Busy ramp...your thoughts?

[Bassin101]

Twice this weekend I saw people park their boat on the "ramp side" of the dock.  He went to either park or get the truck, while she sat there taking up space in one lane.  Both times there was room on the other side of the dock. >  Is this OK with you? ???

With two person loaders why doesn't someone idle the boat away from dock traffic until the trailer arrives?  And keep the *%$ swimming jet skiers away from the dock area.  AARGH!

Now thats off my chest, I feel better.   ;D

[tnroadrnr]

Yep. There are some folks that just don't understand. I watched a fellow and his family a few weeks ago take 20 minutes on the ramp to tie thier boat down on the trailer and take stuff out of the boat and put in their truck!

[Guest hydrillagorilla]

Yes, I pride myself on my ramp times.  

You pre load away from the ramp so all you have to do is dump the boat and pull away.  

When you take out you hop up, grab your vehicle and wait in line, go down, load boat and pull up into an area where you can prepare the boat for travel.  

Thats it, so simple!  I feel your pain Bassin 101- those are the same people that are oblivious to everyone else.  I get so ticked at the lack of general respect to others.  

[fishinfool]

Sometimes, the person that's holding the boat doesn't always know how to operate it. I know when I take my g/f out w/ me thats the case. She doesn't know how to run the boat or back up the trailor, and she's blonde which out rules the option of teaching her  . On a really busy day i'll just pull the boat up on the bank near the parking lot so i 'm not in anyone's way and I can take all the time I need, then i'll just drive the boat over to the trailor after backin it down.

[Bassin101]

Fishinfool,  I know that is the case many times.  I am mostly a single launcher/loader so I need to be organized.  I also use the shoreline if necessary.

;D

[gamblerOH]

My fishing partner and I get the boat unhooked and totally ready while were in line( I am usually so early theres no line) and can unload and be out of the way in a matter of seconds, really. We can load just about as fast because he knows exactly where to put the trailer and I dont even get out of the boat, I just pull it up until it hits the stop and hook it and lock it down then he pulls out of the way. Hydragorrilla, your the kind of guy I like to follow to the launch. It makes for a bad day if you get all worked up before the tourney even starts.  The other day I saw a couple guys loading and the trailer was in the water waiting and the guy in the boat was out in the middle of the marina  idling around in circles organizing his tackle. >:(i cant stand selfish people.

[Muddpuppy]

I also load alot by myself. I try to make sure everything is in it's place and double double checked before I start down the ramp. I also try to use the smaller or less used ramps if possible. Normally if there are a few multi boaters I let them go first. I have seen people loading/unloading boats on the ramp, pleasure and ski barges are the usually worst. Tag alongs dragging lawn furniture Ice chests and water toys. We did get behind 3 guys that looked like they should know what they were doing, And I think that they loaded everything into their boat includeing batteries, out of the back of the truck with the boat and trailer in the water, while takeing up one lane on a packed larger ramp last year when the crappie were schooling. They didn't get much sympathy when it wouldn't crank either.

When I take my wife and she can back a trailer she can't see the boat trailer without the boat. I really need new mirrors or posts. But we can park out of the way and I back the trailer in and let her pull the truck out after loading the boat and the same when unloading.

[roadwarrior]

Rather than getting all worked up, I offer assistance to those guys and gently explain ramp etiquette. They don't know!

We have a very busy ramp and loading or unloading equipment isn't going to get it. It's a two boat ramp and backing down the middle doesn't get it either. Most guys are pretty receptive to some constructive suggestions. No one appreciates a loud, in your face confrontational tone. Approach the situation in a positive way and it will pay dividends over time.

[gamblerOH]

Roadwarrior, like I said in my earlier post I usually get to the ramp early, so when my boats in the water and docked I always find any single boaters and ask them if they would like for me to back them in, they almost always accept the help and it makes a huge difference for everyone. A lot of earlybirds in our club do the  same thing, this helps to insure all of outr guys make it to the water in time for blast off. We have had guys in our club in the past that wait as much as 45  min. to launch, we inspected their livewells and started without them so they lost thier starting #'s. Our main ramps usually have room for 4 but some people feel the need to take up at least 2 of them. That is the biggest reason I go so early, so that I dont have to worry about missing my start #.I think that there should be a required course to operate a boat and ramp etiquette should be a major part of it.

[roadwarrior]

Agreed!

Required course to operate a powerboat. That sounds simple.

[Guest hydrillagorilla]

I wouldn't yell at anybody.  I always offer to help, if they don't want it, I politely stand there.  and stand there, and sometimes stand there some more.

I used to use a ramp that every mourning in the summer would dump about 75 boats, it was a one boat ramp!  Eventually the fish and game would have to stand there and explain to the newbies how things work.  

But honestly, newbie or not...seems like pretty common sense to make haste at the ramp...especially if there is a line.  

[mac7373]

One of the lakes in Oregon that I fished almost daily during the spring and summer was also a really heavily skied and jet skied lake. I was most times alone since I lived only 2 minutes from the boat ramps...I would just come home from work and grab the boat and go rather than looking for someone to go with me. Anyway, this being the case I was always responsible for unloading and loading the boat by my self. This particular boat ramp had the dock down the middle with a ramp on both sides of the dock. It was rare for the boat on the other side of the ramp to load and be pulled out of the water before me. The lake was so busy that I always other boatswaiting on me and I was fast about it too, at the very slowest I was out of the water in 3-4 minutes, [this includes docking the boat- running up to get the trailer-backing it into the water-jumping out and back down the dock-getting the boat-trailering it-securing the boat with the trailer winch-climbing up the trailer tongue into the back of the pick-up (through the sliding back window) or the Yukon (through the back window)-pull out and then secure everything on the boat once out of the way]...and then these same people who were waiting on me and acting all impatient would spend 10-15...sometimes 20 minutes in the ramp slot doing pretty much nothing but seeing just how far it is humanly possible to have your head up you're a$$ while acting like they were pretty much the only people at the lake. Rude, inconsiderate and completely self-absorbed is the simplest way it can be described and it seems to be something that runs rampant among recreational boaters. (for the record I have seen lots of fisherman act the same way, just not anywhere near the numbers of the other boaters)

[Shad_Master]

The ramp shows can be funny as all get out.  Last year, during a tournament, there were four guys (looked like high school, maybe college) trying to launch a boat.  After about 5 attempts to back the trailer down, they decided that it would be easier to unhook the boat and walk it down.  They managed to get it unhooked on the ramp and then tried to hold it back while it was rolling down.  The trailer ended up sideways on the ramp (almost headed down bow first) before they got it stopped.  somehow they finally managed to get it in the water and then tried to pull the trailer up the ramp back to the truck.  This show as certainly worth the price of admission. ;D

[Raul]

Gotta love jonboats, you can dump them anywhere !  ;D

[Bassin101]

Raul, funny you mentioned that.  Saturday, at the two space ramp, when we were loading it was late and not busy.  A young man in mid 20's pulls up with a quad and  upsidedown jon on a trailer.  In about 7 min. he had the boat in, with poles, battery, motor and everything and pulled it onto the bank while he parked the truck.  

Young and strong. :

[Jagrrich]

Well  :-[ I must be one of the guys that no one likes. This is my second boat <she's old> and the first one that really runs well. It takes a good bit of warming up to put her in gear. What I have to do is pull it around the dock to the non loading/lunching side and let it warm up there. I will say this though my launch time is very very quick. Its my loading time that I'm not good at. It's gotten to the point that I manually load the boat by wading out and hooking the boat on the wrench and wrenching her up. Its not that bad but I do get some looks. I just haven't figured out the right trailer position in order to drive it on. Plus I don't have a bon a fide towing vehicle, I use my Chevy Malibu, so the tongue is lower than the axle's.

I have to say since my loading time is alittle longer than the seasoned boater, it is better than some I've seen, I wait until the ramp gets slow before I trailer the boat.

I guess I've got to learn more about boats.

I'll try to be quicker guys.  :-[

[sykofish]

mac7373, sounds like you used to fish Hagg lake. That place is a zoo most times.

I always try to encourage everyone to practice! Never get in someones face at the ramp, try walking over and offering to help. Offer suggestions and try and be patient. Not everyone wants to listen or be helped, but most times it will hurry them along anyway.

jagrrich, your half way there. Keep practicing and you will get the hang of it. Sometimes the best thing you can do is go to a busy ramp and watch others. Try going to a tournament and watch others load there boats at the end of the day. It has always amazed me here in the N.W. how 50 bass boats can be launched and loaded in the same time it takes 100 salmon boats to simply launch. >

[Muddpuppy]

Jagrrich:  This is just a thought but could you put down the jack to raise the tounge up a little when you start to load?  I don't know if you could raise it  up enough to justify the trouble or not.  Maybe carry some blocks with you to put under it so there is less cranking.  I know I have had to do something like that with farm equipment .  Don't forget to raise it back up before pulling out.  Also the wheels on the car will have to stay on the ground.

[Rebbasser]

My fishing partner and I get the boat unhooked and totally ready while were in line( I am usually so early theres no line) and can unload and be out of the way in a matter of seconds, really

Same here-back it down and hit the brakes-the boat slides right off. A little more time consuming launching alone.

I'm like the rest of y'all-I offer to help. Time before last I couldn't get traction on a wet ramp. Couple of ol' boys jumped in the back and gave me the weight I needed. I've done the same for other folks. Just takes a little common courtesy.

Shad, you ain't kidding-the ramp show can be hilarious.

[gamblerOH]

Jagrrich, you are not one of those people. The people we are talking about dont realize or care that they are holding others up, you on the other hand realize that others are waiting and try to do better.I have launched alone a lot and its not easy,but if i'm not fishing a tourney and its a weekend then I try to go to a ramp that gets less use. The main ramps seem to get all of the tourney traffic.

[J._Bricker]

A  few guys mentioned "common sense" and "common courtesy".  If it was common, everyone would have it.  Anymore, I feel it just isn't worth gettin' steamed over, because some folks just don't know any better.  Besides, with some of the stuff you see happen at the ramp, I'm glad I get to see it for free when other people spend good money to see the same thing ;D

[digdug]

I've seen some real shows at the ramp.  Fights at the ramp. Tow vehicle go down the ramp, way down the ramp, People the ruin a pair tire pulling a boat out, the person behind the wheel floors the gas to pull the boat out.  (Don't get to close, those hot melted pieces of tire, burn!)

For a real show you should come to the upper end of Grand Lake during spoonbill season.  On busy weekends the state police/Fish & Game will have a couple of officers directing traffic at the boatramps, then a couple of other directing traffic in the park, then sometimes it get really wild and they call the helicopter and officers in boats to help.

I agree, with the other guys, if your going to operate a motor boat, you should have to have a permit, just like a car.  (By coast guard defintion a motor boat is any boat that is powered by a motor.)  This would include the jet skiers too!!!

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

In RI, jet skiers have to take a mandatory safety course and become "liscenced".  It blows my mind though that my 16 yr old niece could legally buy a 57 foot hattaras and start guiding it through the channel.  Never mind the fact that the state could stand to make a little money with a safety course and liscencing program.  

 As for the ramp situation, I think we just need to help educate those who don't understand or realize a thing called "ramp etiquette"

[Jakesbuds]

i've seen my share of puppet shows at boat launches. . . i've even seen people get into fights before. Just last weekend there was a line of trucks and trailers about 15 deep and it was a 2 lane launch. one guy got stuck in the water because he still had it in reverse when he took off and the guy next to him couldn't get anyone to move so he could get his boat onto the trailer. people need to realize that when there's others around you need to be READY to pull in/out and  get your boat out of the way quickly. And people also need to realize that there are others waiting to get on/off too so it's not appropriate to sit there and strap your boat all the way down and tarp it too. . . pull away from the launch and then do that stuff. .

[Raul]

Keep in mind this: Treat others the way you want to be treated, if you 're one of those guys that takes hours to launch a boat probably next time you 're going to be the one who has to be waiting for the other guy to launch his boat.

Jetskiers and waterskiers are not fishermen those ain 't included in the same class an are not subject to ramp etiquette, you can beat the crap out of them with no remorse and you have my blessing to do so.