The ramp fun!-gctid366841

[Guest]

This weekend I was pulling up to the public dock where we deploy etc... It was a zoo! This guy that works for a local rental company for jetski's and boats, was retreiving a boat that was broke down. The boat was tied to the dock, he pull the ropes and starts drifting in the wind. I move out of the way, then he cannot start it. I can hear it BTW clicking! Looks over at me and asks if I could tow him in close to the ramp. With the wind and wake I told him I'll try but if I feel I'm going to fail I'll cut my rope and it's your problem then. He agreed! So Started towing him in and swung him around close to the ramp area, all of a sudden this stupid kid dives into the water in front of us and decides he's going to swim out to a bouy. WTF! I told him to get out of the water before he DIES! I'm yelling at this fool!

At the same time trying to man handle my boat and position and contain the controllment of this idot behind me. I cut the rope then move out of the way fast, start to turn around to getback to the dock and this guy loses his big boat from the wind and starts drifting towards this dumb *** kid swimming still to a bouy about 100 yards out. At this point I'm like you better start swimming fast dude!! He jumps in and swims fast towards it and make onto the boat. I finnaly tie up and dock. My wife and kids are really confused and scared!

I was under control period! I go get my trailer and put it into the water, start to walk back to get boat ready to trailer it. The other guy that I towed in loses the boat off the trailer and boat is now drifting towards my boat, I turn quick one full turn and punch it onto the out trailer fast. Trim up and got out of there fast. At this point I'm like OMFG!

We get up onto the surface and start to doc things down, the guy from the rental boat comes over and asks me if I knew anything about electrical stuff. So I grab my tools and voltmeter. When he opens the hatch the battery box was full of water, and the battery was arching! WTF! I said theres your problem right their! So this guy has no tools no voltmeter and no skills but works for a rental company and deploys and picks up boat all day long. My god! We got home safe thank god to my skills and thinking!

all in all I went to the front gate and told the guy running the thing, that they needed to have a proctor at the ramp 24-7 to controll the crazy stupid people down there at ramp #2. He called the park ranger to go down there to check things out. LOL! :livid:

Oh well I'm alive and family safe!

[Guest]

WOW, that will make you drink heavily - and if not a drinker, will make you one!

The ocean guys here are fairly good at ramps. Every once in a while we will go to the local big lake for some summer fun and we get all kinds of idiots like you describe - plus they act like I am not allowed to put in "such a big boat" on a lake. At it you drive down the right side to pick a lane on the 8 lane ramp, swing around left to your lane, back in - as I was trying to swing around, some idiot swings in behind me to use my lane, I get out and tell him what a bright young man he is, and he is yelling at me that it is my fault because I shouldn't bring such a big boat here. Needless to say, there was not enough room behind me to get his straightened out and into the water, so he cusses me out for not pulling forward. I got back into the truck and as I was "pulling forward", the weight of my "huge as* " boat "accidently" closed the gap with his rig and he had to get out of the way.

It is worse at the end of the day at all ramps I think.

[Guest]

I love having a slip.

This will be our second year at it.

I don't miss the public ramp!

[BLCarl]

The ramp is always fun Sunday evening entertainment.

I've learned to be careful offering assistance. The intensions are good but as often as not we can get sucked into a situation we wish we haden't entered. A quick jumpstart or tow can turn into a involved rescue or repair job that you don't want to be a part of. I sometimes wonder about liability issues if things go badly. I really perfer to be as helpfull as I can to a point. I've walked away feeling bad when the situation was more than I could handle.

Good for you for trying I'm glad it worked out.

[driz]

It sure sucks to be involved in the rolling disaster. On the other hand it can be a real blast to just sit back and watch it all happen from a safe distance.:hor-:hor-It reminds me of a monkey frolicking with football.................

[Guest]

I've learned to be careful offering assistance. The intensions are good but as often as not we can get sucked into a situation we wish we haden't entered. A quick jumpstart or tow can turn into a involved rescue or repair job that you don't want to be a part of. I sometimes wonder about liability issues if things go badly. I really perfer to be as helpfull as I can to a point. I've walked away feeling bad when the situation was more than I could handle.

This.

I always look at it as whether it was an honest mistake or complete unprepared stupidity. If they have jumper cables, I'd help them out. I will not hand over mine. If they need a tow, they provide a line. Oh, didn't bother to bring lines? You are stupid and my danger level just went up.

Call me an ***, but I've had a lot of experience helping out people who were just completely unprepared to even be on the water at all, and it always went poorly.

[Guest]

I truly believe if most states made it to where everyone had to pass a boating test to get some form of licence, there would be alot of boats for sale. I know some states do this! But damn some really need it! This lake is the third most deadly lake in Texas. Go figure! :worth

[Guest]

Jeff H wrote:
The ocean guys here are fairly good at ramps. Every once in a while we will go to the local big lake for some summer fun and we get all kinds of idiots like you describe

Interesting observation. We normally boat on Lake Erie and the Niagara River. Last summer, we visited a smaller local lake. The lake is very nice, but I was absolutely not impressed with the overall boating skill of the regulars. One local got caught by the sheriff for running on plane through a no wake zone. It wasn't hard for the sheriff to notice, because said boater throttled up right next to the sheriff's boat.

It seems like smaller lakes make everyone assume that there is no danger.

[Guest]

Once in a while my wife and I would just sit on a bench or a couple lawn chairs with a beer or two at the Point Defiance boat launch here in Tacoma, just to watch the fun, especially early in the year.

One of the all time best was a fellow, his buddy and his wife/girlfriend all getting ready to launch their 20' fishing boat. nice boat with an i/o and small kicker.

Girlfriend is walking down the dock holding a line, owner working on the trailer, and buddy backing the boat down the ramp.

As boat backs down ramp, owner un-hooks the safety chain and apparently releases the catch on the winch. About 20' from the water, driver touches the brakes and here goes the boat. It starts rolling down the trailer. Everyone watching now. Boat slides off the end of the trailer, onto the sea weed covered ramp. As it bangs to the ground, the outdrive is up but the kicker is down. When it hits the ground, the force is enough that it smacks the kicker, shoots it off the transom and about ten feet in the air. It comes down with a smack on the ramp.

Meanwhile the boat is sliding down the ramp, in the seaweed. its only going about 2 mph but there's no way to stop it as the winch keeps playing out.

Meanwhile the wife/girlfriend still has the line from the bow eye and is trying to dig her heels in to stop the boat. She looks llike part of a Flintstone movie. Boat slides all the way down to the water, where it finally stops with it barely touching the water. As owner and buddy are standing there, wife/girlfriend asks if she should tie it to the dock.

Once it was clear no one was hurt, it was really hard not laughing. To the guy's credit, he just hooked the winch line up and cranked that thing back up on the trailer without shooting anyone, threw the kicker in the back of the pickup and off he went.

[Guest]

Courtjeste,

That is a common rookie mistake. When backing up, I have found that you really need to be going at least 25MHP (80 KPH?) before you lock up the brakes. With a little practice, you can get the boat to fly right off the trailer, over the ramp and into the water. :kidding

[captharv]

I have helped a lot of boaters at a ramp. However, one thing I refuse to do is jump a dead battery.

The battery is probably sulfated and won't hold a charge. So the idiot will go roaring off and if he shuts it down or it stalls, he's paddling with his hands.

[Guest]

Glad I launch at ramp not open to public. One of the reasons I joined the yacht club was to not have to deal with general public to launch. Active membership 222 as of this writting. Keeps the launch lines nice an short and most if not all are pretty good launching their boats. Most summer weekends are always less the 40 launchs or less per weekend. Winter and fall boating season even less then that. Only a couple weekends a year that get busy with the worst being 4th of July weekend since it falls the same weekend as the opening of crab season, What is fish and game thinkin?

The main reason people watch our ramp is the size of boats being launched with many 30 foot and up boats launching. Seems many people do not get to watch a 38 foot bayliner or something like it being launched from a trailer and we often have people watching through the fence many of our club members. Not many watch me launch my 2455.

[Guest]

Since we started to keep our boat in a slip few years ago, I'm so grateful no to have to deal with the public ramps. Especially in the spring in our area we get yahoos that bought junkers from numerous storage yards in the area and trying out their new tubs.

It goes two ways usually;

1) They manage to back the trailer down the ramp, load coolers full of beer and tons of friends for "maiden voyage". When engine don't turnover they proceeds to open the engine hatch and stair at the engine for some time while a long line of impatient boaters waiting their turn at the ramp. This usually is followed by furious cranking until starter and/or battery dies.

2) They manage to start the engine, untie, and punch the throttle to WOT right in front of ramps. I usually meet these guys later a mile or two from the harbor break-wall broke down. Floating without working VHF or anchor, waving arms and obviously freaking out as night sets in on Lake Erie.

In the past I have towed few back. Last year I actually called CG on the scene as the boater in peril was intoxicated and adrift without PFD or VHF. Luckily the Coast Guard station is in the same harbor, they were out on the scene quickly and I left. In many cases I'm more scared of fellow boaters when out cruising than the elements. Seeing people load cases of beer in the morning when you know its gonna be a 90+ degree day, makes me wonder what shape they will be by the afternoon when its really hot. For some reason a lot of people treat operating boats as to some extent less serious than driving a car.

[Guest]

Too bad you didn't have another trailer for the other boat. Seems to me you had salvage rights to the boat once the captain abandoned it while it was under tow.

[Nikko]

We have a 5-lane ramp about three minutes from the house - very (very) popular in the summer. I do stop and watch - but I figured I've earned the right to as I've "been that guy". I was was "involved" with a boat coming off a trailer on the ramp, and I've also had the opportunity to say quite loudly "where's the #$%** plug?!?!?" at some point after the boat was launched

But for me, I'm astounded at how many people come down the ramp, launch the boat and then try to start it. 10 minutes later - they're around the point and drifting and inevitably, 1/2 hour later they're on their way back to the ramp, behind the boat of some kind sole who had a tow rope.

With trailer boats (and I've had a lot!) I never left the house without starting the boat and warming it in the driveway and on muffs. I'm just baffled at how anyone can NOT do that!