Santa Barbara Sinking Truck @ Launchramp

[TeamAllen]

[TeamAllen]

Looks like it could possibly be a Tigé with a Phat Buddy tower?

[Stingreye]

For some reason i found the wind shield wipers being on pretty funny.


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[Greeko]

oh wow....
thats impressive!

How did he get that far in....?!?!

[gwhite94]

Just wow...I love the fact that the boat was still hooked to the trailer!!!!!!

[IDBoating]

How did he get that far in....?!?!

Could have been a slick ramp. That's one reason I always have 4WD engaged on the boat ramp. The weight is shifted rearward so most of the traction is on the rear tires, but having those front tires engaged can't hurt and they're usually above the waterline.

Another possibility is that he backed in far enough that the boat's buoyancy floated the rear end of his truck. If he's only 2WD, he's toast at that point. He can (maybe) use his brakes to prevent further immersion, but the truck can't pull itself out. Only hope is to QUICKLY back off the trailer's bow winch and lower the trailer and truck back down onto the ramp, but that would require a presence of mind and quick thinking that are probably absent given the fact that he would get into that situation in the first place. Remember, the truck's parking brakes are useless when the rear tires are floating, so the truck driver would have to stay in the truck while some other person operates the trailer winch.

I guess another option would be to fire up the boat engine and try to drive the boat, trailer, and truck forward enough that the truck's rear tires re-engage the ramp. Again, that would require some deft coordination between the truck and boat drivers, since the former would have to let off the truck brakes when the latter starts driving forward.

Sucky situation to be in, but I'd love to be in the audience with a camera.

[TeamAllen]

It looks you are right in your second thought. Here is more footage and explanation.
http://www.keyt.com/news/boating-mis...r-too/33348950

[chpthril]

For some reason i found the wind shield wipers being on pretty funny.


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Not to make lite of their misfortune, but thats like the river scene in "Romancing the Stone" where she's steering the car as it floats down the river toward the water fall and Colton says "what are you steering for?"

[Coop]

I was glad to see that the sinking truck didn't pull the bow under and sink the boat behind it. At one point, as the truck goes down, the bow dips pretty low. Talk about adding insult to injury.

[Trash Man]

Look at the guy on the dock who took off his pants..........

[jslayde1]

Wow that's crazy. I can't believe that dude stayed in the truck that long...

[Ewok]

I've seen something similar happen. The picture below is at Moses Lake in WA and the ramp is very slippery when wet, like some kind of algae growth that gets extremely slimy when wet. If you look at the ramp in the picture, it gets steeper as it gets closer to the water. This guy was driving a 2wd dually and had just put his boat in the water. It floated off the trailer well and his wife was holding onto the boat with the bow line. As the husband was pulling the truck and empty trailer out of the water the wife yelled at him to help her tie the boat to the dock. He stopped the truck 1/2 way up the ramp, put it in park and when he stepped out of the truck onto the ramp it all started to slip back into the water. It was in park with the brake on and it just slid. He jumped into the truck and put it in gear and tried to get up the ramp but he had zero traction. With the weight lifted from the rear of the truck the nice dually wheel setup distributed the weight and gave him zero traction. On this particular day I used the other ramp, which is a little less steep and a little less slick and I also had 4wd from my 4Runner. These are two reasons why I would never buy a tow vehicle without 4wd.

[ChrisBarnes05-12-84]

@ewok I bet the guy from your story ended up yelling at his wife later that it was her fault haha.

[TeamAllen]

Look at the guy on the dock who took off his pants..........

I noticed that as well. In fact there are two guys taking off their pants.

[IDBoating]

He stopped the truck 1/2 way up the ramp

His first mistake. Should have gotten his vehicle completely off the ramp onto dry, level(ish) ground.

put it in park and when he stepped out of the truck onto the ramp it all started to slip back into the water. It was in park with the brake on and it just slid.

His second mistake. In "Park" locks the transmission, which is only coupled to the rear wheels. "Brake on" only locks the rear wheels. Rear wheels are on slippery ramp, and front wheels are free to spin.

These are two reasons why I would never buy a tow vehicle without 4wd.

Wise words!