Showed my a** at the ramp this weekend

[jet-r-done]

I'm going to vent, because ramp courtesy is one of my biggest pet peeves!! So our marina has 4 ramps (if people know how to back). A single ramp on the left, a dock, a double ramp in the middle ( which most D-bags think is just a giant single ramp for their personal use) another dock, and then a single ramp on the right. To the right and left of these are multiple docks and wet slips. I can't figure out why people insist on tying there damn boats up to the docks in the middle of the ramps. So like I do every time, I park my boat at one of the docks or empty slips ten feet down from the ramps and pack up what I can for the day. My wife stays with the boat while I go get the truck and get in line for the ramps. Finally I get the trailer backed in, and walk the 10 feet over and get the boat which my wife already has running and ready to step in and go. We are working on teaching her how to back and load, but I have enough courtesy to know Memorial Day weekend is not the time or place for giving lessons (which others apparently did not!) So I pull around and start to line up with the trailer and find some kid with 2 jet skis tied up behind my trailer. To the left of that is someone's 24'searay with no owner in sight tied to the other dock. And I loose it!! I lay on the horn for a few seconds and shout at the kid "An entire marina worth of parking and you have to tie up in front of the ramp"! You could tell he was embarrassed and started to try and pull the skis against the dock but one would float back out as soon as he let go to grab the other. I was able to ease around him, but it made my approach crooked and had to spend extra time getting straight on the trailer. The guy next to me, since I gave enough room to put 2 vehicles on the double ramp, was irritated too since his wife was having to weave around the abandoned sea Ray to get on the trailer. My wife was already in the truck, and pulled out into the parking lot as soon as the bow strap was secured and I gave the signal. From the time my trailer hits the water to leaving the water is 3 or 4 minutes. I look for that to shorten as soon as I get her backing comfortably. Since I'm venting, why do people insist on fishing infront of the ramps and then giving me dirty looks like I'm in your way. Again, you have an entire marina or river for that matter to fish in!!! Ok I'll step off my soap box.

 

[scokill]

I used to get upset about stuff like that, but over the years I try not to get upset but go with the flow and do things in the nicest way possible. I have extra patience on holidays. Yesterday there was a guy prepping his two PWCs on the ramp. I made sure he knew I was there and he picked up the pace. I backed down and we were out in 15 seconds. It was an extra 2-3 minutes waiting, and he could have been more courteous, but in the grand scheme of things it wasn't that big of a deal and not worth ruining a good day on the lake.

 

[itsdgm]

It can definitely be frustrating around a dock on a holiday weekend which is why I don't go on those days. But if you're telling me that you were in and out in 3-4 minutes, I think that you did pretty well. Last time I went on Memorial Day weekend (20 years ago) it was well over an hour wait just to get the trailer to the water to launch/retrieve. Don't let those other idiots get under your skin and ruin your weekend.

 

[Chillypilot]

And that folks is why I keep my boat in a slip.

 

[MattFX4]

It's always the PWC's! They tend to hover and float around the ramps at our lake and it pisses me off so bad. It's hard enough to get these boats on the trailers as is, much less trying to maneuver through a pack of PWC's floating in front of the ramps.

 

[Trevor Shipman]

The launch never disappoints. This guys boat apparently flooded and so he had to run it up with no trailer to avoid sinking. The right after I pulled up, one of the wildlife guys yelled at a jetski bc he was causing a wake. Yelled at him to come over. When he did, he rammed the nose of the ski right in the dock. He told the officer he had gotten a ticket earlier for no wake and well let's put it this way, he ended the day with 2.

 

[Joe Hellaby]

The fishing bother me a ton. I like fishing as much as the next guy, but people make me crazy fishing near the launches or boat docks. What drives me nuts is how they like to get one more cast in, right as your pulling up.
I thought for sure this past weekend I was going to suck up someone's fishing line at the launch docks.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I echo your rant @jet-r-done !!

 

[scokill]

And that folks is why I keep my boat in a slip.

If I paid for a slip around here I could buy a couple of boats.

 

[Actual]

Common courtesy does not seem to be so common. Just this weekend I was pulling out of a very popular local spot with tight parking and a small single lane ramp. I had the boat prepped for loading before getting up to the ramp and had my guest prepped on what to do. We pulled up and tied off and I left my wife and guest watching the boat. I was the only person departing at the time so there was no line. I was literally in my SUV in reverse when two 20 somethings towing a small Ganoe cut in between me and the ramp and backed down to drop their boat and gear. They then proceed to unload what appears to be the entire contents of the vehicle into an impossibly small boat while on the ramp. They also stopped a couple of times to have conversations which caused one of my high strung guest waiting with my boat to yell at them that it "Was not a F&@@#$ convention center". They started moving faster after this and eventually got out of the way. We where loaded and out of the way with only a few minutes of ramp time. The moron lost his chance to get my prime parking spot and instead had to walk quite a ways after parking his vehicle when he could have just waited for mine.

Frankly I'm in agreement with Scokill I used to let this kinda of crap bother me but now I just let if roll on past. We had a GREAT day on the lake and if I let every moron I run across ruin my day then there is no need in going since there seems to be an abundance of them. I just try my best to not be one of the morons on the water.

I also pilot my boat my very defensively assuming any nearby boats with the capability of colliding with me will do so if given the opportunity.

 

[waterboy]

Holiday weekends always draw them out on the water and at the ramp. On Saturday at our local Jordan Lake....

- we had stopped to pull in the tube outside of a cove and in the main part of the lake, yet some guy decides to tow his rider between me and the shore which was about 50 ft away rather than on the other side of me that had the whole lake,

- later when we went back to the ramp to load up, note we always get off the lake early on holidays to avoid the crazies, anyway, right after we loaded our boat on the trailer, some guy pulls his boat in and hit the boat next to where I was, he eventually made it over to tie off OK.

It was tight in the parking lot too, but no incidents while we were there. Gotta love holiday weekends!!!

 

[Blazin14]

I agree, ramp etiquette bothers me too.

1) no fishing from the dock while people are loading /unloading
2) when returning, do not drop off your buddy to get truck then back out from dock. Now one know you are in line. (must be a bass boat thing)
3) do not add bumpers, remove transom latches, put plug in boat while loading. Do that in the parking lot.
4) do not butt in line when returning to dock or launching, use common courtesy
5) once you unloaded your boat, move it, so the next boat can launch.
6) when a storm is coming, the boater on the water should have the right-away to ramp access (safety first). Jet skier launching at 5PM when the sky is black need to wait.

 

[McMark]

I don't sweat the ramp stuff too much but then I don't usually do holiday weekends. I don't really like crowds.

 

[JTC1016]

We had some good people watching at the ramp too. We went to a smaller more out of the way ramp since it was a holiday weekend and unfortunately there was a carnival set up in the park next to the launch so the overflow lot was closed. This launch only has 2 ramps but usually the boaters here are pretty courteous and operate by the same rules. Aside from having to park pretty far away we had no issues on launch.
When we came back in, I dropped my brother-in-law off at the courtesy ramp to go get the trailer. When I saw him heading down I made my way over toward the ramp that was open . A guy made the drive around move and cut in front of our trailer and backed his boat down to launch, WITH A FULL COVER STILL ON! They had not done one thing to prep the boat despite the provided and marked prep area. Oh well, I guess you have to expect that on a holiday. Within a few minutes the other ramp opened up and 3 boats pulled out before that boat was off the ramp.
It was a gorgeous day on the water though.

 

[007]

Since I don't ramp as much now, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of chaos when I pulled my boat on Monday. 4 lanes wide, 3 boats ramping at once. Only one idiot and one couple who were having issues loading that could have happened to anyone.

Now the @holes who wouldn't let me over on the highway as I was getting merged into 15 minute from home while towing the boat...the one who flipped me off as his wife drove by looking down at her text/phone and weaving her shiny Range Rover as I narrowly averted a major highway accident...they deserve a special place in hell.

 

[Zeus2013]

I have TONS of frustration with lack of courtesy and not following boating rules/laws at the ramp and on the water. The problem is that most people don't think beyond the end of their nose. Boating is not simply owning a boat and cruising around.

 

[Noko]

I didnt put the boat in at all this weekend. Too many morons out. We have all week to boat with the lake being mostly empty.

But is it just me???? It seems every time Im in a parking lot, someone is trying to park while theyvare on their phone or people are walking behind cars backing up. It seems people have lost all sense of courtesy.

 

[DieselCamel]

I agree, ramp etiquette bothers me too.

1) no fishing from the dock while people are loading /unloading
2) when returning, do not drop off your buddy to get truck then back out from dock. Now one know you are in line. (must be a bass boat thing)
3) do not add bumpers, remove transom latches, put plug in boat while loading. Do that in the parking lot.
4) do not butt in line when returning to dock or launching, use common courtesy
5) once you unloaded your boat, move it, so the next boat can launch.
6) when a storm is coming, the boater on the water should have the right-away to ramp access (safety first). Jet skier launching at 5PM when the sky is black need to wait.

we load and unload this this most days. Not sure what the issue is unless you don't have other courtesy docks. Park at the courtesy dock till you back you trailer in then move your boat to the ramp to load. No need to block the ramp for those that are only 5 mins to load. I feel that if you trailer isn't at the ramp your boat shouldn't be either if there are courtesy docks

 

[robert843]

Well I have not had my boat out in three weeks but the last time out I almost lost it at the ramp but the guy in front of lost it first. The ramp we use is a three lane ramp as I'm pulling down I notice one truck waiting to launch but all three ramps appear to be free so I'm confused at first. As I get closer I realize the hold up. Apparently a Kayak tour company has decided to start using our ramp as a tour launch point. Their version of doing this is to pull up with the trucks and trailers and dump 20 or so kayaks across all three ramps. So after 20 minutes of watching this group sit and talk on phones and go into the marina gift shop and buy tee shirts and other novelty things the guy in front of me decided it is time for them to start their tour. He proceeds to set up to start backing down one of the ramps and the scramble begins I have never seen people get in kayaks and get moving so fast once they realized he was coming down that ramp whether they were there or not I was laughing so hard watching everyone try to get off that lane before he could run the kayaks over with his trailer. The rest of the group proceeded on there way a few moments later and I was able to launch then as well but it was an interesting experience. I saw the guy who was in front of me at the island later and he was still fuming I'm glad I didn't let it get to me that bad..

 

[jet-r-done]

Well there is a good ending to this day. Now for the rest of the story... So my wife and I finish getting everything put away and secured for the drive home, and start to pull out. This guy comes running across the parking lot flagging me down. I'm thinking oh great.. Here is the father of the kid I blew up on earlier, or some other bystander who is going to give me the "we are all fellow boaters" speech and how I should be more understanding ect. ect. So I stop and roll my window down. He tells me he has an 07 SX230 (which was odd because I usually spot and notice every Yamaha within 10 miles and hadn't seen him or his boat) and is looking at trading up to a new 240 and wants to know if I had a few minutes to talk and let him look at mine. Suddenly I was all smiles. "WHY YES SIR I DO" !!We spent about 15 minutes going from one end to the other and comparing his 07 with my 15. I also gave him the website for us and told him to join and that any other questions he had could be answered here. We'll have to see if he drops in. Now I just need to get in touch with his dealer so I can let them know where to send the commission check!