Boat Ramp Geometry

[stevos]

..........

[PinHead]

Hi Steve,
The geometry of the ramp is important but i also believe that what is at the end of the ramp , in some instances, have been overlooked. This is in relation to the erosion that is caused by the tidal surges around the end of the ramp. This has led to some big holes that can catch out unwary users of the ramps. Ramp design should include the total package regarding the ramp itself as well as what is at the end of the ramp and also the sides of the ramp.

[Ocean_Spirit]

PinHead, you are dead right - this is a very relevant issue surrounding some of Brisbane's boat ramps.

West of the CBD and around the western and southern suburbs, there is really a desperate shortage of ramps in general, and the ramps that do exist are quite unsafe. Even Breakfast Creek Ramp isn't all that suitable for a big boat, plus there is no turn-around area for the trailer or parking.

The Grand Boatramp at Labrador on the Gold Coast is one of the best designed in terms of gradient, safety, etc. in my opinion, but is also one of the busiest.

[stevos]

..........

[Angla]

Steve, Can you have a look at this victorian ramp that is set in the bay area of Geelong. Some of these in the Moreton bay area would be expensive but great for us boaties. Maybe even the deception bay area would be a good place to start with the expansion of Brisbane through Mango hill and the surrounding area.

Chris

[skipalong]

yeah mate very true

[stevos]

..........

[trueblue]

Floating pontoons would be fantastic. Like the ones in Vivtoria as mentioned, but we also have them at Colmslie etc.

One thing that really is a pain is having to always get a second person to come out with you in the boat, just because you need assistance to launch and retrieve it without damage on the current ramps.

A floating pontoon allows even the largest boats to be launched and retrieved single handedly.

As mentioned there can be a bottle neck if not properly designed. However, if we have a 4 lane boat ramp, the provision of just one floating pontoon on one side would be brilliant for those who need it, and those who don't can use the other lanes available.

We appreciate the opportunity to be able to provide the boaties perspective.

One other thing - if floating pontoons are not possible in a particular location, a small sandy beach adjacent to the ramp (eg spinnaker sound ramp) allows you to beach the boat on soft sand while getting the car and trailer.
cheers

Mick

[Murks]

If your involved in the specification of concrete send me a pm or I can post my recommendation here...I have supplied product to stop corrosion of reinforcement steel in wharf/marine environments in over 30,000m3 of concrete in QLD alone
Cheers
Brett

[Fish Guts]

what about a 'bumper lane' like at bowling. just send it down the chute and hope for the best.

[Tracker]

the club ramp at Raby Bay is a top setup.
a floating pontoon to board safely,sand next to the ramp if you prefer,and a good angle to load/unload.

[Ocean_Spirit]

The angle at Runaway Bay boat ramp is very steep but seems very effective when driving on and off. My experience here is that for some reason, the boat always comes on dead on centre everytime.

[whichway]

Hi

I think the problem is that a ramp needs to be steep so that you don't hit the boat on the ramp when you launch and retrieve it, but if its too steep it can be slippery. The modern ramps that have the vee grooves in them are a massive improvement over the older smooth ramps that were very slippery and dangerous. I also think that a well used ramp is good, because the trailer tyres rub off the slime, whereas a little used ramp becomes very slippery.

If you drive your boat onto the trailer, you are always paranoid about the skeg of the motor hitting the ramp, which usually breaks off the skeg. So your design boat needs to have the motor factored into the geometry, which is difficult because the angle of the motor relative to the transom is variable with a power trim arrangement.

I personally think that the Scarborough ramp is at too shallow an angle, but the ones at Manly and the Coast are pretty good, but that could just be a question of perception - I hit the skeg at Scarborough once.

Pontoons are good, but they won't make up for a ramp at the wrong angle. It is good to have somewhere to tie up the boat when you are parking the trailer. A nice sandy beach next to the ramp is unbeatable.

Thoughts of an amateur.

Whichway

[stevos]

..........

[seatime]

Steve,
If you want to compare gradients of 2 ramps in close proximity - have a look at the 2 Manly Boat Harbour public ramps. The Northern ramp alongside the MBTBC has an ideal gradient, the Southern ramp alongside RQYS has insufficient gradient, lots of skegs removed from larger boats there!
2.5t, 8m boats would generally be driven on/off their trailers, small gradient, shallow angle ramps are known to large craft owners and avoided.
The Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club (MBTBC) ramp handles plenty of 8m average craft without incident.
Other ramps to investigate are those alongside the Volunteer Rescue Groups like Scarborough, Weinam Ck, Victoria Pt, etc. Their large rescue boats are launched from the public ramps, so they could be another source.

regards

Steve

[gofishin]

Floating pontoons would be fantastic. Like the ones in Vivtoria as mentioned, but we also have them at Colmslie etc.
....

Steve,
The launch/retrieval process, or turnaround time of the arrival & departure of vessels at any ramp is greatly aided by pontoons for family orientated boating (where the crew is maybe not so ‘boating’ proficient, but hey she looks good in a kini). Short turnaround times lead to a flowing process and a happy boat ramp – however there may obviously still be the odd ‘snapper head’ incident.

The pontoons at Comslie are definitely far better than nothing, but a central pontoon is by far the better option, whether a 2x or 4x ramp. Why spend money on a pontoon and only have effective use of one side of the pontoon? Of course it means the ramps need to be a little wider, or 2 ramps with a gap, but in the overall project $’s this would end up being a small $ penalty for a very large gain – in my opinion anyway.

One thing that I find more annoying than whether or not a ramp has a pontoon is a ramp that has a too shallow gradient, and the Comslie is a classic example. For a 6+m boat without drop axles the back wheels of the tow vehicle need to be wet for a drive-on retrieval? This increases corrosion prevention/maintenance requirements on both vehicle and trailer.

Why are there so many public boat ramps in SE QLD alone with varying gradients? I’m not sure whether there is a ramp locality reason (river/bay/erosion/silting etc) however please ensure your study includes the same/similar vessels at ramps with different gradients. Basing your study on just one ramp would not provide a sufficient scope – again, my opinion. Is there an Australian Standard governing boat ramps? Maybe I need to google it to satisfy my own curiosity!
Cheers
Brendon

[BM]

Most ramps in Vic used to be a fairly shallow gradient. I think it was simply the thought of the time back when they were built, to build them shallow so cars could easily pull the boats out.

Many ramps in Vic now have a steep gradient and as such are excellent for larger boats. Patterson Lakes launching area for example has excellent ramps that enable launch/recovery of boats as large as 28ft.

Perhaps new ramps for QLD (or anywhere really) should incorporate a small rock wall harbour to provide a calm area to launch/retrieve and it would also assist with the errosion issues. But that then harks back to cost to build the rockwall and also the impact on the coastline as mentioned before.

Cheers

[boatboy50]

Steve,

I think i've used every boat ramp between Tweed and Harvey Bay over the past 15 years, with boats from 10ft to 30ft. 90% of the time the boats would be over 17ft.

I personally have never had an issue with any one particular ramp, just some are worse than others, with current and passing boat traffic being the biggest issues to me.

Gold Coast (Runaway Bay, the Grand and Biggera Creeks) are the ramps I frequent most, depending on boat and conditions.

I always drive on and off the trailers (i'm in the industry and use different boats all the time), and have no issues at all.

To me, the perfect ramp would be Biggera Creek (protected in any weather, right angle, sandy beach, no current ect), but would be three lanes, lots more car parks and also with a pontoon set away from the ramp.

I launched a 26 footer this morning from Jacobs Well with an F250 single handedly with ease. Had the post come up yesterday you would be welcome to come along.

To me, the ramp angle isn't all that concerning, as long as it's not too shallow (I don't find this often with any ramps). I have never wrecked a skeg or prop on a ramp.

Any questions, or if your on the Goldie send me a PM. We launch daily.

Regards

Darren

[Chimo]

Hi

This looks to a well thought out arrangement that includes a reasonable gradient and an allowance for min 1 m depth at low tide at the lowest point of the ramp.

link http://www.victor.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=167

Cheers
Chimo


Project description




This project proposes to upgrade the infrastructure and facilities at the existing Bluff Boat Ramp on Franklin Road, Victor Harbor in accordance with the South Australian Boat Facilities Advisory Committee Guidelines.

This will be achieved by developing the following facilities:
One-way anti-clockwise traffic flow
Formal angle parking for trailers in the main car park area
Wash down facilities in the derigging and rigging areas
Two double lane ramps at 1 in 8 grade to 1m water depth at lowest tide level
Three floating pontoons, each 2m wide by 32m, or 45m long restrained by guide poles
Area lights, rubbish bins and bollards
Widening and dredging of the main basin at the end of the boat ramp
A sand beach area for beaching and small craft
A rock basin area to act as a stilling basin during dredging maintenance
Rock revetment seawalls to protect parking areas
Over flow trailer parking along foreshore with turning area.
A normal car parking area (26 spaces)
Ticket machine for facility use

[trueblue]

Scarborough ramp is a little to shallow a gradient. It is necessary to trim up the motor a lot to ensure that the skeg won't hit. My boat is a 18 footer, and it will hit the skeg if not trimmed right up.

That said though, lots of very big boats get launched on that ramp.

Its hard to state a certain length boat that will have problems - some boats have a deeper V like mine and this places the motor and skeg deeper below the waterline than other boats

cheers

Mick

[stevos]

..........

[TimiBoy]

Victoria Point ramp is a worry at or near low tide. Tried it on one of my first outings with only the wife (no experienced boaties with us) in the Cruisecraft 685 Outsider because the ramp had a pontoon.

Beat the crap out of my skeg and prop, I ended up dropping the trailer off the end to get the boat on, thank God for 4WD!

Of course, AFTERWARDS everyone told me the boat was too big for that ramp!

[marco]

Steve, Can you have a look at this victorian ramp that is set in the bay area of Geelong. Some of these in the Moreton bay area would be expensive but great for us boaties. Maybe even the deception bay area would be a good place to start with the expansion of Brisbane through Mango hill and the surrounding area.

Chris

angla,
the ability of a lot of people to reverse the trailer between the pontoons would be a challenge at best , mind you the entertainment value would be good if you were not in the queue of course ;D . last time at the mbtbc you would have thought the lanes were painted at 45 degrees .

[whichway]

Hi

I suppose one rule for big boats could be put the boat in until the wheels of the towing vehicle are just out of the water. On some ramps this would mean that the trailer is realy sunk, which is not optimal if you are driving the boat on.

What would actually be useful is one of those spirit level angle thingos that some 4WDs have so that you can see what angle your 4WD requires to be at when you roll it. If you knew the angle of the ramp, then you could make some judgement as to how far the trailer needs to go in. It would need to be pretty precise, I suspect the difference between a shallow and steep ramp is only a couple of degrees. Can someone advise what the difference in angles is.

The other thing, is that I have no idea how close my skeg is to the ramp when I am launching / retriving the boat. I might actually see if I can get the sounder to work when launching to give some indication

With regard to design boats, the way petrol is going maybe you should be working on a 4m tinny - thats what we'll all have in a couple of years.

Whichway

[Taroona]

At present I am having trouble pinning down a reliable value for draft but am edging towards 0.4-0.5m. This is ultimately something that I would like to consider more after taking a more practical look at the ‘design vessel’.

Steve

Hi Steve,

Just wondering when you refer to draft of the vessel are you reffering to the draft including the skeg of an outboard or just the draft of the vessel not including an outboard.

Because my boat has a draft of 0.7m with the outboard vertical.

Les

[Taroona]

This project proposes to upgrade the infrastructure and facilities at the existing Bluff Boat Ramp on Franklin Road, Victor Harbor in accordance with the South Australian Boat Facilities Advisory Committee Guidelines.

This will be achieved by developing the following facilities:
One-way anti-clockwise traffic flow
Formal angle parking for trailers in the main car park area
Wash down facilities in the derigging and rigging areas
Two double lane ramps at 1 in 8 grade to 1m water depth at lowest tide level
Three floating pontoons, each 2m wide by 32m, or 45m long restrained by guide poles
Area lights, rubbish bins and bollards
Widening and dredging of the main basin at the end of the boat ramp
A sand beach area for beaching and small craft
A rock basin area to act as a stilling basin during dredging maintenance
Rock revetment seawalls to protect parking areas
Over flow trailer parking along foreshore with turning area.
A normal car parking area (26 spaces)
Ticket machine for facility use


I would have no problem putting my money in a ticket dispensor if we had some thing as good as this at Raby Bay for example. We do I suppose exept the rocks and the pontoon being locked off to the public

[stevos]

..........

[Chimo]

Hey Guys

Don't forget its not just the water depth at the rear of the trailer at low tide, its also the situation further out from this point.

If this extended part of the ramp is not stabilized or even part of the ramp well back from the pickup /dropoff point, erosion will remove material and make a hole for trailer wheels to drop into and we know how much fun that can be. Eventually the end of the ramp will degrade and even collapse which is even more fun.

Gold Coast Council forbids amphib tourist craft from using boat ramps other than the ones specifically built for this purpose. The operators of such craft initially paid an annual fee of approx $1400 per craft to use these ramps that were built to cope with the similar stress that drive on causes at "normal" ramps. Also the amphib ramps have a greater carrying capacity than the approx 5 tonne limit for both tow vehicle and boat trailer combos at "normal" ramps.

Be interesting to see what come from this thread.

Cheers
Chimo

[stevos]

..........

[Chimo]

Steve

Yes, One is next to the double ramp with pontoon at Sundale bridge.

Cheers
Chimo

More Information including the process thru GCCC Minutes. Happy reading ;)


Council Meeting 6 June 2003 6
Water Wastewater Beaches & Foreshores Committee 27 May 2003 MINUTES

CONFIRMED BY THE CHAIRPERSON ON PAGE 13 OF THESE MINUTES

ITEM 4 BEACHES AND WATERCYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE
COMMERCIAL USE OF PUBLIC BOAT RAMPS BY AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES
WFB600/57/01-1(P2)

Refer 5 page attachment

1 BASIS FOR CONFIDENTIALITY

Not applicable.

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Not applicable.

3 PURPOSE OF REPORT

The purpose of this report is to:
a Present to Council, the response received from the Budds Beach Progress
Associat ion to the proposal to establish a commercial ramp at the southern end of
Budds Beach, for the use of the amphibious vehicles.
b Present to Council the operators’ proposal to establish a new ramp, adj acent to the
existing ramp at Waterways Drive, Main Beach

4 PREVIOUS RESOLUTIONS

Ex Council Meeting held 26 November 1993 WS002:

“1 That the applicant be advised that the use of the Budds Beach Boat Ramp is not
approved.
2 That permission be given for the use of the Proud Park Boat Ramp and also the
proposed Southport Spit Boat Ramp, north of Seaworld, when that Ramp is
const ructed and that the period of the approval be 12 months f rom the date of
Council approval.
3 That the Chief Engineer be authorised to release the decision.”
Ex Council Minute No. R95.0901.013:

That Recommendat ion 2 of Council Meet ing held 26 November 1993 WS002 be rescinded and
replaced by the following:
"That permission be given for the use of the Proud Park Boat Ramp and
Southport Spit Boat Ramp, by Aquabus Safaris Pt y. Limited, for a period of
twelve months from the date of commencing operations".

Council Meeting 6 June 2003 7
Water Wastewater Beaches & Foreshores Committee 27 May 2003 MINUTES

CONFIRMED BY THE CHAIRPERSON ON PAGE 13 OF THESE MINUTES

ITEM 4 (Continued) BEACHES AND WATERCYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE
COMMERCIAL USE OF PUBLIC BOAT RAMPS BY AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES
WFB600/57/01-1(P2)

Ex Council Minute No W02.1205.003

“1 That Council adopt Opt ion One (1) det ailed in t his report t o provide a level of
cont rol of Amphibious Vehicle act ivit ies on Council cont rol led publ ic boat ramps,
ie.:
a That Council apply t o t he Chief Execut ive (QT) for writ t en consent t o al low
t he use of specif ic publ ic boat ramp(s) for a purpose ot her t han a genuine
private boating purpose, ie. commercial use by amphibious vehicles.
b That a set of condit ions be developed, in consul t at ion wit h QT, which Council
would seek to impose in permits issued by it pursuant to Section 9 of Local Law
No 34.
c That approval be sought f rom Chief Execut ive (QT) for erect ion of a sign on or
near each ramp t o be used by t he amphibious vehicles, which provides t hat
amphibious vehicles with a GVM to 15 tonne are entitled to use the ramp.
d That once t he abovement ioned amendment s t o Local Law No 34 are in place
and t he writ t en approval of t he Chief Execut ive (QT) has be gained, writ e t o
al l t he amphibious vehicle operat ors current ly using publ ic marine facil it ies of
which Council is the manager informing them:
i Of t he cont ent of sect ion 9 of t he local law and request t hat each of
t hem apply for a permit under sect ion 9 of t he local law wit hin a 21-day
period;
ii That Budds Beach Publ ic Boat Ramp wil l not be available t o t hem as an
access point to the river under the new permit system; and
iii That an annual permit fee of $1400 per vehicle be paid for each ramp for
which approval is grant ed, t o be paid int o a fund for fut ure maint enance
and upgrade of t he ramp(s) and of fset t he reduced funding f rom t he
State where commercial activities are approved.
2 That subj ect t o Recommendat ion 1 above, t he Chief Execut ive Of f icer be
aut horised t o int roduce a permit syst em (including l icensing fee) for use of Council
controlled public boat ramps by amphibious vehicle operators.
3 That t he Chief Execut ive Of f icer be aut horised t o det ermine t he most ef f icient
administrative method for the permit system.
4 That al l amphibious vehicle t our companies using publ ic boat ramps be not if ied of
Council ’ s resolut ion on t his mat t er, and t hat t he Budds Beach boat ramp shal l not
be used after 21 April 2003, when the existing permits expire.
5 That a furt her report be prepared for Council considerat ion regarding proposals
for commercial use of public boat ramps within the Gold Coast City area.”

RESOLUTION G02.1213.001 moved Cr Crichlow seconded Young
Council Meeting 6 June 2003 8
Water Wastewater Beaches & Foreshores Committee 27 May 2003 MINUTES

CONFIRMED BY THE CHAIRPERSON ON PAGE 13 OF THESE MINUTES

ITEM 4 (Continued) BEACHES AND WATERCYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE
COMMERCIAL USE OF PUBLIC BOAT RAMPS BY AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES
WFB600/57/01-1(P2)

That Committee Recommendation W02.1205.002 be adopted with the insertion of a part 6 to
read as follows:

“6 That all correspondence received f rom the Budds Beach Communit y Associat ion in
relation to amphibious vehicles be attached to the Minutes”.

Ex Council Minute No. W03.0410.004:

“1 That Council not e t he st at us of t his issue – amphibious vehicles using publ ic boat
ramps.
2 That t he current approval for t he use of Budds Beach boat ramp be ext ended unt il
20 June 2003 t o enable comment s f rom t he Budds Beach Communit y Associat ion t o
be received and a further report be presented to Council.”

5 DISCUSSION

The operator’ s proposal to establish a commercial ramp at the southern end of Budds
Beach was forwarded to the Budds Beach Progress Associat ion, request ing comments on
the proposal.
The Associat ion’ s comments, dated 26 April 2003 are at tached as at tachment no 1. The
Associat ion st rongly obj ects to the proposal due to safety, t raffic, amenity and
environmental issues that would result from the operat ion of the vehicles in a quiet
resident ial neighbourhood. Council Officers have also received writ ten and verbal
obj ect ions from six other residents or representat ive bodies (Eg. Body Corporate) out lining
their objection. Similar objections have been conveyed to the Divisional Councillor.
This is consistent with issues ident ified by Traffic Sect ion and Parks Gold Coast in the
previous item to Council W03.0410.004.
On 13 May 2003, a meet ing was held with the Mayor, Councillor Christmas, Council officers
and operators to discuss the response received from the Budds Beach Progress Associat ion.
The operators concluded that they did not wish to proceed with the Budds Beach proposal
on the basis of the strong objections from the Progress Association.
Subsequent ly, a site adj acent to the exist ing ramp at Waterways Drive has been ident ified
– refer at tached sket ch. The site has been reviewed by Council officers and it is
considered to have minimal impact on traffic, the park and amenity of the area.
It is ant icipated that for this work, obtaining the relevant Sect ion 86 approvals under the
Harbours Act , detailed design, documentat ion will take 4-6 months. W03.0410.004 only
extended the approval to use the Budds Beach ramp unt il 20 June 2003. To enable the
operators to cont inue operat ions after this t ime, it is proposed that for the Waterways
Drive ramp works be undertaken in two stages:
Stage 1 Works above HWL
As the works are above HWL, no sect ion 86 applicat ion under the Harbours
Act is required and works can be undertaken by day labour, immediately
after Council approval of the project has been received.
Council Meeting 6 June 2003 9
Water Wastewater Beaches & Foreshores Committee 27 May 2003 MINUTES

CONFIRMED BY THE CHAIRPERSON ON PAGE 13 OF THESE MINUTES

ITEM 4 (Continued) BEACHES AND WATERCYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE
COMMERCIAL USE OF PUBLIC BOAT RAMPS BY AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES
WFB600/57/01-1(P2)

Stage 2 Works below HWL
As the works are below HWL, a sect ion 86 applicat ion is required and will
require detailed engineering design. It is proposed that tenders be called
for this work and const ruct ion undertaken immediately after approvals have
been received.
As the ramp will be for the benefit of the amphibious vehicle operators, all cost s
associated with the const ruct ion and maintenance of the ramp and associated access
should be borne by the operators. The operators have agreed to this proposal, provided
that use of the ramp is limited to those that have contributed to its construction.

6 STATUTORY MATTERS

The Transport Infrastructure (Public Marine Facility) Regulation 2000

Section 6 - Condition of Appointment states:
“ The appointment of every manager is on condit ion that the manager must not allow the
public marine facility to be used for a purpose other than a genuine private recreat ional
boating purpose without the prior written consent of the chief executive”.

The Transport Infrastructure (Public Marine Facility) Regulation 2000

Section 9. (7) - Using boat ramp or landing states:
“A person must not take or drive on to a boat ramp a vehicle if the mass of the vehicle and
its load (if any) together with any t railer that the vehicle is towing and its load (if any) is
more than—
(a) 5 t; or
(b) if the manager of the boat ramp erects on or near the ramp a notice approved by the
Chief Executive and displaying a greater mass—the greater mass.”
Council must therefore seek the approval of the Chief Execut ive (QT) in both situat ions
above, prior to the grant ing of approvals to amphibious vehicle operators. Sect ion 9. (7)
also provides a means for prosecution of offending operators.
Council as Manager can, so far as the boat ramps are concerned, make local laws and do
anything Council considers necessary or convenient for the effect ive and efficient
management of the boat ramps (section 187E(b) Transport Infrastructure Act 1994).

Council’s Local Law No. 34 is designed to deal with the issues of Jetties and Wharfs and
Public Boat Ramps. Conditions for the safe and efficient operation of the amphibious
vehicles upon Council controlled boat ramps need to be incorporated into this Law. Legal
advice recommends a number of additional amendments to Local Law 34 to bring it up to
date, these include:
Updating the definition of “commercial operator” which refers to the Gold Coast
Waterways Act, which has been repealed. It should now reference the Transport
Infrastructure (Gold Coast Waterways) Management Plan 2000;
New definition for “amphibious vehicle”; and
Update of penalty provisions for each nominated offence.
Council Meeting 6 June 2003 10
Water Wastewater Beaches & Foreshores Committee 27 May 2003 MINUTES

CONFIRMED BY THE CHAIRPERSON ON PAGE 13 OF THESE MINUTES

ITEM 4 (Continued) BEACHES AND WATERCYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE
COMMERCIAL USE OF PUBLIC BOAT RAMPS BY AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES
WFB600/57/01-1(P2)

Section 20 of the Local Law 34 deals with powers of authorised persons. It is suggest that if
Council’ s powers under the local law are to be exercised by a part icular officer then the
necessary delegat ion in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 1993
must be in place prior to the t ime when any of those powers are exercised by an
authorised person.

7 CORPORATE/OPERATIONAL PLAN

Identified relevant organisational objectives include:
1.1.1 Human and Environmental Health
Maintain the environmental health and wellbeing of residents and visitors
through a combinat ion of research, awareness raising, best pract ice,
regulation and encouragement of community participation.
1.1.2 Safety and Security
Plan for safe and support ive environments for Gold Coast resident s, and
implement strategies to enhance personal safety.
2.1 Well-managed City
Effect ively represent the Gold Coast community and provide effect ive
management of services and infrastructure.
4.1 Tourism and Events
Support , enhance and promote tourism and events as the maj or indust ry in
the region
4.1.1 Premier Destination
Support promot ion of the Gold Coast as Aust ralia’ s premier nat ional and
internat ional tourist , conference and events dest inat ion, and build on the
economic strengths and opportunities this provides.
4.1.3 Sustainable Tourism
In cooperat ion with the tourism and events indust ry and the wider community,
promote sustainable tourism within the City and its role in encouraging residents
and visitors to value and conserve the City’s unique natural and cultural assets.

8 COUNCIL POLICIES

Local Law No 34 relates to the operation of boat ramps.

9 DELEGATIONS

Not applicable.
Council Meeting 6 June 2003 11
Water Wastewater Beaches & Foreshores Committee 27 May 2003 MINUTES

CONFIRMED BY THE CHAIRPERSON ON PAGE 13 OF THESE MINUTES

ITEM 4 (Continued) BEACHES AND WATERCYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE
COMMERCIAL USE OF PUBLIC BOAT RAMPS BY AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES
WFB600/57/01-1(P2)
10 BUDGET/FUNDING

As the proposed ramp is for the use of the commercial operators, it is appropriate that all
costs be met by the operators. The works will be undertaken in two stages:
a Stage 1 - access above high water, by day labour, preliminary estate $20,000,
b Stage 2 - ramp below high water by contract, preliminary estimate $50,000.
It is proposed that for stage 1, a prepaid private works orders be put in place to enable the
works to proceed. A second prepaid private works be requested from the operators after
the tender process has determined the price and before the tender is awarded.

11 COORDINATION & CONSULTATION

Consultat ion has been undertaken with the operators, Budds Beach Progress Associat ion,
Divisional Councillors, Tourism Branch, Parks Gold Coast and Traffic Sect ion, Queensland
Transport refer section 5.

12 TIMING

The const ruct ion of the access ramp above high water will be undertaken as soon as the
design is complete to enable the Budds Beach ramp to be closed to the operators by 20
June 2003.

13 STAKEHOLDER IMPACTS

Residents within the Budds Beach community have conveyed to Council their concerns
regarding the continuation of commercial operations on the current Budds Beach boat
ramp as well as their objection to any proposal for the development of an alternative
ramp.
A purpose built ramp at Waterways Drive, Main Beach will have minimal impacts.

14 CONCLUSION

The response from the Budds Beach Progress Association dated 26 April 2003 to the
proposal to establish a commercial ramp at the southern end of Budds Beach, strongly
objects to the proposal due to safety, traffic, amenity and environmental concerns. This is
consistent with officer reports. The operators have decided not to proceed with this
proposal.
An alternate site at Waterways Drive has been identified, this is adjacent to the existing
ramp and is consistent with the uses of the area.
It is proposed that the works proceed in two stages to ensure that the operators are
relocated from the Budds Beach ramp by 20 June 2003.
Council Meeting 6 June 2003 12
Water Wastewater Beaches & Foreshores Committee 27 May 2003 MINUTES

CONFIRMED BY THE CHAIRPERSON ON PAGE 13 OF THESE MINUTES

ITEM 4 (Continued) BEACHES AND WATERCYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE
COMMERCIAL USE OF PUBLIC BOAT RAMPS BY AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES
WFB600/57/01-1(P2)

15 RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that Council resolves as follows:
1 That the proposal to const ruct a commercial boat ramp at the southern end of
Budds Beach, as proposed by the amphibious vehicles operators not be approved.
2 That the proposal to const ruct a commercial ramp at Waterways Drive, Main Beach
in the vicinity of the exist ing public boat ramp be approved, subj ect to the
following conditions:
a all const ruct ion costs being met by the amphibious vehicle operators, via a
prepaid private works order; and
b appropriate operat ing condit ions be developed by the Chief Execut ive
Officer to protect neighbourhood amenity and the rights of other users of
the facility.
3 That a further report be prepared by the Manager Tourism on the operat ion of the
amphibious vehicles, including the use of public boat ramps, pick up and set down
areas, ticketing and their effect on traffic issues within Surfers Paradise.

Author: Authorised by:

Bob Cunningham Warren Day
Manager Beaches and Watercycle Infrastructure Director Engineering Services
2 May 2003

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION W03.0527.004

1 That the proposal to construct a commercial boat ramp at the southern end of
Budds Beach, as proposed by the amphibious vehicles operators not be
approved.
2 That the proposal to construct a commercial ramp at Waterways Drive, Main
Beach in the vicinity of the existing public boat ramp be approved, subject to
the following conditions:
a all construction costs being met by the amphibious vehicle operators, via
a prepaid private works order; and
b appropriate operating conditions be developed by the Chief Executive
Officer to protect neighbourhood amenity and the rights of other users of
the facility.
3 That a further report be prepared by the Manager Tourism on the operation of
the amphibious vehicles, including the use of public boat ramps, pick up and set
down areas, ticketing and their effect on traffic issues within Surfers Paradise.
CARRIED
THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS THE MEETING WAS DECLARED CLOSED AT 4:03PM.

[stevos]

..........

[Ocean_Spirit]

I often see people submerging the trailer a lot further than what they should.

Then again, this is also a function of the ramp. On the dual axle trailer, when launching at retrieving at the ramp, I can drive on and off without submersing the front bearings on the trailer.

[trueblue]

As you mentioned, one of my biggest concerns with specifying a ‘design vessel’ is that each hull is so different to the next. At present I am having trouble pinning down a reliable value for draft but am edging towards 0.4-0.5m. This is ultimately something that I would like to consider more after taking a more practical look at the ‘design vessel’.

0.4 to 0.5m is probaly a reasonable draft to be considering. My boat is 0.5m draft when stationary, but the other thing to consider is the depth of the outboar motor skeg below the bottom of the hull. with my motor in the normal position, the bottom of the skeg is about .85m below the waterline. That is why I have to trim my motor right up to not smash the skeg off at Scarborough ramp.

I would probably have the bottom of the skeg about .6 - .65m below the water line when driving the boat onto the trailer, but really would prefer that the ramp was steeper so that I could have it down a bit more to have more control.

Most outboard skegs would be 0.3 to o.4 below the bottom of the hull.

cheers

Mick

[trueblue]

My calcs so far have been based on a worst case scerario where the tow vehicles rear wheels are just above the water line. That is an assumption that I am hoping to check when I find my ‘design vessel’.

That would be by far the norm, where the tow vehicle is backed down till the real wheels are just at the waterline.

cheers

Mick

[BM]

Steve,

A Bertram 28 (borderline trailerable) has a fixed (shaft drive) draft of 0.82m.

A Bertram 25 (trailerable) has a leg up draft of 0.46m. Leg down approx 0.75m.

Its important to consider draft to include the drive setup that the boat has (sterndrive, shaft drive, outboard) and if possible allow for the full draft of the vessel for worst case scenario calcs.

Raising the outboard or sterndrive leg in order to recover reduces directional control to some degree so where possible, leg down retrieval would be the optimum.

Cheers

[Chimo]

When the computations are done and its time to get a few ramps built and some others fixed up maybe this is the way to knock em over in a hurry with plenty of length / depth and with a lot less hassels .::)

http://www.aquabarrier.com/boatRamps.html

http://www.aquabarrier.com/installRemoval.html

Cheers
Chimo

[whichway]

HI

Also, the draft needs to be when the boat is at an angle going up onto the trailer. It may sit deeper in the water under those conditions. Really need to get a boat half way up the trailer and take some measurements.

Whichway.

[BM]

Just wondering....

Would there be any merit in having a ramp that got steeper in gradient towards the end? This would allow vehicles towing larger boats to not have to go so deep. More of a parabolic ramp shape than a linear gradient.

Batemans Bay used to have such a ramp (I don't think it was intended that way, just how it turned out when they placed it due to the steep bank of the Clyde River at that point).

Such a ramp should allow for a shorter ramp overall with an improved approach depth.

Cheers

[stevos]

..........

[trueblue]

shouldn’t your trailer be setup up such that you can fully lower your outboard when it is on the trailer (only just clearing the ground of course)? So having half the boat on the trailer (Assuming it is rotating about the waterline on the transom – flotation level) should see a prop clear the deck but not by much. Is this an issue that ramp geometry cant solve? I can design erosion protection for this but it might be a limitation of the trailer setup… I will need to do some calcs and sketch up a section to think about this more.

Boats don't always go on to the trailer all that neatly. My last tailer was quite high at the back and caused the boat to ride up at the bow when the keel first went onto the back rollers, which made the stern go lower in the water (simple lever on a pivot point) till the centre of gravity allowed the nose of the boat to settle downwards onto the trailer and then lifting the stern and the skeg.

A cause for this can be when the towing vehicle has a tow bar height that is too low which in turn makes the back of the trailer sit undesireably high.

Another cause for this is people not submerging their trailers properly which does not let the boat float onto the trailer.

As mentioned, some issues are trailer set up limitations, and others operator limitations and they can't always be included into designs.

Cheers

Mick

[trueblue]

A drop of in the last few metres of a ramp has been proposed by a council in SEQ recently to achieve similar results. Interesting to see how it goes?

I think the secret is to just get a happy medium on the ramp angle. An additional angled drop off on the last few metres will only come into play at the bottom of the tide.

Cheers

Mick

[BM]

Steve,

The Bertram 28's are almost all shaft drive (like the Arvor). A small number of sterndrive 28's were built but it was a very small number.

The 28 is 3.34m wide and the 25 is actually 3.02m wide (where'd you find the 2.7 figure?). Both can be towed on roads with the relevant overwidth permits. Don't forget, the trailer may only be 2.5wide but the load can be wider (as in these 2 examples).

These size boats represent a fairly small section of the market overall. And of those vessels very few would be trailered as most would be moored. The "what size is your boat" (or similar to that) thread showed the majority of boats to be 4-6mtrs. A similar poll on a Vic based site www.mrfisho.com (http://www.mrfisho.com) showed pretty similar results.

Perhaps a good approach is to have differing sloped ramps? Patterson Lakes launching area in Vic has about 5 ramps, which face differing directions and of differing angles. Very handy for the changing wind conditions and for the various vessel sizes.

You could google earth patto river to get a look and then perhaps a trip down south to inspect the setup in person?? No doubt there are other well organised facilities around the country.

Cheers

PS. If you google earth "Launching Way, Carrum Vic 3197" that will take the cursor to the entry point of the launching facility and you can see the ramps quite well.

[arvor]

we have an arvor 20 and at rest we need 0.65 but when retrieving i like at least 1mtr to drive on .but i only launch and retrive a few times a year for maintainence.and when i do i have made up a extention drawbar so i can sink the trailer deep and avoid any damage and stress to hull.but with trailer so deep its possible to get stuck and then have to use the boat motor to push the whole car trailer and boat out of the drink.

[stevos]

..........

[Mr__Bean]

Stevos,

A couple of things to consider, maybe outside your scope but hope you can use some of it:

Visibility when reversing

Some ramps do not blend at the top of the ramp, they just angle off, this makes it difficult to see your empty trailer when backing down.

Reflective markers down the ramp lanes make backing down at night much safer.

Lines down the ramp help people back straight and generally keep the ramp more orderly


Amount of ramp that exists beyond the lowest tide mark

This has been mentioned by some other, but it can be a trap if you reverse over the end of the ramp at lowest tide. Whilst erosion may be the primary cause this may be eased if the concrete did extend further on the initial design of the ramp (in anticipation of the erosion).


The "rigging area".

A rigging area that encourages people to move OFF the ramp to remove their bungs and tie down the boat is good.

It should be well lit and drain well, and be simple drive in drive out.


Amenities

Nearly every boat that comes in has someone that is busting for a pee


Roads

Boat trailers don't like speed humps, try to design the access using curves in the road to control speed not bumps. Much better on the boat and also much better on the neighbours (bouncing trailers are very loud)


Parking

Don't skimp on the width of the parking bays, they can be difficult to back out of on busy days.

Provide some extra long bays that are a bit further away from the ramp than the others, those with bigger boats will gladly walk that little bit extra to get a good long bay.

Provide some grassed area or similar for some overflow parking, whilst it may be infreuently used it is better than pissing off the neighbours when guys have to park right down the local streets.

Don't try to pretty up the parking areas with trees and shrubs, they just provide cover for the thieves, all open and highly visible please.


Signs (some people just don't get it!!!)

Please use the rigging areas provided before approaching the ramp.

Please reduce headlights to parkers when on the ramp.

Have you checked the bungs?


That's about it for now.

- Darren