Boat landings can be a dangerous place if you don’t know what you are doing and not paying attention. I usually like to put my 17 foot outboard in at Remley’s Point in Mt. Pleasant, SC. There are three ramps so a space usually becomes available soon even if it’s a busy weekend. I’ve never personally had any issues there, except for this summer: on two different occasions, my boat was hit by another boat right at the boat landing.

The first accident didn’t cause any damage, however, the second one put a serious ding in my stern’s hull and gave my girlfriend quite a scare. Once I put my boat in the water, I usually back up and pull to the furthest spot away from the ramp. Once I secure my boat, I park my car, and return.

On my return this time however, I was surprised to see a 25 foot boat right up against my stern, bobbing against my boat in the wake, and my girlfriend shouting for help. Apparently, this gentlemen attempted to launch his boat by himself, tried to hurry up as many boats were waiting in line to launch, and accidentally backed up right into my boat, clipping the stern and nearly hitting my engine. I quickly helped him secure his boat in a safer location and then assessed the damaged.

The damage was rather cosmetic and the gentleman was very apologetic. He would never attempt to launch again by himself with such a large boat in busy conditions. Luckily that incident didn’t disrupt our boating for the day, and I was later reimbursed by the gentleman for the damages. Incidents like these happen daily at boat landings. If you’re not paying attention, not familiar with your boat, accidents can and do happen very fast.

Luckily, it was only a little fender bender.

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