Impatients At The Ramp

[fishyfrost]

Now As A Reasonably Newish Person To The Boating World... Well At Least The Decent Size Boating World I Find It Interesting How People Are Soo Impatient At The Ramp And If It Is Taking Me A Couple Of Goes To Drive The Boat Onto The Trailor They Start Getting They Shits. Now I Find This Quite Off Putting. Just Wondering If Anyone Else Has A View On This Cause I Find More Tolerance Is Needed You Got To Start Somewhere

[SnapHead101]

My friends used to laugh when I got my first boat as I would head to the local ramp when the weather was quite bad. Firstly to practice driving the boat in rough conditions and secondly to get four or five launch and retrieves in a day. This way when the ramp is full of boaties and aggro I know that I'll have no trouble in recovering my boat. I can now back my quad axle trailer down the ramp and retrieve my 30 ft cat in under four minutes single handed (wife is preggers). Now if only I could convince the wife to back the trailer .........

I think a non stressed environment is the easiest way to learn. THen if anyone gives you a hard time when you are practicing on a bad weather day you can really get up them as you are trying to do the right thing, and there is nothing as good as ripping up someone when you are on the moral high ground.

[Eagle]

I always thought the moral high ground was to ignore the unwelcome comments, accept the foul mouthed quietly with grace and offer a hand to those who are really struggling with their rig.
Eagle

[fishing111]

Its a bit like yelling abuse at the umpy, have you ever seen them change there mind?? Same/similar thing happens if you carry on like a twit at someone who you think is'nt doing it fast enough, they'll proably get there back up and say f&&& you or try and rush to appease and make a bigger balls up of it. I think people should calm the f*** down at the ramps and realise its the goverment's fault for not keeping up with demand.The ramps are overcrowded because of the lack of infrastructure, yet most boaties put up with it instead of mobilising a concerted effort for better facilities.I started a thread on this a while back and most people completely missed the point.

[bluefin59]

Dont let it bother you mate speed comes in time just concentrate on what your doing i drop my misses of and she gets the car reverses down too easy and i just drive on she attaches the winch pulls it up the last inch or two and we drive away to the rigging area bugger the impatient fools just do your own thing mate. i must say though i love the look on there faces when my wife jumps out after reversing down the ramp straight as a die it all comes with time no1 rule dont panic its too easy after a while just my opinion .......matt

[PinHead]

only ever had one impatient sole say something to me...when I had my first boat..you just would not believe how long everything took then...I just took as long as i wanted and did ntotgive him a glance.

[finga]

It seems it's either the blokes launching/retrieving are the wally's or the looker-onners are the wally's. :-/
Sounds like if you turn up to a boat ramp your a wally. :-X
Is that why you got TMD Greg??

see this for the stories about wally's from the other perspective
(http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=116526)

[NAGG]

Now As A Reasonably Newish Person To The Boating World... Well At Least The Decent Size Boating World I Find It Interesting How People Are Soo Impatient At The Ramp And If It Is Taking Me A Couple Of Goes To Drive The Boat Onto The Trailor They Start Getting They Shits. Now I Find This Quite Off Putting. Just Wondering If Anyone Else Has A View On This Cause I Find More Tolerance Is Needed You Got To Start Somewhere
Fishyfrost ..... dont worry ..... 2 , 3 ,4 attempts at a drive on ... will still be faster than most winching ....... Stick with it :) ... Nagg

[NAGG]

My friends used to laugh when I got my first boat as I would head to the local ramp when the weather was quite bad. Firstly to practice driving the boat in rough conditions and secondly to get four or five launch and retrieves in a day. This way when the ramp is full of boaties and aggro I know that I'll have no trouble in recovering my boat. I can now back my quad axle trailer down the ramp and retrieve my 30 ft cat in under four minutes single handed (wife is preggers). Now if only I could convince the wife to back the trailer .........

I think a non stressed environment is the easiest way to learn. THen if anyone gives you a hard time when you are practicing on a bad weather day you can really get up them as you are trying to do the right thing, and there is nothing as good as ripping up someone when you are on the moral high ground.

Mate ... well done ! .... unfortunately too many dont take the time to learn as you did:scholar: ..... Nagg

[jeffbqld]

Speed will come with experience. But don't make the mistake of taking shortcuts. ie Like taking the safety chain off the boat at the derigging and not on the ramp.

[Blueroo]

I agree with Jeffbqld.
Be accurate and careful. It's not a race.
There's no point knocking your crew or boat around just to please someone else who probably wont appreciate it anyway.
You will find things will become routine and launching and retrieving will get easier.
Cheers
Stue

[Ryan.S]

Just take your time mate. Every prick out there had to learn at some point. Some ppl are just to far up themselves to remember those days.

[BM]

Fishyfrost,

I find it quite interesting how you capitalise every word in a sentence! Any reason for that??

Anyway, practice makes perfect and it is difficult when you have to deal with err, "people of seriously limited brain capacity" who want to carry on like prize pricks at the boatramp.

Cheers

[Lovey80]

Don't feel like you have anything to feel sorry for, The "wally" as finga puts it was once in your position. I too get impatient sometimes but as long as someone has done the right thing and been considerate by having everything ready before they back down the ramp i'm more likely to lend a hand than gobb off.

Cheers Chris

[jman2016]

My wife is learning to back the boat trailer down the ramp. One week day quiet afternoon after cruising we were back at boat ramp. young guys with big PWC laughing at missus taking many attempts to back trailer down ramp. Wife gets it right and nails it! Young guys back car down and hook up big PWC to trailer. Small car is unable to find traction on wet, muddy, slimey ramp. They are stuck between rock and hard place. Who has last laugh now!

Choice 1. Leave foolish young with incoming tide and setting sun. No-one else there to help. Getting dark? Teach lesson?

Choice 2. Build bridge and help.

Parked boat and trailer - hitched tow cable and backed 4wd down - pulled errant youngsters from situation. After all they are someones son!

[Stubbie Holder]

If you are going about things the right way, which it sounds like you are, then the only "wally" is the one complaining. If someone is doing the wrong thing boating, it is much more productive for someone experienced to give a hand and helpful advice than mindless criticisms. The more knowledge that is shared the better off the whole boating public will be.

Stubbie!

[MyEscape]

Seriously what's the problem with people these days. All this agro because people think others are taking too long at the ramp. The main cause for delay is not getting the boat ready prior to launch.

People laughing at others reversing the trailer. So what! I'd consider myself pretty bloody good at reversing a trailer anywhere, not just down a ramp in a straight line. But, everyone can make a mistake. But put someone under a bit of pressure and they're bound to stuff up, forget to chain the boat on etc.

Most people probably go fishing for 2-3-4 possibly 8-10 hours at a time. So what's five minutes?

Someone has trouble on the water and waves to someone, everyone stops to help. Someone has trouble on the ramp, everyone complains.

Well not me.

Steve

[PinHead]

It seems it's either the blokes launching/retrieving are the wally's or the looker-onners are the wally's. :-/
Sounds like if you turn up to a boat ramp your a wally. :-X
Is that why you got TMD Greg??

see this for the stories about wally's from the other perspective
(http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=116526)

mate, if you think you can make a goose of yourself at the ramp when things do not go right..try it on mine when wind and tide are against you. Berthing is not one of the easiest things to do at times and even some of the most experienced skippers make a meal of it . I arrived at Couran one afternoon..everything was against me...and then I made matters worse..I do not steer when berthing..just use the motors BUT..I did not have them straight to start with...must have been hilarious for the onlookers ( a bloody restaurant full of them)..a couple of other boat owners came over and gave a hand (something that happens at most places when someone is berthing) and after tying the boat up I mentioned to them that I had just given a demonstration of what not to do. Everyone had a chuckle and then of course the obligatory drinks.

[finga]

My wife is learning to back the boat trailer down the ramp. One week day quiet afternoon after cruising we were back at boat ramp. young guys with big PWC laughing at missus taking many attempts to back trailer down ramp. Wife gets it right and nails it! Young guys back car down and hook up big PWC to trailer. Small car is unable to find traction on wet, muddy, slimey ramp. They are stuck between rock and hard place. Who has last laugh now!


Aren't those little sucker PWC trailers hard to back??
By the time you see either side in the mirror it's all over red rover.
I watched a bloke one day trying (I just drove out of that slot on the ramp and he was coming down) and the poor bugger was trying to do the right thing and nothing worked.
I went over and pulled the trailer this way and that way as he was backing and when I was talking to him back up the top of the ramp when we were tying down.
It turns out this was his first launch and was going to sell the "mongrel b-stard of a thing" (his words not mine) as backing with his little 4X4 was nothing but a pain in the neck because he couldn't see anything until it was too late.
I suggested a bit of dowel stuck into the top of the jetski when launching (we found a little hole to shove in stick into) and the same again into somewhere on the back in the middle of the trailer and jobs done. He just needed a reference point.
We tried it there and then with one of my fishing rods shoved into the jetski and the smile on the dial of the happy chappy was well worth the 10 minutes I spent with him.

[codgreen]

Good on ya finga for lending a hand. Its comforting to know there are still people around that are willing to give some advise and help to a new boatie rather than simply mouthing off.

I bought my first boat yesterday and had a sleepless night thinking about everything I want to do with it and also my complete lack of experience - you have to start somewhere.

Practice at appropriate times to not hold up others, asking questions and of course reading as much on Ausfish as I can seems to be the way to go.......

[Wahoo]

take your time and get it right, safty first, and its your boat which set you back the $$$$$, not the other PPLs, thats one thing i hate is mouthy PPL, to hell with them

Daz

[squizzytaylor]

I always thought the moral high ground was to ignore the unwelcome comments, accept the foul mouthed quietly with grace and offer a hand to those who are really struggling with their rig.
Eagle

Well said Eagle, I reckon its easier to help someone and make thier day a bit better than be a a$$hole and stuff it for them. We should all be a lot more considerate of our fellow boaters.

Geoff

[Tight line timmy]

Patience Patience Patience
Since i 2 have only been boating for the past few years, i have copped a little bit of flack from these inbreads. I've found the best way to to deal with it is to ignore it. If someone has started their fishing trip with mouthing abuse at someone, then consider how shit the rest of their day will be.
The best way to avoid this hoohaa and your not comfortable/confident to get the job done quickly is to just wait till the ramp looks free enough from pushy pricks (you can generally tell who they are by first impressions, as to me they look annoyed at somehting b4 they even are on the ramp) before going to launch or retrieve your vessel. To me fishing/boating is meant to be relaxing and enjoyable so i dont mind waiting for a more suitable time.

[haggis]

well done jman . better to help them than to leave them .
wish my wife would learn to back the trailer down the ramp & or drive the boat instead of catching more fish than me . she has her priorites all wrong lol
chers fae haggis ..................................