Audience at the ramp

[Wayloncle]

I've had my boat for a couple years now, until recently I have always floated my boat off and on the trailer because the ramp I used had a nice dock so it was easy. There was one time that I drove the boat onto the trailer just because I had actually parked it in a slip across from the ramp, but that was the only time I had done it until I moved to TX, and the ramps that I've used the last few weeks don't have docks.

Add in the fact that my wife doesn't drive the boat and doesn't back the trailer, it makes for some planning on my part.

I haven't had a problem driving onto the trailer, in my mind I think I'm pretty good at it since I've never really done it with my boat. This weekend I was going to the ramp to go home and there were 3 groups of people hanging out beside the ramp. I coasted up to shore like a champ and held the boat while my wife and kids got out. I joked with the people saying they picked this spot to laugh at people trying to load their boats. They said it was the only picnic tables available....but they have had a few laughs.

So I throw my anchor on the shore and my wife stands beside it so it doesn't hit rocks and I run up to get my truck and back it down the ramp, then run over to the boat and shove off to load it on the trailer...thinking the whole time "if I ever screw up loading it's going to be this time with all these assclowns watching".

I back over behind the trailer, use my throttles to spin around a little to line up and slide forward perfectly up to the bow roller, lean over and hook the eye and crank it tight.
When I stood back up to shut the boat off they all started cheering and clapping, a couple of the older guys said tha was the smoothest retrieval they had seen all day:-D
Made me feel good, probably not where yall thought this story was headed...but I was proud of myself, and the wind was blowing as well so I actually was a little nervous.

 

[Matt Phillips]

I love it when we can surprise and get accolades from the launch clowns. Makes for a nice end to the day.

 

[Kelso]

My wife and I are pro's, I surmise we have the trailer backed in, boat loaded, and ramp cleared in less than 2 minutes. She drops me off at the dock, I back the trailer in, she powerloads (super steep ramp), I winch/secure, and out we go. Same with launching. She can't back the trailer but she can put that boat on it everytime. I R lucky!

 

[treeskier]

Nice job I am envious.

Our boat is on a lift April to October so I trailer exactly 2 times per year. If you want some laughs that's the time....when I'm at the ramp. You will hear the F-word more times than a scene from Pulp Fiction. In fact we handle that business on a weekday evening as not to draw a crowd. It's a little better with the new Yukon that has a back up camera but with the Avalanche and an empty trailer you couldn't even see the trailer.

 

[smthng]

...with the Avalanche and an empty trailer you couldn't even see the trailer.

Truth. I also have an Av' and that was about half the motivation for ordering guide posts for the trailer. The other half was later time I was loading and figured leaving the bimini up was okay. As soon as I got the trailer in the water the winds kicked up and it took me the nerve wracking attempts to get on the trailer. Eventually just goosed it and did an acceptable job on the aim. I was the entertainment that day.

 

[jawsf16]

Time to teach the wife how to drive the boat or the truck. My wife is a rockstar driving the truck on the ramp. We use a couple simple hand signals to communicate while loading and are off the ramp quick.

I taught her on empty ramps with cell phones. I just talked her down and eventually it just clicked. This makes trailering about a thousand percent easier.

The canyon ramps are annoying since most don't have docks. Even more important to use some good teamwork there!

 

[Ronnie]

@Wayloncle , you are right to be proud of your wife and self for perfecting your technique. I've tried to work with my wife on it for many years now and it's still hit and miss. Sometimes we look like a two person bass fishing team (if you get the chance watch those guys recover when they are in a rush to make an off water weigh in, do it, sometimes the rig driver doesn't even put the tow vehicle in park). Other times it's like the first time ever, those seem to be the only times I have an audience and often there is a know it all on the crowd all to willing to tell me how to do it.

I've learned now, if/when the yelling at each other starts to just walk the boat onto the trailer and use the winch to get it to the bow stop (makes for a much more pleasant drive home).

The only ramp compliments I've heard lately are when my now 12 year old son is power loading our wave runners. Once I turned around to find a crowd of men and women watching as he loaded one, jumped off it to run the dock for the other one and power load it, "like a Boss" as he says. One guy was taking video of the whole thing. He walked over to tell me my son, "is killing it".

 

[Ronnie]

A few tips for you avalanche owners with out trailer guides. Remove the rear most bed cover and drop the tail gate to see the trailer or get a cheap rear view camera system.

Generally, I have found the old school way of backing into the ramp slowly with my foot on the brake works best. I use the side mirrors and whenever I see the trailer in one of them I steer in that direction to straighten it out.

 

[Wayloncle]

@jawsf16
I've only launched at the Randolph and this last weekend at the Fort Sam ramps on Canyon, I like that they aren't busy (the times I've been there). I picked up our friends at Launch 1 a couple weeks ago and this weekend at Jacobs Creek they were crowded with parked vehicles and trailers lined up waiting to use the ramp, I don't need that stressor added!

@Ronnie that is awesome your son does that! My oldest is 8, I'm ready to start letting him drive the boat a little (not load or launch!) my wife not so much.

My wife is very head strong, she doesn't like taking instruction from anyone especially me, it is almost impossible for me to teach her to do anything. The first time she ever pulled a trailer was my enclosed trailer and we were about to drive from Kansas to FL, I took her to an empty parking lot, she made a couple circles and I asked her to park In a double parking spot, "I'll never have to do that"....ok.
I asked her to back up, the truck and trailer was straight, she started backing up real slow "why is the trailer turning? I didn't turn the wheel". She didn't like that I tried to explain how it works, so she pulled it to FL with no practice, made it fine but I had to find a place to park my truck and camper to run over and back the trailer out of situations at gas stations a few times.

I should find someone and pay them to teach her, that's the only way she will learn, cause that isn't something she will take upon herself to learn.

 

[Wayloncle]

A few tips for you avalanche owners with out trailer guides. Remove the rear most bed cover and drop the tail gate to see the trailer or get a cheap rear view camera system.

Generally, I have found the old school way of backing into the ramp slowly with my foot on the brake works best. I use the side mirrors and whenever I see the trailer in one of them I steer in that direction to straighten it out.

That's a good way to remember.

I've always taught people to put their hand on the bottom of the wheel and move their hand in the direction you want the trailer to go.

 

[bronze_10]

I just taught my wife the basics of backing and let her do it... if she had to pull up then she does.... at the end of our first summer she is backing like a champ... she doesn't go very fast and takes her time but I don't have a problem with that.. early on when she was having some trouble we would go to the boat dock and float back out of the way and watch.. some big burley dude in a bran new truck and $80 thousand dollar wake board boat had to pull forward 7 to 8 times then the trailer was turned off the dock under water and deeper on one side... I looked at my wife and said..... feel better now?... she said... hell yes!

 

[jetboater4life]

I am very lucky too. In 3 seasons my wife has become a pro backing up the trailer. We spend zero time attached to the dock. We get everything in the boat before launching, that includes gear, kids, and adults. She backs us down to the right depth. I bend over the bow and unhook. Then I drive off and wait away from the ramp while she parks. Then I nose up to the dock and pick her up. We do the same for retrieval and often jump ahead of 3 or 4 boats getting all scratched up at the dock waiting. The DNR launch at Lake Zumbro is at the end of an inlet, and can only fit two boats wide for about 100 feet until you get out to the Lake so it is really tight.

 

[1rjclark]

It's a blessing when husband and wife can launch/retrieve as a team. Not only does it make you look like pros but it keeps things moving for the people launching next. I have an incident while launching yesterday. I know launching on holiday weekends dock/launch etiquette is at a minimum so we prepare for it, but yesterday was a new one. I saw the single ramp WAS clear and proceeded to back in. Just as I'm touching water some ass hole decides to run his boat up the launch and almost hit mine. No one was hurt except his feeling. The crowd gave him a tounge lashing and I did too. Luckily my wife saw him and signaled me to stop. If not things would have been different

 

[jetboater4life]

With my current boat, the only altercation at the ramp in 3 years of boating came this year and it was minor.

It was a busy day at the ramp with boats waiting to come in and out. A jetski had just launched and was being moved to the end of the dock with the other side (no ramp access on that side) open. The end of the dock was about where the end of my boat would be so it was a short dock. I gave the signal and my wife proceeded to back down. She did a great job as usual, but instead of moving his jetski to the other side of the dock, this guy let the ass end of it stick out and the rub rail connected with the side of my boat for a couple of feet. I couldn't see the mark at the time but this assclown made a comment something like, oh don't worry there are lots of other marks. I held my tongue and gave him the stare down as I keep my boat in pristine shape and there were NO other marks. If I had opened my mouth it would not have been pretty. I'm guessing the guy was just an idiot and couldn't think of anything better to say for his stupidity.

 

[Noko]

I hate docking or trailering the boat. I got that Ramp n Clamp which I like, but doesn't work if the trailer isn't down the ramp far enough. Its all ego, isn't it?

 

[PEARCE]

Like @jawsf16 's wife my wife is an ace with the truck and trailer on the ramp. She's even helped people get there rigs backed down so they would get out of her way sooner. Some of the ass clown know-it-all's have tried to tell her to drop the tailgate so you can see the trailer better and she's told them, "I don't need to do that".

 

[rkluck]

Nice job! My wife gets the truck and I pull up on the trailer. When going into the dock this weekend I went in so straight and smooth we were both surprised. We laughed and said maybe we should never take her again that way we end up on a good note! HA!

 

[Buckeye Boater]

My wife is Minnesota born. She typically backs the trailer up and I'm in the boat, same upon retrieval. Most of the time you can see the looks from others on the ramp like "oh boy this is going to be good" and then the look changes when I'm sliding off the trailer and she's gone in a few seconds..

Still no place better to see marital spats than a public boat launch!

 

[Eurocat]

For a few years my SeaRay was in a marina, so I had no need to use a ramp except to pull it out at the end of the season and put back in in the Spring. Since it was a private marina, at the most there would be 2-3 ppl that might keep an eye just to make sure it was going well.
Only once I purchased the jet boat and started using public ramps did I became aware that ppl actually sat in boat ramps to "WATCH". And the best part is they are not there hoping it all goes well, they are there hoping to see some big screw-ups.
Although 95% I have no glitches at the ramp, occasionally I will forget to take out the straps and have to pull it back up, or I'll forget to put in the lanyard and wonder for about 30s why it's not starting. But these little glitches are aggravated x 100 due to the bunch of ppl with literally nothing better to do that even little things like that are cause for entertainment.
I will confess that I have gotten a kick from watching boat ramp fails online, but I don't think I could waste even 15 mns watching ppl at a ramp.

 

[smthng]

A few tips for you avalanche owners... I use the side mirrors and whenever I see the trailer in one of them I steer in that direction to straighten it out.

That's what I do for the trailer with no posts... it's still getting a set of VeVe's installed on it in the next few days.

My wife is very head strong, she doesn't like taking instruction from anyone especially me, it is almost impossible for me to teach her to do anything.

I don't understand those words together in one sentence like that!