Monterey Coast Guard Boat Launch Salmon opener

My buddy shared this with me. A boater went a little to far Dow the ramp😱

That’s just a bad day!

Not owning a boat and only having trailered a few friends boats I would be interested in hearing how this sort of thing would happen?

Put it in reverse instead of drive? Put it in neutral instead of park? Boat too big?

    Even with a light sailboat on a trailer I was always worried that would happen to me.  I know in SC they have a box of tire chocks available for use.
    I don't know if it still exists, but at the Cutting's Wharf Marina south of Napa they had a system where you hooked a cable to the trailer and drove your car to the bottom of a short road at right angles to the ramp, and hooked the other end of the cable to the car, then slowly backed the car up the hill and the trailer went down the ramp.  But it took two people, and the driver couldn't see the trailer as it went down the ramp.  And I'll bet someone still managed to lose the whole trailer in the drink.

I’ve seen it happen several times as I used to spend several days a week on the water. At lakes and bays.

Not putting it in park, not paying attention to the water depth, steep ramps and  too much speed, slippery ramps and diminished capacity are the causes I’ve seen.

It's called "start of salmon season."

this almost happened to me at the vallejo ramp back when i had a boat. it was always a big fear of mine on slippery ramps. put it in 4wd if ya got it!

I have a trailer for my AI and launch using the trailer as much as possible, since it’s so ridiculously easy compared to the alternative. My car has 260k miles on it, so I wouldn’t be too upset if it sank. But if it took my AI down with it, that would be a disaster!

.. I would be interested in hearing how this sort of thing would happen?

Put it in reverse instead of drive? Put it in neutral instead of park? Boat too big?

A buddy asked if I was launching at the CG or smaller ramp if I went to Monterey on Saturday and I said the smaller ramp. He replied, "good choice, it's going to be surgy". I remember launching there before dawn and the surge came in and would want to take the boat out with the tide - one of the scariest moments I've ever experienced. I avoid that ramp unless it's calm or I'm launching my AI which I can just hop into.

I almost lost someone else’s boat and my truck on a ramp at lake Powell. The ramp is huge so many people are launching at the same time. I had just backed down and stopped, but before setting the brake several vehicles on both sides started going back up the ramp. I had the illusion that my brakes had failed and was going backwards into the lake. When I couldn’t stop I started to jump out and realized at the last second what was happening. It was a close one.

It's called "start of salmon season."

Exactly salmon fever !

It's called "start of salmon season."

Exactly salmon fever !

So excited, he lost his mind? 

Funny, except for the oil film. I subscribe to 'leave no trace'.

You guys got trucks parking in the water down there, we got big boats parking on land up here

.. I would be interested in hearing how this sort of thing would happen?

Put it in reverse instead of drive? Put it in neutral instead of park? Boat too big?

A buddy asked if I was launching at the CG or smaller ramp if I went to Monterey on Saturday and I said the smaller ramp. He replied, "good choice, it's going to be surgy". I remember launching there before dawn and the surge came in and would want to take the boat out with the tide - one of the scariest moments I've ever experienced. I avoid that ramp unless it's calm or I'm launching my AI which I can just hop into.

Agree, CG is surprisingly surge-y considering that its inside of a pretty well protected breakwater inside a pretty well protected bay.  I launched the kayaks there once and had a real tough time just getting them up the ramp.

There are so many videos of boat ramp fails on the internet.  But this one is one of my favorites.