More Than He Bargained For

When Charlie went to West Neck Marina today to check the water-level gauge and take a couple of pictures, he ended up with all that and a little more. The first "extra" was this fella who had launched his boat in only 2.3 feet of water at the end of the ramp from his tandem trailer being pulled by a blue pickup. I'm surprised he was lucky or crafty (whichever one, I'm not sure) enough to pull off such a feat.

Anyway, as Charlie was heading to his truck to leave, another pickup arrived and was going to launch a boat, so he stayed around to watch how it was done. This boat just had hit the water when Charlie suddenly heard a "clunk" and quickly noticed that the trailer no longer was visible. It took only a moment to confirm his suspicions: This unlucky chap had dropped his trailer off the end of the ramp. He was spinning his truck tires ever so hard, but nothing was moving.

At this point, Charlie walked over to show the driver and his buddy the "Dewey trick" for getting their trailer back on the ramp. They were more than ready to try anything.

Charlie grabbed the face brick (sample at left) that Dewey always kept next to the ramp and threaded the brick onto some rope. After tying it in place, the buddy got on one catwalk, and Charlie got on the other. They then swung the brick out behind the trailer, let it sink, and after a couple tries, dragged it under the trailer and lifted. It was amazing how light the trailer felt underwater. As it came up, the driver rolled up the ramp, and everything was cool.

Under his breath, Charlie uttered a "Thank you, Dewey." He then replaced the brick for the next unlucky guy who finds the end of the ramp the hard way.

Incidentally, if Dave and/or Jason happen to read this blog post, please drop us an email and let us know how the fishing was today.