And It Begins (Launch Ramp)
 

Spring is here in FL and the boats are headed out - With this, the ramp entertainment begins!!!!

We live about 800ft from the ramp and can see it from our porch.

Today, the weather is warm.. the water now swim warm and the ramp is full.
We have seen.....
PWC slide off trailer _ not hooked
the usual guy fussing at his wife for not holding the rope rite - (cant stand to see this)
Boat launch and floating off !!!
a couple of no starts after launch.

THE WINNER !!!!!!
Hear a comotion... look ... see a boat ,... bow down looking real funny.... notice a little bit of roof at the windshield sticking out of the water..... yes....boat, trailer and truck were launched. boat took on water as it was still attached to the trailer and went down as well.
The wife? Well she was standing on the dock, hands on hips and laughing.... you know... so hard she was gasping for air. either she is a good hearted overall positive person that make light of everything or .... well... she knows she will never get fussed at again for not holding the rope right.

And to this... this is only Saturday, we have spring break this week - 7 more successive days of entertainment to go!!!!

I hope you have a video camera!!!

Yeah, you need to be taking pics!!

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True.... every day there is a new event.... I feel for them... I will help when needed.... but sometimes you just gotta laugh.

You have to get a video cam for us northern people :D

Ramp stories are them best:D
I used to work with a guy who would take a six pack and his wife to the ramp late sunday afternoons for entertainment. He used to be a boater and got smart and got out while he still had some money left. So he understands the antics that go on at a ramp:crazy:

The ramp
 

Well.... the day is over. I tell you, I have NEVER seen a truck go off the ramp in person.

We are still waiting on the ..... "forgot the drain plug"
It WILL happen this week at some point.

The cam is a great idea. Only problem is (1) I dont have one (2) if I did ... it would have to be mounted on the dock or deck (3) i dont know if it would work well 800 +/- ft away.

Is a great idea though!!!

There is a ramp in Havasu where people drive their golf carts to just to watch. They set up lawn chairs and drink beer, and rate the people pulling their boats out.

The only problem is the occasional fist fight when someone does not like being laughed at. It gets brutal sometimes.:D

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All the more reason to grab a cooler and hop in the cart.

Ramp entertainment AND sideline action.

I do try and help. We often will get the ' no starts'.........ie: people who launch ... float out and then try to start the engine. They sometimes end up at our dock - depending on the wind direction.

The amazing thing is .... most of the 'no starts' floating by are due to a dead battery..... go figure

Hi Tech- sounds like fun...did you get hit bad few yrs ago when the storm washed all that sand up?

got to remember your checklist

Pull into parking area
load boat with remaining items that you
dont want stolen from your truck while your gone. :D
Check drain plugs, Make sure drive is raised
enough to launch,Turn on bilge blower, remove the bow hook IF you have bunks! :D
Back boat down ramp into water "PUT park break on" have wife/date fire her up " with the drive down"so your not floating there with a dead boat
"release park break" and park truck, get your ass back there quick because others are waiting.

coming back tie up to dock far away from the ramp
as to not interfer with other boaters.
Make sure you put the drive up as soon as you
shut her down , its easy to forget and certainly not worth all the laughting at would would get.
not to mention the damage .

I just dont unhook that bow hook. You never know when you going to have a dog or some kid run in back of your trailer and instict will determine how hard you hit the brakes.

I'm with you Mr. D....I never take off the bow hook until the boat is floating.

I dont have to worry I have a stepped hull and it cannot
slide off , the step would not be able to pass over the
rear bunks :D but I do see your point about the kids and dogs, but then again I back up slow.

Ramp
 

DOWNTOWN........Where we are.... the storm did not effect us at all - thank goodness. We are on the east side.... water to the west of us .... so hurricane winds going away from the dock. SW summer storms stirr things up a bit. Fortunately the sea wall keeps things at bay and a min of 4' of water at the wall prevents sand form shifting too much.

checklist
 

I always put drain plug in prior to getting to ramp and start engines on hose/cups prior to departing.

Back in ... loosen cable ..... climb in and start engine... wife unhook and hop in truck ... back up until off and she parks truck. She and I always watch bilge discharge from the moment the boat hits the water ...a habit started after noticing pump on while starting engine a few years back ... we discovered a leak (Hose split) just before backing off trailer.

Loading is even quicker..... trailer in water.. drive on... wife hooks & snugs cable..... pulls out while I shut down. You should never have to winch a boat on the trailer.

Hi Tech , you need to get one of those sightseer cameras, like the type they have a Niagra Falls!!!;)

Weather change
 

Well, with the wind out of the NW and the cold weather the action has slowed to a crawl.

few die - hard fishermen and thats it. They are calling for 80's by Thursday.

Camera with a zoom of some sort live online would be fun and a cool idea. Remonds me of the movie "American Pie" < Laughing>

Re: .
 

Reminds me of my all time favorite from when I lived in Huntington Beach, CA. Guys with nice boat and low-rider 60's Chevy back the boat nicely into the water. Driver then gets out, opens hood, and removes battery. Places battery in boat, starts it, and backs off the trailer. Removes the battery, takes it back to the car, pulls the triler out and goes to park the car. Once parked he again opens the hood, removes the battery, walks have way to the dock and then notices the hood is still open, walks back to shut the hood then to the dock. Puts the battery in the boat, starts it, and heads out.

Guess there wasn't enough $$ for gas, beer and a second battery.

-Greg

the one's that get me are those that park in front of the ramp and fish....can't launch the boat or anything cause they are blocking the whole dang thing.

Then you have those that fish from the ramp pier...even though your pulling up trying to put up...they'll just sit there with lines out in the water. Man some people

We have a launch ramp at my families marina and the entertainment value is just great. I've seen people burn clutches in manual trucks, drag outdrives, forget drainplugs, get truck and trailer twisted 90% while backing up, launch without anybody in boat with no ropes and bow unhooked. You also, especially at the begining of the season, get the no starts, after they tie boat to dock and park truck. We've had people ram the trailers when trying to pull out cause they backed in too far and tried to power on with the boat. Its amazing how far away you can smell that fiberglass. I have even helped people cause they were taking too long and got into their vehicles and luanched / retrieved the boats for them.

We keep my big boat 1 slip from the launch ramp in the Shark River here in Jersey. We get a show in the morning when everyone's launching, then after a day on the water, we can sit up on the flybridge, drink a few beers, and watch as everyone pulls out. I saw 3 boats land on the concrete last year. Always a good show. (and we have helped plenty of boaters too, so we are not completely evil. ) ;)

Not completely Evil!!!:D That's funny!!

We have "lakevision" on the great lakes, why not "ramp cam"? I don't want bad things to happen to other boaters... but... I don't want to miss it when it happens.
It would give us northerners something to watch.

Here's that lakevision site if anybody's interested.
http://www.lakevision.com/index.html

Go to "Camera Map" then select view.

Lakevision
 

Now that is cool.

<looking at ramp dock> yes there are cane pole fishermen out there now as a matter of fact.

I try and stay out of their lines. ---<Hmmmm> or is it I try and keeptheline out of the prop(s)