailer is in the water. This is a habit that has stemmed from sailing, cause if your keel boat comes off the trailier the only way its going back on is with a crane.

[Horse]

I nearly had kittens when I realised that me and my mate were in his Cat being launched with the safety chain off
I saw a cat on the hard at Scarb one morning with a bunch of blokes standing around trying to work out what to do

[onerabbit]

I always take my safety chain off before I go on the ramp, but I don't take the winch hook off.
On my setup I expect the strap and hook to hold the boat on the trailer when backing down the ramp not the safety chain.
if you've had a disaster I guess you are going to use both.
the only disasters I've had are when I took both off before the ramp after I fixed the no rolling rollers.

Cant help wondering if it's better to adopt the safer method BEFORE the disaster that forces you to learn the lesson...........

Just my opinion,

Muzz

[NAGG]

Leave that Safety chain on .... till the boat is in the water! .... & taken out of the water ( broken cables , faulty winch etc) ....... or your mate does not flip the ratchet over ...... The boat gets towed up the ramp ... & Crunch (Off she comes>:( ) yep .... I wont begrudge a fellow boater another 15 seconds:)

Nagg

[ontourf]

Like most, I always leave the chain attached, though I release the shackle in the rigging area to speed things up (damn shackles are always tight - better than coming undone, though).

On the other side of the coin - has anyone tried to push their boat of the trailer with the hold-down strap still on? I gotta plead guilty to that one. Also to launching with the bungs loose!!! Only once for each, though. At least I learn from silly mistakes.

Mike

Tiny

I gotta admit to leaving the strap on twice and the bung out once. :-[ In my haste to get back to the ramp with bottom of boat full of water (Lake Wapango NSW south coast) pulled up short of the dodgy oyster shell ramp and backed brand new car over the shelly shore line, which was actually mud underneath and made the new car sink to its doors. Fortunately some local oyster farmers pulled me out on their tractor just as the tide was licking the doors! Spent the next 2hrs at a superwash hosing her down!::)

I usually take the chain off at top of ramp, but not anymore after these stories.

[nufin_flash]

we always leave the chain on to the last minute not worth the risk, even if were only launching our lil tinny down at the creek as opposed to the boat at mooloolaba you just never know what could happen,

although i must admit we have once launched the tinnie without the bungs in

[3rd degree]

Once saw a boat that had come off a trailer on the old Gold Coast Highway Southbound through Surfers.... What a nightmare, I nearly stopped to offer a hand and checkout the damage, but didn't have time.

Cheers

Jim

[rat_catcher]

Hey JT so you did get a photo mate....we were just pulling up to the other ramp when I heard the crunch...I looked over and the boat was sitting on the ramp with about 8 Coast Guardmen running from their building!

For the record I ALWAYS leave the chain attached to the boat until I have backed it down the ramp and the trailer is in the water.

[jtpython]

Sure did Mate /Got some video
I was told there was another one come off a trailer the same week at that roundabout near Lammoor was in the paper, and ths one was a fiberglass
JT
The photo is one the first page of this post /about halfway down

[flick]

Was returning to a ramp on the goldie one afternoon to find a guy driving a new 18-20 foot cruise craft onto his new roller trailer. After a couple of goes he gets it on up to the post. It manages to stay on the trailer long enough for him to almost get out of the boat. He ended up falling in, onto the ramp in about 2 foot of water.

After standing up he sees his new boat floating away. We grabbed it for him and helped him reload.

He told us that was how the dealer did it when he took it for a test.

Jim

[kingtin]

Long time members may remember a similar thread where a certain person (later) got the boot from Ausfish.

The debate was about leaving the chain off or on, and my reply was "better safe than sorry" and that if you were reversing and a kid ran behind your rig (as happened to me at Jacob's) then you would lose your boat and kill a kid if you slammed your foot on the brake.

The argument put forward by this guy was that you were incompetent if this happened to you, and that you should know what was going on behind you and that accidents didn't just happen they were caused. I argued that there was no accounting for others' actions no matter how many precautions that you took, if a kid dashes out, and you hit, or nearly him, then it's the kid's fault, but if the kid dashed out, and you crushed him with your rig 'cause it had no safety chain on, then who's fault would it be then? This guy argued black's white that that kind of thing could not happen to him because he was far too careful and always knew what was going on around him.

I pointed out that there's an old Royal Marine Motto that says, "if it can't happen, it will".............he was having none of it and said that he'd continue to leave his chain off..............this guy was a copper :o ::)

To my mind, if he's applying that logic to his life in general, then he's a danger to himself, and more importantly, a danger to others. He refuses to acknowledge his own limitations and the limitations of others. Accidents *do* happen...........in the blink of an eye folks' lives are changed or destroyed for ever by Murphy.

A friend of mine was killed on the highway because at the precise moment that he pulled to the right, from the inside lane to the middle, someone else pulled to the left from the outside lane. Was that avoidable? Who really knows? But shit happens and anyone who minimises that is a fool. Why take any risk with your own life or the life of others, simply because of a few seconds spared?

Leaving the chain off is not simply about an embarrassing moment where your rig ends up on it's arse, it's about injury to life and limb. Winches and accompanying straps etc, are not made to withstand jerking.

LEAVE IT ON!

KEV

[Kleyny]

GEEEEZAAAZ watta!! i can understand the guys mistake in takin the chain off but not the boat strap aswell!!!
the trap may have broke.

thats why i do as the others have said leave the chain on until i get it down at the water. even if it takes a little longer espicially if you cant undo the shackle:-[ :-X .

neil

[GES]

Leave it on till you're trailer's in the water when launching. And when you come home, chain the boat to the trailer before you retrieve the boat and trailer up the ramp.

That's why they are called SAFETY CHAINS.

GES