Tips from an Experienced Boater: Putting Your Boat in the Water

You just made a big boat purchase and now your nice new boat is sitting there waiting for you to hook up and drive away with it safely behind you. Where do you start? How do you hook your boat up to your vehicle safely and then transfer it from your vehicle into the water without missing a beat?

First of all you need to know what size receiver (the round piece of your trailer hitch) your boat tongue needs to be safely attached to your vehicle. Do you need a two-inch ball or a smaller or larger ball on your vehicle in order to transport this boat?

You need to position your vehicle so that you can start to back toward the tongue of your boat trailer. When you are first starting out with this task it might be best to have someone spot watch for you. This "spotter" can somewhat guide you in the proper direction so that you can get your receiver/hitch just under the receiver on your boat tongue. When you are close enough, you or your spotter can use the handle on the side of your boat trailer tongue to raise the boat trailer enough for you to slip under.

After you are in position and you are under your boat tongue, put your vehicle into park with the emergency break set. Slowly start to turn the same handle you used to raise your boat, so that you are now lowering the boat trailer onto the receiver/ball of your vehicle. You will now make sure that your boat trailer is properly positioned on the receiver/ball of your vehicle.

On the top portion of your boat tongue that is now sitting on the receiver of your vehicle there is a piece of metal that is poking up with a small hole through it. Make sure to push this small metal piece down into a locking position. Then use the chains that are under your boat tongue to attach them to the back of your vehicle. Under your boat tongue also will be a line of wiring to attach your boat trailer lights to your vehicle. Plug this wiring into the proper outlet on the back of your vehicle so that your boat trailer brake lights and driving lights work properly. Have someone stand at the back of the boat trailer while you push on the brake pedal of your vehicle, turn the signal lights on and off and test your parking lights and so forth. If all of these things are in working order then you are now ready to get back into your vehicle and head to your favorite water spot.

You have now arrived at your preferred boating location. You need to find a boat ramp to launch your boat from. Once here you will need to back your boat down to the water. You may need to use your spotter again if you are unfamiliar with backing up your vehicle with things attached, such as a boat trailer. Remember that you need to literally think in reverse when backing up with boat trailers or other things attached to your vehicle. It takes a lot of getting use to when backing this way! This is why a spotter is very useful.

Before getting your boat trailer into the water make sure that there are no straps holding your boat to the boat trailer, if there are then you need to remove these straps and place them in your vehicle so that you know where they are when you are ready to reload your boat. Also double check and be sure that your boat plug is in, this is located at the back of the boat and literally looks like a plug. Even if it is in, give it a twist or two to be sure that it is tight. Once these straps if there are any are removed, and you are certain your boat plug is secure, continue to back down to the water. You will need to get your boat almost completely into the water. Now place your vehicle in park with the emergency break on.

Walk back to the boat tongue, or have your spotter do this next step. There is a strap with a hook that is attached to the boat, loosen the strap by turning the handle attached to it, this will start to release your boat toward the water. It is best if someone is in the boat or you are ready to tie your boat off to something until you are ready to get in and cruise your favorite water spot. Once you have the hook and strap loosened enough release the hook. There is now nothing holding your boat to the trailer, so please be prepared. If you have tied your boat off to a dock, tree, stump, or other non-movable object, then get back into your vehicle and pull it away from the boat ramp. Your boat is now in the water and ready to ride.

A few tips from a experienced boater:

1. Always be sure to tie your boat off to something, you DO NOT want to be swimming after your boat that is floating away, been there done that.

2. Always be sure that your boat plug is tightly secured, you DO NOT want your boat to start sinking, been there done that too.

3. Always be prepared to double check and check again. Make a boater check list for yourself if this will help you remember what to check and how.

4. Always be prepared to deal with wind when loading and unloading your boat. My husband and I have gotten closer to more then one tree when loading and unloading our boats. You DO want to avoid tress, rocks, stumps, and other objects that could put a hole into your boat.

Have fun boating, and remember these tips when hooking up to your boat, unloading, and reloading your boat.