GF / Wife Drive trailer or boat when loading and launching?
 

Just curious as what most of you guys have your girlfirends or wifes do. Drive the truck and trailer or the boat when launching and loading? I'd like to get my gf dialed in on one or the other and cant make up my mind which would be easier for her. I know that depending on traffic on the water and ramp some days one might be easier than the other. I'm thinking that driving the truck and trailer would probably be the best choice.

My wife does both and depending on the crowd she makes the choice which she wants to do. I would teach her both options, it is also helpful if you get hurt to have both options covered.

While I am fine with doing either, I think driving the boat is less intimidating due to the whole backing fear most people have. If you have trailer guides, it's kind of hard to mess up the loading unless the driver of the tow vehicle backed too deep.

For some reason my wife thinks the truck is easier to drive but I think that stems from the one time there was a lot of wind and the bimini was up, she wasn't able to control the boat at all and that scared her.

My wife drives the boat on and off the trailer. She wants to learn how to back up the truck and trailer.

m-

Mine does the boat.

My girlfriend also prefers to drive the boat - I think its because she doesn't want to have to walk all over hell and back when parking the trailer, lol.

I would say driving the boat is the safer option.

my wife can do both but she prefers driving the boat

My wife does the truck.

GF does both but mainly the trailer. She's good at it too. Not as comfortable with the boat in traffic yet but getting there. Practice, practice.

my wife does both just fine

My wife does both..... and does it better than most guys we know. She isn't into the traffic or crowds though & usually picks whichever has less crowd.

We found the best way for her to learn was by having a buddy of mine teach her. Something about learning from a teacher she's sleeping with didn't go over well. And she practiced in an empty parking lot &/or ramp long before she did anything on a busy ramp.

A few years ago we were pulling the boat out of Sammamish at the State Park mentioned in another thread here. It's a pretty good sized ramp with 6 or 7 ramps & docks between every pair. Their wide ramps too, concrete with gravel between each. It was a busy busy day with a lot of yahoos on the water. She was driving the truck & got tired or waiting on everyone. So she stabbed the trailer in the middle between two other boat trailers (probably 6' or 8' between her & anyone else). We had the MC on the trailer, Boat Buddy locked & everything pulled out in a matter of seconds..... just before one of the guys realized he was bent out of shape & came over to give her a piece of his mind. I just sat in the boat & smiled as she drove away to the staging area.

MIne backs it off the trailer when unloading and I'll back in the trailer when loading then we swap on the dock and she'll get out and pull the boat out once I get it on the trailor. Trying to teacher her to back the trailor was a lossing battle, and she put a nice scratch on the side of my last boat loading one time which scared her for trying to many time again. If there is no traffic and no one is around to see her try to load it she will give it ago.

Just remember be patient any little thing she is willing to do is a big help for you.

mine trailers and un trailers the boat. she does an awesome job!

My wife backs the trailer - when we bought our first boat, we took it to a school parking lot and she practiced until she could back it up into a parking spot. She now backs up the trailer no matter who is in the boat. Hopefully she doesn't read this thread... but she is probably better then I am at backing up the rig, since I rarely have to do it.

my wife and girlfriend one in the same drives the boat . she has trouble backing up without a trailer. she doesn't like the pressure. plus you can teach your girlfriend how to dock and load the trailer when the ramp isn't busy. most women don't like men telling them what and how to do things. much easier to COACH her driving the boat she will want to do everything slowly and if you stay calm and don't yell she will love that.above all don't hurt her feelings. good luck

She backs the empty trailer in, and pulls it out.

When launching I get it in position, 10ft from the water, hop in the boat and she goes the rest of the way and parks it. She then can back the empty trailer in and I do the work with the boat, just too much to go wrong with the boat, I would totally disagree with "if there's guide poles it's hard to mess up" theory, as there is plenty to go wrong

The woman not liking their men to tell them how to do things is gospel

I think letting your lady drive the boat in all situations benefits the loading/unloading process. When I was taught to pull skiers I always really focused on putting the boat exactly where I wanted it (ie. skier right behind the boat when the rope is tight, avoiding random rollers and delivering the swim step to the finished skier). I think if your lady gets used to slow speed maneuvering and working the forward/reverse prop rotation of an inboard, them loading the boat is not even an issue. I see a lot of guys that only have their ladies drive when they are riding, and then immediately take over when they are done. I say let the gals drive all the time, besides having her practice pulling everyone else means that she will be providing top notch pulls in no time.

My wife handles the trailering. She does a great job. It took some teaching and patience but it was worth it. She is now doing a great job pulling me behind the boat as well. She still isnt comfortable docking the boat, but that will come with time. She's great.

Mine backs down the trailer all the time. she has become an inspiration to others wives at our neighbrohood boat ramp, lol. Anyone that can drive is perfectly capable of backig in a trailer, it takes a little patientce by the teacher and practice by the student. Luckily, my wife has been around boats her whole life...she came trained from the factory:) lol.

My wife does everything I can equally. This includes backing the trailer down the ramp.

My wife cant stand the women who sit their doing nothing other than looking "pretty". That includes pre launch and post launch.

We also have a 4 yr old so that is thrown in the mix too.

I usually just get the truck close and then let her drop me and the boat and park the truck. Then when we return I just let her stand on the dock holding the boat while I run up and get the truck and then she pulls the truck and boat out once I get it on the trailer. I saw a couple get into a squable last night because the female didnt feel comfortable backing the truck down the crowded ramp. I think im gonna let her get real good with the truck and trailer. There are allot (more than average) of people with more money than brains around here and i've seen plenety of collisions at our local ramps with boats idling around the launch ramp waiting to load. I think I'll just let her take the truck and boat and practice herself so we dont get into any of those "teaching" type of arguments hahaha

^^ We did go out on a quiet day and just back the boat in, pull it back out all the way to the top of the ramp and do it over and over to get the feel of backing that big boy down

My wife will back the truck. She picked it up pretty quick. She has not yet tried to trailer the boat. Maybe the next calm weekend I will have her try it. She really has not driven the new boat much yet. I think the size of it compared to the old 19 foot DD is a little intimidating to her.

My wife does both. Depends on how busy the launch is, the parking lot is, or which rig we are driving.

My 15 year old daughter is pretty dialed in when it comes to driving the boat.
She takes the boat off the trailer, then picks me up @ the dock after I park the truck. At the end of the day, she drops me at the dock, and puts the boat on the trailer.
I think it's pretty cool.

I cannot think of the last time that I've unloaded or loaded our boat. My wife drives the boat, and I drive the truck. It's a great system, and we hardly spend any time at the launch.

My wife does truck and trailer duty.
She likes leaving the kids in the boat with me, she calls the walk to the truck, her peace and quite time

My wife is the smart one. She drives the boat on and off. I get the mile hike to parking and getting the truck.

My GF will back the trailer down when there is no one else around. She's not comfy enough to do it at a packed ramp. I don't trust her enough to let her drive the boat up, although I can't remember ever letting her try. We don't get to go out much on the slow days, so it's always packed when we are there. Wish I had more time to teach her. It sure would help a lot. She drives the boat fine, so I think it's time to let her have a go at it. Time is the only thing stopping that...

Wife also does truck and trailer. Does it quite well i might add.

Mine's been asking to help for a while. She put the boat on the trailer for the first time today. She did a pretty good job actually. She said she would learn to drive the truck, but the launch that we use 95% of the time is on a street. It's a blind side "S" turn. So even though she wants to learn, I really like my truck the way it is.

Given I've never had to rely on a man to do either, I guess I just don't think it's that hard. Obviously, someone can mess up loading a boat if they don't have any training or practice driving at slow/idle speeds. If a person isn't capable of getting a boat between the guide poles and putting it in neutral, then yah, I agree with you...I suppose a lot could go wrong. I think a lot of people (men & women) under estimate the capability of women to become a productive member of the load/unload process.

I wish everyone here boated at my local lake. Last weekend all the wally's were out the first nice weekend of the summer. As my wife weaved in and out of the boats drifting around the dock with the wifes/gf standing there holding the ropes, I heard one lady with a dumbfounded look say "What is that lady doing? She is going to drive the boat right on the trailer".

LOL, thanks for sharing that Dave!

DAVE i can relate on the 10 mph wind blown days. everybody freaks out my wife drives the boat on the trailerand other men say you sure did a good job is that your first time? and before she can say a word i say yep but she read how to do it in a book.

my wife just looks hot. But she is learning to drive the boat.

Teach them both...agree with some above that if you ever are hurt/can't land the boat then you would be screwed if they didn't know how. Mom and aunts all know how to launch and land the boat. They are much better than most males who do it and they do it correctly!

Neither....
 

Neither....


I like to bring the boat to the dock and make the wife hold it while I slowly walk up to my H2, realize that I don't have the keys, mozy back down to the boat and get the keys and walk back to get the H2. It usually takes me about 6 or 7 times before I can get the trailer lined up straight and into the water. Then I get out of the H2, swear at the wife for letting the boat rub on the dock, slowly walk back to the boat, get in, start it up after fooling around with the stereo for about 5 minutes ( Gotta have good toons going while I trailer ) and I drive the boat onto the trailer. Halfway up the ramp I stop, get out some towels and make the wife wipe down the boat while I BS with some buddies that stopped by to see if I have any beer left. The pavement is wet, so the H2 can usually do a gnarly burnout as I pull my beast up the ramp.

L



















:D:D:D

I let my wife drive the truck up and park it but no docking the boat. I don't let the GF do anything she's not on the insurance ;) ( just kidding on that last part, I broke it off with all of em)

My wife does the truck and trailer. She was nervous at first and still gets a little nervous when there are tons of people at the ramp but she does it like a champ every time!!

sounds like KIRK is trying to IRK someone, but i doubt it he's really a nice guy with a twisted sense of humor. i think?

My Girlfriend drives the boat on/off.......while my wife drives the truck.


Life is good.....






Kidding. My wife is a better at driving the boat then most men I know. She has been on the water since she was 2, so she knows what's up.

My wife backs a trailer like a champ

Kirk!! Ive ran into you a few times lol

my wife drives the boat

Wifie + truck and trailer = happy me. We zoom in and out.

LAUNCH:
1) I back boat into water
2) I get into & start boat and she takes the driver seat in the Jeep
3) She bumps me off and parks the jeep

COMING OUT
1) I pull up to dock and hop out, get jeep and back it in
3) If it is busy, she will drive boat out and then land it on trailer; If not busy, she just sits in the slip until I back the trailer under the boat.

This way I deal with all the backing, any boat issues at start-up, and she does not have to pull out the full boat/trailer combo.

Neither. :( So my daughter usually takes care of the boat while I drive the truck. My son, who's now 12, is in training to take care of the boat. My wife want's nothing to do with either one.

kirk, did you sink an x-80 not to long ago?

Wow....now thats a question ^^^

Hehe, no, but he is a Tige owner..... :D













JUST KIDDING!

The boss does both, she chooses which one she feels like doing and I do the other. But only cause I want to.

Wifey in the boat. She couldn't back the trailer. Unfortunately, she has no interest in learning either. When loading, I walk out on the bunks to the end of the trailer and walk the boat in to the front of the trailer. Our system works pretty good for us, and we don't fight anymore when loading/unloading.............Usually.

^^This.

It's amazing some of the stuff I see at Sonoma and Mendo.

I back in the water, she will drive out and park. When loading, she drops me off, I go get the truck and back in. She will get close to the trailer and I help her guide it in.

My wife does both, but mostly she does the truck. Doing the boat often involves too many variables, like wind, current, boats on docks etc. Use walky-talkies and talk her through it a few times and continue to use them just in case.

-Uj

MY wife can load the boat, I do the truck just because there is almost always a crowd and the stress of backing up the truck seems to get to her.

She also drives us home most of the time since I sip on the beers, she handles the Excursion and 23 LSV like a champ, lucky to have her on board.

When we going to get out Bill?

My wife drives the the truck. She makes me proud of her when she backs it down at a busy launch ramp and you see guys fish tailing there trailer.

Most of the time she takes care of the boat side & I take care of the trailer side. However she suprised me the other week & backed the trailer into a spot at our cabin (without anybody around to guide her!). I do love the looks when she takes care of the loading/launching while the other ladies are "holding the rope" & having a difficult time doing that... (love having a cabin next to a public launch)

Trailer. We've practiced a bit and she is really good. WIth the trailer, It's always gonna be the same. WIth the boat, a windy day can change everything and has more potential for damage. Not that women cant do both with amazing precision. This is just what we have worked out.

Wife handles the truck and trailer better than most. If it takes us more than a couple of minutes to unload/load the boat and then get off the ramp, we are embarrased.

I like the put her in the truck with a walkie talkie idea..

The holding the rope thing makes me laugh while also annoying the hell out of me, since it takes up the little room there is at the ramp at our lake. Seriously people need to practice. My wife can do either,but crowded days make her nervous backing the trailer. All in all I think people make the whole process more difficult than it needs to be.....

Wed night I parked the boat at the dock and let her hold it, ran up got the truck and backed it in, jumped in the boat while she got in the truck to pull me out and still ran circles around the four-five other boats trying to pull out. I think my idea of taking allot of time to pull out is super fast to the maority around here lol

The amount of time we take up any room at the ramp or dock is less than 3-4 mintues tops. If we hadn't bent our boat buddy it'd be 1-2, which accounts for backing the trailer in and her pulling the boat on. Now I have to pull the strap and hook it, so that can take slightly longer.

My sister can do either and is happy showing up all of the men on most boat ramps. She taught my wife to load the boat. My wife is a bit of a perfectionist and now loads the boat better than anybody. She's also a great boat driver but she doesn't have that much confidence at it. Last weekend she asked another guy in our boat to drive when I was boarding, he was a boat owner, he turned the boat every time I cut towards the wake, worst pull I had all weekend, she drove me the rest of the weekend.

Since driving the truck usually involves hiking up the launch ramp to the trailer and dealing with random guys along the way I prefer to leave my wife to attend to the boat.

Hey, we had to do that too! It was a busy weekend at a very tight two lane launch and there was some 100 year old guy unloading all his fishing junk on one side and a family of "jacka**'s on the other unloading the truck with 26 tubes and 15 coolers. I got tired of waiting for the jerk-offs and back the trailer between them and my wife drove the boat on the trailer, hooked up and left. I made sure to let them know why I had to do it. Pretty impressive driving as she thread the needle between 4 or 5 boats with only a couple feet between the boats.

I will forever be thankful to the guy who sold me my boat for showing me how to launch and pick up the boat all by myself. Now when I ride with "the guys" they know that I can handle the trailer or the boat at launch and pick-up. I also know how to drive a straight line, do a turn around, and deliver the swim platform to a rider when they're done. Every wife should learn to do it all so that when they find out their husbands an a**hole they can still take the boat out with her girlfriends.:D

So I let the wife pull the boat out of the water this weekend and she wasn't paying attention and ran along the side of the curb and tore up both rims on one side and one tire flat (low profile). So this weekend and letting her touch something of value is going to cost me about $500.00 to fix. God I want to shoot her right now!

I do everything. First and last time I let someone help me, he went to pull the trailer out after I unloaded boat and was pulling to the dock. I figured, can't be difficult to pull an empty trailer up the ramp and pull into a parking spot. Big mistake. My shift knob rotated upside down so he thought first was where reverse was, even though the numbers and such were clearly upside down. Tried backing further down the ramp a couple times before figuring it out, then just plopped the rig in a car spot, not a truck+trailer spot. Now I'm hesitant to trust anyone!

My wife can do either, She generally drives the truck while I load the boat. If its on the jetski, its the other way around.

Hahahah. Great Thread. My wife does the boat as she does not like doing the truck. Funny story, last weekend she was loading the boat on the trailer like she has done dozens of times and her hand slipped and she gunned it and basically, I got punched in the chest with one of the pickle forks which caused me to slip on the ramp. I felt worse for her though cause she felt so bad about it.

My wife does the truck part, hates doing the boat part.

My wife does the truck part, and does it very very well. She really doesn't like the boat part. She never really picked up on the boat management in real tight quarters, so driving the boat onto the trailer is very stressful. However, when she is on the ramp, I feel sorry for anybody who exceeds her imposed time allotment of roughly (1) minute. It's all fun and games until it looks like somebody is wasting time on the ramp. I've seen her drop the trailer in between (2) others with very little room to spare on either side. At that point she just gives people the look that says, "I don't know wtf you're doing, but we're pulling our boat out". If we're more than a minute or two in or out, something is seriously wrong. I've tried to teach the boat part so she doesn't have to walk the hill back to the truck, but she always says she would much rather walk to the truck, even in the heat, rather than drive the boat. My son is now 16 and has been the truck (or boat) guy for the last (2) years, so lately my wife gets to just sit there and look pretty.

My wife handles the boat when we are unloading and the truck when we are loading. It is always a good feeling to watch your wife back the trailer straight down the two lane ramp, drive the boat on until the boat buddy clicks and be off the ramp in a total of about a minute while everyone else is screwing around causing delays.

My wife can do both. She is more comfortable backing the truck down so that's usually what she chooses. I always ask her which she wants to do every time and she usually chooses to back the truck down. Every once in a while she'll do the boat.

I would start her off doing whatever she felt more comfortable with and always encourage her and keep her trying if she doesn't get it right away. Obviously, better if there aren't many people around or waiting to go.