Ramp Tales.....(an oldie of mine)...

[Julian]

So we pull up to the single ramp at Silver Lake Marina (SE Wisconsin) and are behind one boat at the dock, but there isn't room at the dock to tie up so we hover off the end. A jeep with a jetski is putting in at the ramp. And it goes like this:

-jetski back down into the water
-owner walks back and begins to remove shorts, shoes etc
-owner gets into a chat with another lady
-owner puts on sunscreen
-owner finally gets on jetski and drives off
-Driver of tow vehicle completes chat with someone else.
-Jetski trailer and vehicle leave ramp.
-5 minutes pass.....no trailers appears for the boat that is blocking the dock
-Finally the boat on the dock realizes I am also waiting to pull out, and moves up the dock.
-We dock.
-Trailer arrives as I am leaving to get my trailer
-As I am walking to get my trailer, a truck with boat pulls down the ramp area truck first, blocking half the ramp.
-I return with my trailer, and now the boat that was in front of us is sitting next to the guy facing the wrong way, completely blocking the ramp.
-They empty their boat.
-They clean their boat.
-They go to the bathrooms
-They put lines away
-They take their sweet time (God forbid they move out of the way and clear the ramp)
-They finally move!!!!!
-I back in and hook up my boat, pull out, and clear the ramp so others can use it.
-According to my wife the guy that is backwards on the ramp clogs everything up trying to turn his rig around in the (very tight) ramp area, while the line of boats trying to get out before a storm hits grows and grows!

Man I was glad to drive away from that! It is amazing how many people are clueless about getting out of the way and clearing the ramp ASAP rather than chatting, cleaning, loading etc their boats while everyone else watches them!

But all in all we had a lot of fun....even the ramp idiocy was amusing because it was so self centered!

 

[Wayloncle]

I would have laughed about it, but my wife would have lost her mind on them...she has no patience.

 

[Zeus2013]

I always wonder what runs or does not run through their minds that it is ok to hog the ramps.

 

[Wayloncle]

I wonder that as well, I just can't imagine being that isolated in "my own little world" that you don't realize you are in the way of other people.

 

[octavio3311]

Last spring I witnessed a completely wintereized, shrink wrapped 25' pontoon back down the ramp. They dropped it in the water and then proceeded to open her up.
Unvelievable! I was already in the water, so I got out of there. But as I motored away I could see 1 boat in wait and a another pickup pulling in. I'm sure it got very interesting over there. I should've popped some popcorn and watched the show.

 

[Gym]

I've had that happen several times, (not as bad though) When it does I usually go over to the apparent captain and ask if I can give them a hand. Usually that's where you find out they are either new boaters or just stupid/inconsiderate. I've helped to launch and retrieve many boats of new boaters. The stupid/inconsiderates I usually point out the line of people waiting for them and ask them to hurry up.

 

[Volffas]

Last spring I witnessed a completely wintereized, shrink wrapped 25' pontoon back down the ramp. They dropped it in the water and then proceeded to open her up.
Unvelievable! I was already in the water, so I got out of there. But as I motored away I could see 1 boat in wait and a another pickup pulling in. I'm sure it got very interesting over there. I should've popped some popcorn and watched the show.

That's just a special kind of stupid!!!

We are lucky that the boat ramp that we usually use has plenty of parking. We always park out of the way and get everything ready before going to the ramp. Most other people do the same, but it seems like there is always one inconsiderate person every time. I never understand the people who park in the turn around to get their boats ready, or the people who park half way up the ramp after retrieving and take everything out of their boat. It really only saves them the 4 seconds that it would have taken to move a little further up and out of the way. {rant over}

 

[jdiaz78]

This is a great reason to have a slip...no waiting at the ramp!

 

[Lspeedss]

@jdiaz78 amen brotha

 

[Papa]

We are two lots from our community ramp. It is the best comedy show most weekends. Had two kids and their princes back a jet ski in one afternoon. They back into the water after about 5 tries and then one of the num nuts gets on the jet ski and the other releases the wench. N?Nuts cranks and puts it in reverse.... no movement. He rocks it back and forth and gives it the gas. Jeep starts sliding down. I tell them to release the tie downs on the back. I get that, "You old fart" look. N/Nuts #2 picks up the front of ski and pushes to the side and N/Nuts #1 gives it the gas and pulls jeep into the water deep enough to take on water in the rear. I just smile and wave. Gotta be tough if your gonna be stupid. Oh, the princes started crying because she was in the driver seat and they were yelling at her like it was her fault.
Thats just one of many.

 

[Shuck Water]

It's the reason why I built a sitting area on my slip. I've got a direct line of sight to the ramp and after a day of boating, just sit back and enjoy the fun. The best part is that there is also a boat rental next to the ramp. It's like watching a train wreck but in slow motion.

 

[upperdeck]

Milwaukee has fire works on the 3rd of July at the Lake Michigan lakefront. To say that there are thousands of boats out there is NOT stretching the truth. Getting out in a car can take hours. With boats at the ramp takes until 5 or 6 in the morning. I've witnessed drunks get into fist fights with the boats side to side, guys jumping onto other boats to get into fist fights. Its nothing less than incredible to see people like that.

Fortunately we were at a friends boat slip that night, but it was another one of those "I'll never do that again" moments.

 

[scokill]

My brother in law and I talked about producing a TV show called Ramp Adventures and selling it to CMTV, Fox Sports, or the like. We've been entertained so much over the years. We no longer get angry or upset as it's counterproductive. We offer to help when we can as most people are just ignorant of etiquette or don't have the competency or experience...although some are just jerks, but a small minority.

 

[Gym]

Two summers ago I witnessed two guys launching their boat. They were getting ready to go out fishing and seemed to have everything organized but I noticed they were rushing even though there was nobody waiting to launch or retrieve. As one started backing the boat towards the ramp the other guy was guiding. For some reason the guy driving backed the boat into one of the concrete guide posts on either side of the top of the ramp. He hit it pretty hard as he was moving pretty fast. The guy that was guiding him evidently owned the boat and became irate at his friend. I thought I was going to see fight.

After a couple of minutes of looking at the damage they decided they would still go out fishing and worry about the damage later. I couldn't believe this as the damage looked substantial. I walked over to look at the damage and it was very obvious they had breached the fiberglass below the water line. I told them that their boat wasn't seaworthy and they'd be calling the Coast Guard to get back home. At that they decided to call it quits and just do the après fishing thing.

 

[Glassman]

The BEST ramp story that comes to mind at the moment is the time at Lake San Antonio in central CA. Buddy of mine has a Ski Nautique and brought along a new high dollar prop for our week long trip. He installs the prop at camp and we head on over to the ramp. It's pretty wide and we essentially own it at the moment - no one else launching. He goes down along the side by the dock, I go straight down the middle - don't need no stinkin' dock.....I'm in the boat, wife finishes the drop and pulls up the ramp and drives on back to camp.

Meanwhile....I'm floating, watching my buddy....he and his son seem to be having an issue. It looks to me like they are trying to put the boat back on the trailer. I motor on over and yell at 'em. They look royally pissed off about something.....

I'm watching as they push the boat away from the trailer...then it motors back up to it, my buddy is screaming at his son, the son is screaming back. Back and forth...kinda funny to watch.

Next thing I know they load it and pull out, up the ramp they go and I watch them drive away.

So I take the boat over to where we are camped...go ashore and there they are swearing, cursing. I ask what the problem is......

They shipped him the WRONG PROP!

When his son put the boat in reverse, it went FORWARD! They couldn't figure it out at first, but since the old prop was back at camp they had to come back to switch it out.

 

[Brad_Ct]

Last summer I was eating lunch at the East Hartford ramp on the Ct. River and these two guys go to launch.

They back down the ramp and start to get the boat off the trailer but for some reason they decide not to and start to pull back up the ramp. Well I guess they forgot to lock the winch and the boat slides about half way off the trailer and the transom ends up on the ramp out of the water.

They then proceed to push the boat back into the water by backing up until it was semi level with the trailer and winched it back on.

 

[Speedling]

On a weekend, there is typically 8-10 people waiting to launch/retrieve at any given time on our lake. Parking is horrible.
Our trips are usually during the week or we get out very early and piss off some fishermen. Plus, we don't park there. My wife can't back in a trailer or drive the boat, so I back it in, she lets me off the trailer and I take off. She brings the truck back home and then gets her other car and meets me at a friends cottage where I pick her up. NO DRAMA!
Although, picking the boat up is sometimes a fiasco due to the kids, but that's a whole nother situation.

 

[Julian]

Milwaukee has fire works on the 3rd of July at the Lake Michigan lakefront. To say that there are thousands of boats out there is NOT stretching the truth. Getting out in a car can take hours. With boats at the ramp takes until 5 or 6 in the morning. I've witnessed drunks get into fist fights with the boats side to side, guys jumping onto other boats to get into fist fights. Its nothing less than incredible to see people like that.

Fortunately we were at a friends boat slip that night, but it was another one of those "I'll never do that again" moments.

But what an awesome place to watch the fireworks from!! We watched from someone's boat who has a slip too. Can't imagine the mayhem at the ramps after that!

 

[jdonalds]

Our local ramp, Centimudi on Lake Shasta, is usually a good launch experience. Most boats launch and retrieve in a reasonable, if not quick, succession. There are four lanes at this ramp. A few times someone takes a little longer but most here are patient so no tempers arise. However one day in the summer of 2013 there was a party which took at least 20 minutes at the ramp.

The trailer was a 4 bunk PWC trailer, with the skis placed end to end and side by side in a rectangle. So the trailer was about 25' long or so. In order to get the first two skis on they had to back well into the water. Then they would have to pull forward to get the second pair on. But none of this was going on for quite a long time. There were about 6 to 8 people involved. They had only one ski loaded while they talked, walked around in the ramp area in and out of the water seemingly with no purpose. They smoked cigarettes, and finally they managed to get the second ski on. They were just loading the last ski when my son and I pulled away from the dock on our two PWC. It had been easily 20 minutes since we came to the top of the ramp and saw them already with the trailer backed into the water. To top it off they were next to the dock, a prime launch location for many boats. If they had used any of the other three lanes it would have helped a bit.

Our SX210 launch technique is down to a science. If the ramp is busy we are launched in a matter of a minute or two. If the ramp isn't busy we do our prep at the water but still it takes us less than 3 or 4 minutes. BoatBuckles help A LOT.

 

[tdonoughue]

I always wonder what runs or does not run through their minds that it is ok to hog the ramps.

"Minds"? Hmmm... Methinks that word does not apply.