Good Day At Nolin
Took the wife to Nolin on 5 July. Got in the water at 7 am and was surprised to see the Moutadier Ramp area was nearly empty. Just a couple of us braving the mist and light fog. Frrom 8 to 1130 am, we caught white bass all over 12 inches, and fat, hard fighters on little Torpedo baits in many different spots from just above Ponderosa to right up behind Moutadier Marina. About 1130 am, the lake traffic went from light to totally nut-so, as could be expected for a holiday weekend. So we decided to ramp out.
Moutadier ramp was now busy, with 5 and 6 rigs lined up to ramp in and out at any one time and 3 lanes busy most of the time. I was really impressed with the ramp manners. Rigs were going in and out in record speed. Everyone had there stuff ready to go, whether ramping out or in, and traffic was flowing at a fast, and courteous pace.
I witnessed the absolute epitome of ramp manners and care for other boaters. A guy backed in a dual axled pontoon trailer and launched the pontoon. The trailer was the type that goes between the pontoons, rather than has bunks for the pontoons. As the pontoon boat came off, and the guy in his truck started to pull the rig up the ramp, both of the trailer's left side tires and wheels just fell of, and started floating by the trailer. The guy stop for a second to see what had happened and yelled back to his buddy on the launched pontoon to collect up the floating tires quick so they would not block the ramp. Next, he dropped the truck in gear and just dragged the wounded trailer on its left axles and right side remaining tires up into the parking lot, clearing the ramp for the heavy holiday traffic to continue ramping in and out. I am sure the guy knew he was going to wreck the left side of his axles doing this. I know he was gritting his teeth, but he just dragged the trailer off the ramp, sucked it up, and took care of everyone waiting to come in or out in doing so.
Hats off to this gentleman, and I truly hope his axles are not ruined. I applaud his actions and am thrilled to see this kind of total selflessness when it comes to taking care of others. Maybe the tires came off because he made a mistake when he repacked the bearings, or maybe somebody else made a mistake. No matter what the cause, I was really proud of this guy for doing what had to be done to save everybody else's boating trip from a delay. So guy if you are reading this, thanks from all of us, sorry it happened to you, and best wishes for speedy repairs. You are a gentleman, and you have my respect and admiration.
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