Stories from the public ramp

whale

whale

Junior Member
Well, I have read you guys tell lots of horror stories of things that have happened at the boat ramp.  Since I am lucky enough to have a cheap slip at a marina nearby I haven't had the experience of launching at a ramp.  

Well, my buddy asked me to help him pull his 24' Chaparel on Sunday.  He has always had his marina pull it and store it and never had a trailer.  He is trying to sell the boat and bought a trailer to keep it at his house.  So, he was bringing it by sea to the public launch near his house and I was waiting there for him with his wife.  

Two guys pull their 20' boat on the trailer and proceed to starting driving up the ramp when.....WHOOPS!  The winch was not engaged and no chain attached!  There she goes sliding right off the trailer on to the concrete ramp below.  To try and get the boat back on he backs the trailer up (couldn't winch it on) and basically just shoves his boat about 15 feet along the concrete back down to the water until it floated.  The only part of the boat in contact with the ground was the outdrive!!!!!  He was just pushing it along while the outdrive scraped along the ground hopping along.  

I was in awe......just insane.  The next guy had trouble getting up the ramp due to slippage on seaweed and backed so far down to get a run at it that the boat floated of the trailer.  I had to scream at him to stop to keep him from starting to drive with his boat attached to the winch but drifted 90 degrees to the side.  One other guy forgot to raise the outdrive on his and scraped it along for a few feet before noticing.

I wish I had my camera to share this experience!!!

We definitley had a list of "what not to do" by the time it was out turn.  All went smooth with my buddy's boat!
 
ouch.... ive seen a few winners in my day...... and Ive had ppl laugh at me when I went down the ramp on my arse from the slim...... luckly the only thing i hurt was my feelings..... ;D
 
I hear ya, some times when things aren't going right, i drive down to the ramp and realize, things aren't so bad ;D things some people do, I'll tell ya.
But being on a mooring this year, I do not miss it all ;D Usually we had litle or no wait going out, as we were usually the first boat, but comming in after a day of fishing, and have to wait and watch numb skulls try to pull there boat :P
 
one time I saw a guy winching his 32 footer by hand and did not have the trailer far enough in. well due to all the pressure the bow eye snapped and went flying by his head and right through the back window of his truck. shattered the glass and missed the guys head by an inch on the way by. :o :D
 
randlemanboater said:
Thats one of my favorite pass times for a summer evening, go down to the public ramp with a chair and a cool beverage and watch the show.
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That and watching 'em pull into our fuel dock, especially when the tide is really ripping.

Of course, I've never had any near-mishaps . . .
 
All of my boats are trailered, so I've seen some doozies in my day as well. I've got it down to where I can launch my boat faster by myself and park the truck before most can get there boats off the trailer. I can also load mine faster than most as well. When my father was still alive, we had it down to under a minute to launch and be off the ramp. The same to load and be off the ramp. Nobody likes to wait for people to be dragin there feet getting there trailer to the ramp.
 
I don't mind newbies learning and when things that go wrong, we've all had that happen. what gives me the most heartburn is someone who backs down and then starts unloading the car/truck into the boat...
 
phatdaddy said:
I don't mind newbies learning and when things that go wrong, we've all had that happen.  what gives me the most heartburn is someone who backs down and then starts unloading the car/truck into the boat...
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Amen brother, and they give YOU dirty looks like you're rushing them!
 
Oh I hear ya, all I got to say is get dressed @ home and have the boat loaded by the time you get to the ramp, other wise I'm goingto start chucking the empty Bud bottles @ you that are in the back of my truck ;D
 
I get dirty looks at the ramp for loading my boat in the loading area :-/. They all fly around me and back down a spot and then load there boats >:(. I don't understand some people, just because I drive a pink JEEP is no reason to be jealous ;).
 
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