Ramp manners

[charlie1]

There's a very good reason for waiting until the boat is backed down to the water before undoing the straps (well, the one in the front, anyway). As far as the other stuff I agree with you.

[SlopFishin]

I wasn't talking about the front strap. I was talking about the back ones.

[charlie1]

It's actually pretty funny to watch someone that forgot to unhook the back straps if they have a light trailer. You ever seen that? They unhook the front strap, the boat floats the trailer up with it and the person in the boat wonders why the boat won't back off the trailer. What a hoot.

[glenmorebuckman]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Mar-27-06 AT 06:32PM (EST)[/font][p]>It's actually pretty funny to watch
>someone that forgot to unhook
>the back straps if they
>have a light trailer. You
>ever seen that? They unhook
>the front strap, the boat
>floats the trailer up with
>it and the person in
>the boat wonders why the
>boat won't back off the
>trailer.What a hoot. Yeah it tickled the living daylights out of me the first time I seen it happen!It just happened to be my brother and his family that were launching. It was also funny the second time I seen it happen. I should have unhooked them before I backed down the ramp.It sure isn't hard to figure out why a boat that you've launched a hundred times won't come off the trailer!!!

[plowboy]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Mar-27-06 AT 05:30PM (EST)[/font][p]Boy if hooking the back straps and putting the transom saver was all they were doing I wouldn't have thought anything of it. They were apparently moving all the contents of a house boat into the boat and truck. The cart they wheeled down the dock was huge. And after making me wait that long to see them drag out the Ranger travel tarp and proced to put it on and tighten every strap was unbelievable to me. I seriously thought about saying something but I wasn't going to let it ruin a day on the water for me. I would have been mad after a verbal confrontation and wouldn't have been able to concentrate on what I was there for, fishing. It would have been so easy for them to wheel the cart up the hill a little bit and loaded and tarped it there. Well I had a pretty good day and only lost 20 minutes so I can't complain too much.

[eatsleepfish]

I ran accross a very similiar situation a few years ago at Cumberland. After 15 minutes of watching this family load what seemed to be all of their earthly possessions into the back of their Ford Excursion, they still made no effort to hurry up and get away from the waters edge to clear a lane so that we could launch. So I decided to offer to help them. I walked right up to the man of the family and said " need any help?" He gazed right at me and seemed to be stunned. "No," he replied. "Sure you do," I said as I procceded to pick up a bag of sun-suplies and beach towel and put them in the back of the vehicle. "I think me and my family can handle it," he said. "I don't mind at all to help you sir," I said sarcassticly. "Stop touching our stuff," he replied! "Stop coming to our lakes and blocking our ramps that our taxes paid for!" (he was not of Kentucky origin) He soon got the whole family back into the car and drove to the top of the parking lot and finished packing. Did he cuss at me, oh yes he did. Did I make my point, OH YES I DID!

remember... eatsleepfish

[Chubminnow]

Fishgurl - As for the entertainment value...If I had more time I would take me a lawn chair AND a video camera and do just what you said, because I know sooner or later I'd have a shot at that $10,000.00 dollars on America's Funniest Home Video's...

[plowboy]

On a more serious note I have seen parents let their kids play and swim on the ramps while people were trying to launch. If it were my kid I would have never let them be around someone backing a boat or on the ramp to start with. And on a less serious note Paul Harvey told of a couple that bought there first boat and when it wouldn't plane out they went to the nearest dock to find out that they had the trailer still attached to the boat. I wouldn't believe it if it hadn't been Paul Harvey telling it. Still hard to believe.

[charlie1]

I remember the first time I heard that story, except it was a "blonde story". I remember laughing my rear end off. Then I got to thinking - wouldn't the person have to disconnect the trailer hitch and lights in order to do that? Of course they would! It's still a funny story though.