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View Full Version : More ramp crap to share VENTING!



Bryan Tuvell 33ZX
07-28-2002, 08:49 AM
I had posted awhile back about a guy who thinks the city ramp/dock is a marina with his boat that don't run, we had a confrontation etc and the cops came.... since, the last couple weeks he has been gone.
UNTIL yesterday, when I guess he really thought it was a marina and had two of his boat buddies tied up etc taking up the entire dock, the ramp was the only vacancy!
Being the rocket scientist I am, I yelled to the first boat owner "are you going in?"
And the SOB said "Just take the GxD Damn Donzi to the ramp!" EXCUSE ME, and he said it again!
For once I just bit my tongue, kids were onboard as always.... It is just to damn bad that me and my buddy's get crap at this ramp, we all have nice boats and rigs etc. I almost feel like we are being punished for working hard and having nice things!
ROADTRIP, next weekend when we launch for the POKER RUN with NO children it could get interesting!
Thanks for letting me vent.
Oh, and if I may say so, that Donzi sure does look good at the ramp! F'em.... :D
LOL
Bryan

fasttrucker
07-28-2002, 09:05 AM
man thats a drag.at my marina we are asked to leave the dock asap so other boats can be put in.or out when they are bizzy.cost is $1440 per yr.for the rack rent.but they have a great pool for the kids,canvas shop, two mech shops.one merc dealer other performance shop(tony).i have a really bad sort of red-neck trucker crazyness :rolleyes: if i get pissed off.so im glad i wasnt with u on that ramp.donzi rules! wink

MOP
07-28-2002, 09:27 AM
No matter where you go the ramps are a pain. The one I love is you back down and patiently wait for the boat sitting on the ramp dock to move. But it just sits there, so you walk down and ask are you moving soon? No I have to wait for my friends. Or you come in, my place has room for 4 boats to get in or out but guess what both side have boat tied up with no one in them. You look up into the lot there is alot of people so who do you holler at, so you wait sometimes way longer than you should. Then one of the SOB's come down and give you a dirty look like I am bothering them.

Truisum: LIFE IS A **** SANDWICH EVERY ONCE AND AWHILE YOU HAVE TO TAKE A BITE!

Sagbay32
07-28-2002, 09:53 AM
Bryan,
Sorry to hear about your continued launch ramp woes.

We were at my Dad's boat yesterday (in Northeastern Michigan) and needed to fuel up before we could go out. To give you a little background on the situation: It's his first season at this marina and the the place is owned by a good friend of his.
I had a talk with some Jacka$$es from South Dakota who wanted to work on their "kicker motor" at the "one at a time" gas dock. They gave me the brush off so my Dad ended up going for the management (after coming close to taking on the biggest of the 3 South Dakota fishermen). They ended up being asked to leave and all went well. It was kinda close for a second during the heated exchange and I thought for sure I was going to have to jump in on it in front of my Wife and 5 year old Son. That is what is what pi$$ed me off the most.

The 3 non-real boaters weren't even from the Marina, but were only launching there. They were demanding warranty work on their Merc motor and the Marina isn't even a Merc dealer. The mechanic (a very big guy) told them to leave and not come back.

What could have been a no brainer for the outa towners ended up being another sad day in the world of boating manners.

harbormaster
07-28-2002, 09:56 AM
Bryan,
get his boat numbers and preferably his license plate numbers off of his tow vehicle. I can then show you how to have lots of fun at his expense.

BOATMON
07-28-2002, 09:59 AM
Bryan,

Why not try and use your Military Networking tools and hook-up with the local Coast Guard Boatcrews from the area, maybe Station Portsmouth. It might be interesting to see the result of your boat ramp friends tied to the dock all day trying to comply with Federal Law. Of course I’m not suggesting anything inappropriate. Its just that tempered attitudes usually deserve more scrutiny than nice family’s enjoying the day! :D

Good Luck,

Brad

undertaker
07-28-2002, 10:03 AM
Bryan, there are a lot of boaters out there who have no clue about boating in general and ramp rules, it comes down to common sense which now a days nobody seems to have. Keep you head up.

undertaker
07-28-2002, 10:18 AM
Bryan are you coming to Jackson marine poker run?

Digger
07-28-2002, 03:38 PM
Bryan lets get together someday and write a book entitled "The Boat Launch Ramp...The right way and the wrong way"

I think it will be a thick one.

oh, thx for the email about the fender!!

Cuda
07-28-2002, 04:46 PM
I had two today. While we were waiting to back into the launch, one guy goes around us and launches between the docks. That's no problem, when I have my 18 that's what I do too. We don't need a dock. But then he runs the boat over to the dock I'm backing in. As I've got the lines and Debbie is backing, I tell him there isn't enough room for both boats at this dock, I backing in a 24 footer. His reply is, I'll only be here a minute while I park my truck. What the hell did he think we were trying to do. I pointed out that that is the reason everyone waits their turn. He ties off anyway, and goes to park his truck. Meanwhile his boat drifts forward into mine. I was pissed. This jack ass was in such a hurry, there was no one else waiting behind me. I untied his boat and pulled it back and tied it to the piling. I wanted just to set it adrift, but I didn't.
The other one today was after we were on the trailer trying to get out of the park, the guy in front stops right on one of the turns to get out of the park to tie down, put rods away etc. Where he was, he had two roads out blocked. It didn't really bother me, so while he was doing it, we got the stuff out of our boat for the pull home. Then some a$$hole pulls up behind us and starts giving Debbie crap, asking if this looked like a picnic area to her. I wanted to ask him and his 3 buddies if this looked like a 38 special, but instead I just hollered him down and asked him where the f$#K he thought we could go with the guy stopped in front of us.

BTW, I searched for the guy that launched in front of us, I was going to give him some well aimed wallowing wakes as I passed by his 16 foot ski boat. I did see him as we were anchoring about 7 miles from the dock, but it wasn't worth the effort to pull the anchor to go swamp him.

David Ochs
07-28-2002, 05:01 PM
We've all had experiences with launch ramp neanderthals. My pet peeve is those that can't seem to be prepared before they get on the ramp. Ie: removing tiedowns, transferring coolers and making miscelaneous repairs.
Nonetheless, the launch ramp can be an entertaining spot to perch a chair and watch these idiots peform what we consider routine prodedure. My favorite was to see a guy unhook his bow and back down, only to launch the boat on the ramp about ten feet short of the water!
Let's face it guys', we might as well get used to the fact that these situations will only become more common. Boating ethics ain't what they used to be.

Shanghied Again
07-28-2002, 05:10 PM
Heck, I live right across the street from our ramp, About 10 of us hold the title and people come from all over and fight with us about everything, They block the ramp, They fight amoung each other, We even had a guy drive his car in first before the boat, We told him just float the boat over your car, He didn't like that comment! But what would you expect from an idiot that drives his car in first. Sometimes I feel I should write a book! Bryan they can make you nuts! There is one guy that puts in his Jet boat, Leaves his car and trailer in the ramp and goes for a ride on his boat! He was told if I ever see you do that again I personally will pull your car and trailer Down the street with a tow chain! eek!

Bryan Tuvell 33ZX
07-28-2002, 06:18 PM
Great comments, thanks, glad to know it happens to everyone and not just us!
I always figure my politeness pays off, like when an elderly gentleman couldn't get his jet ski off the trailer, then when he did he couldn't turn around with out smacking one of the boats, so I just walked him all the way out to the channel.
The ramp is almost always an adventure...

I still believe being the nice guy will pay off someday.
Bryan

roadtrip se
07-28-2002, 07:08 PM
Bryan,

Got your back, next weekend!

Funny, this kind of stuff doesn't happen too much here in Texas. Might have something to do with the right to carry a concealed weapon laws that keeps everyone civil!

Todd

Bryan Tuvell 33ZX
07-28-2002, 07:51 PM
TODD, your too funny.
Boat is in tip top shape ready to Rock, all maitenance is done, she ran GREAT yesterday etc....
I have some minor detail work to do with my toothbrush, otherwise she is all set! :cool:

OH, someone commented about the Coast Guard, in my other thread I mentioned HE (coastie auxillary) was who called 911, in his filthy uniform and reaked of booze! :mad: He was collecting alum cans from the trash bens, God knows most boats return with a bunch of them.

Sorry I am not off the bandwagon yet! LOL wink

HARBORMASTER, do tell how.....
Bryan

HyperDonzi
07-28-2002, 10:02 PM
optimal funny viewing times are on any holiday weekend throught the boating season. july 4th is a treat, most weekend warriors decide to put their boat in on this particular day (no wonder the lines are going 1/4 mile down the road!) watch then while sipping on lemonade...

Formula Jr
07-29-2002, 02:06 AM
Some of you guys should move to Oregon. If you even SEE another trailer at the ramp, its a special occassion............ :D

Tomahawk
07-29-2002, 06:39 AM
Owen - you should take a look sometime at the launch ramp in Portland on Marine Drive. It's about 6 lanes wire but with no lines or curbs and about a 5 knot current from the Columbia River. Difficult anytime. Great fun late on Sunday afternoon!

HyperDonzi
07-29-2002, 09:37 AM
formula jr, i liked cumberland, the ramp was so big, here, we got a monsterous 4 lane ramp and normally 2 lanes are all that you are able to use because someone cant back down strait. but then again, this dosent bother me for 2 reasons.
the first is i probably couldnt back a trailer down and the second is i have a season dock. the only prob with a season dock is the old fart who ties up in my slip and when i ask him to move, he replies "this is a courtesy dock, i have been here since before the lake was here...." normally works out fine though

Barry Phillips
07-29-2002, 11:32 AM
Last weekend my wife and I dropped in the 18 for a evening ride, ramp was not that crowded, we are a team, a well oiled machine, we can slip the boat in or pull it out and be on our way in 10 mins or less. Last week thier where 2 idiots on either side of the of the ramp dock. One guy set his trailer to deep and the boat keep on floating off while he was winching, his wife or whatever, sat in the truck and offered him no help, it was painfull to watch. On the other side of the dock 3 guys tie up and no one is going up for a car. They where dropping a friend off and the boat owner started cleaning up the boat while the other guy was giving the guy being dropped off directions to Saratoga Springs I sat thier for 15 or 20 mins.
When I was hulled out and on my way the guy was walking out of the parking lot draging hid cooler behind him. I my experience the smaller the boat the the longer the process seams to take. PWC's are the worst on my lake.

SO-SLO

Surfer
07-29-2002, 02:08 PM
I just have two words to add to this "Jet ski's" waited a half hour while six of them tried to figure out how to get 'em started, on the ramp!

David Ochs
07-29-2002, 09:54 PM
Maybe we should publish a do's and dont's pamphlet on boat ramp courstesy. It could be a cool way to get the point across without confrontation. I'm sure I'd need at least one per launch. Who wants to write it?!

HyperDonzi
07-29-2002, 10:56 PM
im up for helping distribution...

Formula Jr
07-29-2002, 11:11 PM
This one was kinda funny. At South Sound we were wait'en at the ramp with another fella wondering what the heck the guy on the ramp was doing. He goes down and then jack knifes the trailer and boat so its all under the pier to the docks. Completely off the ramp on the rocks. Oky, so we find out this old guy has a plan. He's going to throw some lifting belts up over the pier and then, REMOVE HIS ENGINE. Once he got his truck out of the way, we could "Play Thru." It worked out, but really, here we were out in the middle of nowhere, in this beautiful area, and this old guy is using the public pier, slinging straps - to remove his engine??? Sometimes ya just have to laugh it off.

boldts
07-29-2002, 11:56 PM
Be glad to help out with the publication on launch ramp edicate.

While up in Michigan on Lake StClair and preparing to put my boat back on the trailer, I tie the boat up and go get my truck. I was by myself, usually Beth moves the boat out of the way until I bring the trailer to the ramp. Saves a ton of time since we don't have to get the ropes or the bumpers out. Anyway the folks on the ramp next to me have a girl sitting in the boat and the boat is not tied to anything. As they back the trailer in, they push the boat back out into the channel. Now the girl is freaking and finally finds an oar to begin paddling the boat back to the dock. The boose on the breath would light a flame 20 yards away. I get back and untie my boat and put her on the trailer in no time. The group next to me now have their boat hanging half way off a roller trailer and the outboard is being dragged up the ramp. I tell them they need to lift the engine and crank the boat the rest of the way onto the trailer. Needless to say, I got the heck out of there. No matter what launch ramp I am at or how many people are with me, I always pull back to the parking lot and look for an open slot or area to begin packing up my boat. Most of the time, I meet another performance boat owner who pulls up following my lead. Nothing worse than someone pulling to the top of the ramp and stopping, blocking others from both pulling out and backing in their empty trailer. As for anyone who may have words for me because I'm helping someone who needs it? The thru hull can get awfully loud when you want it to! Excuse ME, I don't hear you! :D

Formula Jr
07-30-2002, 04:37 AM
And then there was Conchas Lake in New Mexico. Sometimes its the whole scene, not just the ramp.

After first hand experience with this lake during a holiday, I can without question, title it the "Most Dangerous Lake in the US."

This is the only time, in a long career of boating, that I decided the Lake was so full of idiots that I wasn't even going to splash it. Imagine if you will, an entire population of boaters too s***faced to be on the water. Literally falling down on the ramps and breaking beer bottles. Launching with the straps on. Launching with the drives down scraping the concrete. Launching with out the Keys. Trailers backing into people, knocking them over. People screaming, "Where's the f'ing drain plug!" People falling out of boats at the dock. Non-locked down outboards that flew back when they slammed it in reverse. Wasted parents inattentitive to their children. This is 9am.

Three, count them, Three, EMTs deployed and in action at seperate sites. And get this; its a dry county. I saw at least five near misses on the water from my bluff campsite, zero comprehension of right-of-way. All the while class C fireworks are going off everywhere. By 8pm the scene got stranger still. "There is a dog in my mind," kind of stuff. Closest thing to a conversation with a local was an off hand comment as to whether I had ever had sex with a squirrel. It was a short conversation.

I had considered at one point if I had entered a twilight zone of boater hell....... That's Conchas Lake.

Rotated the tires on my van and left.....

wink

KMLFAMILY
07-30-2002, 03:36 PM
Did ya see the new FORD pick up commercial ? " Boy did that sink fast. YEAH, LIKE A ROCK "

Tidbart
07-30-2002, 04:20 PM
I love this post, keep it going. More boat ramp stories!

Barry Phillips
07-31-2002, 11:38 AM
During a dry season with a low lake level, I saw a guy get his Bronco in to deep, when he launched the boat the ass end of the truck began to float killing his 4 wheel drive, the truck was off the pavement and stuck. He buried the the front end trying to drive it out submerging it. The best part was when he tied to pull it out of the hole with the boat, I though he was going to rip the tansom out of it. He finally called a tow truck to winch him out. I could go on for ever.

SO-SLO

mattyboy
07-31-2002, 12:31 PM
hey guys just remember,we all make mistakes :p
we were all starters at one point! I'll post some stories after I launch!!!
hey if you can't laugh at yourself who can you laugh at!!!! where's the plug???turn left go right except when looking in the mirrors then fake left go right. walk till your hat floats!!!!

Matt :p :D

HyperDonzi
07-31-2002, 12:34 PM
iv watched that happen a few times. the look on someones face is always the best. i remember someone just got a new red cherokee laredo and a nice 25 foot fourwinns and they lost the laredo the first time they used it to pull the boat.
when i get pics from my dad, i will show you guys some nice baja submarine pic's!!

mattyboy
07-31-2002, 08:48 PM
told ya I have a story, tonite after a good run around the lake dock the boat go to the bar a guy pulls up sinks a PWC trailer locks his doors and walks to his slip with 2 pwc's for his spring cleanup( this jumbroni must be going on vacation somewhere) so he starts the pwc and fills the entire area with blue smoke then drives one of em over to the trailer loads it, then walks back does the same with the other, while 5 people wait and could have been out of the water, so one guy is steaming over on the other side of the docks then the words start, I was gonna go over but I had an oil change(4 pints) while this nimrod was polishing his pwc, Marie told me to "sit down and shutup little man" she wasn't gonna bail me out this time

Matt
ain't been called little since 3rd grade

HyperDonzi
07-31-2002, 11:10 PM
oil change huh?

Sagbay32
08-01-2002, 05:30 PM
Mattyboy, I loved the oil change comment. A new one for me an the boys to pass around!

My Grandma was a McGillis, and My Dad brews Belgian beer.....does that count :D

Bryan Tuvell 33ZX
08-01-2002, 07:16 PM
Well this weekend is our big poker run, so I am sure there will be some ramp stories to share Sunday.
But with ROADTRIP aboard I think we will be fine, we know he is not easily excitable!!! eek!
Bryan

mattyboy
08-01-2002, 07:21 PM
Yes it counts Sagbay!
Bryan, good luck at the ramp and in the poker run!

ummmmm!! beligian beer and belgian waffles the breakfast of champions!!!!!!

Matt

Wildfire
08-01-2002, 09:00 PM
Here's two:

New driver and new owner. Owner yells at driver to pull out of the water. Driver floors it. Truck is still in reverse. Only got the wheels under before he stopped. Funny, but not tragic.

Same driver and owner. Pulling same boat out. Oops, got a little far to one side and dropped a wheel off the ramp. Unfortunately, the axle was closer to the ramp than the ground was to the tire. Boat and trailer is now resting on the u-bolts that hold the axle to the spring. Much jacking and rock stacking later, trailer is free. Did I mention the scraping and ripping. Other boaters not real pleased.

Sad part is these were my two roommates. I was teaching them how to boat. The driver never really got good at backing up. Oh well, boat is sold and it wasn't a damn Donzi anyway.

Bryan Tuvell 33ZX
08-01-2002, 09:06 PM
Thanks Matty...
2 weeks ago, 28 hands, we were in 1st
(K K 10, 9, 8 )until the last 4 hands,,, Damn 3 of kinds!!!! Just my luck.
Week before that, 54 hands, thought I had low hand ( 2 3 4 6 8) Lost to (2 3 4 5 8)....
Maybe I should lean towards best dressed crew! wink

Oh and this weekend the bay and ocean is predicted to be flat! :mad:
Go figure, damn lake boats will be kicking my rear, bigger water is our strong point.
Lifeline Jackets and Lanyard on, ready to ROCK...

But never fear, the Portsmouth TPT ramp is always a treat! I will take a photo of the layout and the boat that does not run that sits in the middle. If we don't win the PR we might win at the ramp, drunks fall easy and we won't be drinking!
Bryan