Be extra cautious at the ramp.My best friend has nicknamed me “Just-in-case.”

He says I’m always taking extra precautions, somewhat needlessly.

But then, the evils of misfortune seem to have a thing for me, kinda like the poor guy who owns the boat and truck in the photo here.

Here’s what happened, according to Osceola angler Kris Thornton, who was on hand at the Paw Paw Lake boat launch last weekend when the incident occurred.

The unfortunate angler, whom we respectively won’t name, had just loaded his boat at the ramp.

According to Thornton, he put his vehicle (manual transmission) in neutral and applied the emergency break. When he got out of the truck to strap it down, the boat and truck rolled immediately into the lake before he could stop it.

“The boat apparently kept the truck afloat,” explained Thornton. “But when the guy swam out and unhooked the boat to get it off the trailer, the truck sank to the bottom.”

Thornton said other anglers helped him attach a tow strap to the front of the truck and pulled it and the rig out of the lake. Not surprisingly, the truck wouldn’t start (it went into the lake with the engine running), and it had to be left in the ramp parking lot until other arrangements could be made.

In hindsight, the guy did everything right, ‘cept perhaps he should have left the truck in gear and shut off the engine.

Boat launch mishaps are common because we tend to get in a hurry. That’s why it’s important to take a few seconds and ask ourselves…”what precautions should I take…just in case…?”