Dock Ramp Ediquitte

IMG_20110731_123144.jpgMuch can be said for cooler heads. We were in Crystal River Fl last weekend for scalloping. The second day there the mercruiser had an engine fault on the smartcraft guages. So we contacted Towboat US for a tow back to the dock. After a 3 hr tow we got there and several folks at the ramp made a place in line for us and helped my wife and I load the boat. Awesome! Most folks at our home ramp in Ga would be pitching a fit for costing them a few minutes. These people went out of their way to assist strangers form a foreign land invading their waters. The way everyone should be. Thanks to all those at Crystal River Water Sports ramp for the help and courtesy!!!!
 
Amen to that. Awesome to hear a positive story. I was at a ramp last Saturday that was as busy as any I've seen this summer. It was also insanely hot, and dinner time at that. There is a neat drive loop at this ramp where you wait your turn. I was going to pull my boat in, the folks ahead of me were going out in a very modest older boat, and certainly not a Sea Ray! I had seen these folks before, so you do realize you share a lake with a community.

They were kind of putzing in the prep lane, and when they finally got in the water, they had a no start. I couldn't help them, but another guy brought over a portable jumper / charger, and within about 15 minutes, got them going.

In the meantime, I pulled around to line up my trailer, and some guy at the top of the exit ramp thought he didn't need to wait the drive loop, and started to back down the ramp at me. He got out of his truck, and seemed to be be gesturing to me. I made like I didn't notice, and just protected my no start neighbors with my waiting truck and trailer.

Somebody chatted with Mr. Impatient, and he eventually pulled around properly, waiting his turn after me.

Frankly, I had the best seat in all of this. The AC was starting to win the battle in my Durango, sitting patiently with a soda in hand. I know my day to screw up at the ramp is coming - I want the community to owe me a bye when it comes!
 
offshore79 said:
society these days is in way too much of a rush. I am 30 yrs old, hold a 100 ton masters license and have been on boats my entire life. I tend to go out on my boat by myself, meaning depending on the ramp, i have to back down, tie the boat up, go park truck and trailer and then get on boat and go. If the ramp provides additional dock space, I will go park the boat over there, but I do not feel bad for going alone and having to do these things. If you have a problem with the rush at the ramp and dont like waiting, just leave earlier. Same with returning. Stay out an extra hour then go back, ramp usually clear or minimal traffic at that point. It is not a race to unload or load my boat, it is done right, safe and efficient. Cmon, guys its about fun, not getting mad at everyone else at the dock.

I agree yes there are some extreme jackasses, as i have seen plenty. The funniest that comes to mind is a guy and a wife. He ties line on bow, she stands on pier holding. He backs up at 100 mph and slams on brakes, she refuses to let go of line and is pulled off end of pier. No one was hurt physically, however I do believe egos were bruised. Like I said if you hate the line or the guy like me, launching his boat by himself, go earlier, avoid the rush. Not that hard to do.
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I read through this whole thread and this is by far the best and most rational post here. I too quite often boat alone or with my two 10 year old grandsons. Sorry, but neither of them are going to drive the boat or the truck :smt001 I am also not going to race putting in or taking out my boat. Luckily for everyone else I usually boat at my 83 year old mother's house where she has her own private ramp into the Ohio River, but when boating closer to home (mom lives 130 miles away) I use a public ramp.
 
From reading the descriptions of your ramp facilities it makes me jealous. Most of the ramps we get to use have one short dock shared amongst three or four lanes of ramp or no dock at all. So someone is left holding the boat in just enough water to avoid it bashing the ramp or it gets dragged onto a sand spit while the car and trailer is parked.

We have an absolute width restriction of 2500mm (say 8'4") and weight restrictions on towing that means it's impractical to tow anything bigger than say 24'. The trucks you guys refer to are almost non-existent here these days.

My pet ramp hate is the idiot who comes roaring in pushing a wall of water, chops the throttle and sends a surge through the throng of boats loading or being held.
 
My wife does not mind parking an empty 33ft trailer or pulling the boat and trailer out of the water in 4 low....it comes out real nice & gentle that way. She is not a backer upper but it takes us little or no time to launch and recover. I do enjoy only doing it a few times a year vs everytime we boat. We've had a slip for years now and the 270 stays in all summer now unless we take it on vacation. We use to only slip the CV-23 three days a week to help keep it clean. I love bottom paint on the 270....it just works even in fresh water, Mike.
 
I power load my 210 all the time. I dont see anything wrong with it. The boat is centered on the trailer everytime, I am in and out quickly and with the drive trimmed up, I am not disturbing the bottom.

In Texas, we have lakes that are based on canyons. You dont want to back any further than you need too. I have seen where the trailer goes off the end and then pulls the truck with it. Not a pretty sight. Plus, we dont have marinas at every turn, all there is too mitigate wakes is a bouy. Sometimes it is very rough. You HAVE to powerload. If you tried to float on then the waves would have your hull resting on the fenders of the trailer.

The main thing regardless of how you load/unload at a ramp dock or getting fuel at a fuel dock is courtesy. Get in, do what you have to do and get out. Untill you own the dock, it is there for all to use.
 
Red Horse said:
I power load my 210 all the time. I dont see anything wrong with it. The boat is centered on the trailer everytime, I am in and out quickly and with the drive trimmed up, I am not disturbing the bottom.
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Wrong. If you are using power to load you are churning the water on the top and at the bottom washing the soil out from under the ramp. MM

Red Horse said:
The main thing regardless of how you load/unload at a ramp dock or getting fuel at a fuel dock is courtesy. Get in, do what you have to do and get out. Untill you own the dock, it is there for all to use.
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It is all about sharing a scarce resource. MM
 
There is not any soil under my ramps. Solid rock and then drops off really quick. Some places we have 40 foot deep 5 foot from the shore.
 
Some ramps will be damaged by power loading, some won't. The power loading that I really don't like is done within view of the sign that says 'NO Powerloading'.
 
mvoellinger said:
While I appreciate that you have people who can do that, my truck is a standard and I just dont have many people i can trust with a standard on a ramp, let alone flat ground. From the time I tie off to the time Im on the trailer is 5 minutes, way less than most people seem to use to stow their gear and wait for their families to waddle down and jump on the boat. Do I hurry? Yes. Do I feel bad that no one can drive my truck? No, thats just how it is.
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Agree!
 
So, what would you do?

I wasn't launching but drove past where I usually launch last Sunday. I noticed a lot of cars there, but none of them had trailers. Getting closer I start seeing people, lots of people, maybe 30 or 40. Everyone is dressed up in their Sunday finest. Apparently the launch ramp (There is only one at this location) had been turned into a baptismal site. The sign there says No Fishing, Swimming or Wading on the Launch Ramp. It doesn't say anything about baptisms. If I had backed in with my boat would they have parted the waters for me or would it be respectful to just sit and wait while they concluded their service in the water? At this launch you can't really even see the ramp until you're backed down within about 100' of it. I deal with fisherpeople, family outings and even a family with their lawn chairs set up in the water at the bottom of the ramp once, but this was something new.
 
Trucky said:
So, what would you do?

I wasn't launching but drove past where I usually launch last Sunday. I noticed a lot of cars there, but none of them had trailers. Getting closer I start seeing people, lots of people, maybe 30 or 40. Everyone is dressed up in their Sunday finest. Apparently the launch ramp (There is only one at this location) had been turned into a baptismal site. The sign there says No Fishing, Swimming or Wading on the Launch Ramp. It doesn't say anything about baptisms. If I had backed in with my boat would they have parted the waters for me or would it be respectful to just sit and wait while they concluded their service in the water? At this launch you can't really even see the ramp until you're backed down within about 100' of it. I deal with fisherpeople, family outings and even a family with their lawn chairs set up in the water at the bottom of the ramp once, but this was something new.
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That's cool! I'm sure they would have even helped you and wished you a great day. We stopped while boating and cheered on a group baptising youth and adults in the river last summer. It's a whole new start in life!
 
The ramp where I launch has been so messed up from power loading I can't launch or recover at low tide +/- 30 minutes. It goes from 3.5 feet deep to 1 foot deep back to 3 feet deep. Last weekend came in at 2am at half hour before dead low tide and had to wait an hour to load it on the trailer. Power loading on a concrete ramp is fine, on a shall ramp like ours its horrible.
 
I will add an idea for courtesy at the ramp as my first post.
If you are training a newer boater to load, please choose a time when the ramp is not busy.

Case in point: Wife and I were at the lock and dam ramp in Augusta,GA a few years back and were second in line for the ramp to launch. There was a couple ahead of us and the female was driving, so it made me wonder how long this was going to take. To my surprise, she backed the trailer expertly down the narrow single ramp and jumped out and had the boat off the trailer in less than a minute. Then she tied up to the dock out of the way and was back in the truck and gone in another minute. I was impressed.
Just a coincidence, but on our return, I see the same boat in the river but with the guy behind the wheel and the trailer backing down the ramp. I didn't think too much about it and pulled up to the dock and tied off to go for my truck. Well, this guy could not have ever loaded a boat onto a trailer in his life. The lady was shouting instruction at him which he seemed unable to understand or just had to prove he could do it himself. He just could not line it up and the river current did not help. After about 25 minutes and more tries than that, a group of guys that were on the dock just jumped in the water and grabbed the boat and physically jerked it onto the trailer. They weren't even boating but I guess they couldn't stand it anymore. It was very clear who the boat and truck belong to.
By the time this was over there was a line of about 6 boats waiting to either load or launch.
I could have gotten irritated but instead I chose to see the humor in the whole scene.
Moral to the story, allow extra time and keep your cool at public ramps.
 
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Lots of good info, alot of talk about power loading.
I noticed that the list stated that you would unclip chain and strap, then start your engines. I normally start my engine 1st, make sure she starts, then unclip the boat. Just in case there are any issues. Dont want to float away:smt100
 
I typically will unstrap the boat, back into the water , loosed the cable and move boat back by hand by about 4-5 ft, then get in and verify water is deep enough to start engine, start it and if running well, wife will unhook cable, give me a little push, and off I go to wait while she parks the truck/trailer. This way we can still get the boat back on trailer should the engine not start.
 
Other than the usual entertainment of first timers or twice a year tourists, our local launch usually works well, but I feel the need to vent something. Late october last year we waited for my father to come visit before winterizing the sundeck. It was a beautiful sunny sunday when we headed out. Our ramp is next to the yacht club with 1000+ slips and many pull their boats out for winter, I would. There are 4 spots to load/unload at the launch. 3 of them had trucks with empty trailers in the water when we left, and no boats or drivers in sight. It seems that that some, I said some slip owners like to park there and then walk over to the marina before doing all the things they need to and then putt over to the ramp to load the boat., anyway we went out for a short cruise, 1/2 hourish and back to the ramps. One of the 3 now had a boat on it, but was still in the water as they were trying to figure out how to attach it to the trailer and the others were still sitting there, doors locked and abandoned.
Just sayin, Please dont do that.
 
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